Today I should have said something and didn't I am very angry with myself.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

30. I'll always remember the one time I heard "n**r" directed at a black person by a white in anger.

I was walking in the parking lot of my local grocery store and I see a white woman in a car, with the window open. A black woman was standing outside by the car window, and I heard it, clear as day: "You n***r!"

And I immediately could tell that it was being said in an angry--and not joking--context. I have no idea what the argument was about, but I knew there was hatred behind it.

I remember being in shock. Something in my mind wanted me to go up to the woman and say something, but I just remember being shocked at what I heard. Because I had never heard it before in my life said like that, outside of the movies. I'd heard the word before, including by white people to describe black people, but I'd never heard it actually being directed to a black person by a white person.

And by the time the shock had lifted, the woman had driven off. But I often fantasize about going up to that woman and giving her a piece of my mind for what she said. It was disgusting.