The problem of the "N" word

Thankfully, the times of slavery and segregation are gone by now and African Americans got their freedom, however some echoes of those times still sexist. It can be easily found when intolerant people prefer to use some old insults to offend black people. The most popular word in America to describe black person is so called N-word.

In the beginning of the 21^st century society did not care about using this word during conversations about black people or even with black people.

Nowadays, when more and more tolerance appears in the society people start getting ashamed for using this word.

The problem of discrimination is so often discussed and even some celebrities get involved into this topic.

For example, Terry Rossio, the screenwriter for "Shrek" and all five "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies, has apologized for controversial tweets he sent out to his followers Friday comparing the "anti-vax" label to the N-word.

In a series of Twitter posts shared Saturday, Rossio offered his mea culpa. 

"In a recent Twitter post, arguing against stereotyping and hate speech, I referenced the 'n-word' (the actual word) as an example of what not to do," he wrote. "That was a mistake. I am sorry. I now understand that the word has no place in any conversation, ever.

"You can't make a point against hate speech and reference actual words of hate speech. That was insensitive and ignorant," he continued, adding that he deleted the post "to remove that toxic word from the internet, where it should never appear".

"I continue to stand against hate speech and dehuhmanizing (labels) in any form," he concluded.

Rossio's original tweet was in response to a screenshot shared by TV writer Julie Benson about UNICEF allowing donations for vaccines.

"On UNICEF's site, providing 100 polio vaccines to kids in need is 19 USD. And I'm not saying you should buy it and then send a card to an anti-vax relative saying you've provided lifesaving vaccinations in their name, but actually that's exactly what I'm saying," the screenshot read.

Rossio replied, writing, "My heart goes out to all the parents of vaccine damaged children, who have to not only endure the sadness of their loss, but also the vitriol of ill-informed and insensitive people (such as those here). Anti-Vax is equivalent to calling someone a (expletive) and makes as little sense."

Twitter users were quick to criticize the screenwriter for using the racial slur, including Dictionary.com, who shot down Rossio's idea that the two words were equivalent.

"The n-word is so profoundly offensive that a euphemism has developed for those occasions when the word itself must be discussed," the tweet read. "The same cannot be said for the term 'anti-vax.'"