The "N-word": Is it ever okay to say it?
Overtime editor Ann Silvio has a frank discussion about the N-word with correspondent Byron Pitts, whose report on "60 Minutes" this week is about a new edition of "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" that omits the racial epithet and replaces it with the word "slave."
Pitts starts the conversation by prompting Silvio to say the N-word and then explains why he decided to say the full word in his "60 Minutes" report. Pitts cites two precedents: Ed Bradley and Andy Rooney both said the word in previous reports on the broadcast. Yes, Andy Rooney.
Pitts also describes his own childhood experiences with the word: at age 10, a white schoolmate's parent hurled the word at him on the sidelines of a football game. It was the first time Pitts was called N-word, but it wouldn't be the last.