Johnson uses the N word

To be fair, at the time, n!gg@r was no more a term of derision than the general racism of the South. I mean, it was just a word, not meant to be any more derogatory than Negro, although more frequently employed by the 'lower' classes, of all races. Certainly less fraught with ugliness than how blacks tend to use it about themselves now.

I had a most interesting talk about the term once with a college friend, a black inner-Detroit fellow, discussing the colloquial usage. He later told me he had me pegged for a typical white Southern racist, but I think he got past that. Different cultures. His house was the only one not burned on his block in the '68 riots, because his family and a white family shared the house! I did not grow up like that!