Randall Kennedy

We're going to grab this quote slur and we're going to affix it to ourselves and we are going to repurpose it.

Now the word queer is again, you know, can it be a slur?

Yeah, it can be a slur.

Doesn't have to be.

And it seems to me that it's important for people to know about how a word, a symbol,

In some contexts can be a slur, in some contexts doesn't have to be.

So the whole idea of what's a slur, that's a complicated idea in and of itself.

Well, probably so.

And of course, that's one of the reasons why I wrote a little book about it.

You're absolutely right.

The origins of this book, I clearly remember.

I was at my office.

And I was thinking about lecture topics.

And I get invited to give lectures from time to time.

And I was thinking, well, what might make for an interesting lecture?

And all of a sudden, the word nigger popped into my mind.

Now, this is a word, I've grown up with this word.

I mean, there's never been a time in my life when...

at least in my conscious life, in which this word's been absent.

I mean, in my household, for instance, in my household, my parents are black people.