The first episode of The Boondocks was more interesting than funny. Last night’s episode was funny AND interesting. I can’t deny that I feel uncomfortable with a specific racial slur that the cartoon uses, a lot. I love my father with all my heart but he is quite racist (and sexist, but that’s a story for another day). As a child, I never contradicted my parents. As a teen, I started expressing opinions and (because I was a know-it-all teen) trying to logically explain why my opinions were right. I treaded very lightly with my father since he was an old-fashioned parent who believed in not sparing the rod. Nevertheless, I have vivid memories of trying to explain to my father why he shouldn’t use a particularly nasty racial slur. To this day, I can remember his bizarre argument explaining that it was not a racial slur since “not all black people are insert word here>“. It was a ridiculous and pointless conversation. I think the word should never be used, but that’s just me. I understand that people try to take the power away from words by using them differently than their original intent but I think I would vomit if my children ever used that word.