You know, I heard a white guy tonight, say "I don't mean to offend you by what I'm about to say,"  as he was about to describe someone he was telling a story about.

I told him if he had to put a disclaimer on it, he shouldn't say it.

A couple of hours before that, a couple of people said nigger repeatedly on the microphone at my karaoke show. And before you ask, yes, they were black.

Most of us learned pretty early in life that the word nigger is a racial slur. In the last couple of decades, comedians like Chris Rock and Richard Prior have used the word in ways that took some of the power, some of the sting out of it. But now, many black people believe it's ok as long as you're black, and can say nigger or nigga without anyone thinking twice, and of course you can hear the word nigger in thousands of rap songs. But don't say it if your white, or you'll end up like Kramer from Seinfeld.

Over the years I've heard dozens of people tell me that niggers aren't just blacks, they have met niggers that are white, or Hispanic, or Asian, and that the word means some one who is somehow less in their eyes, less of a human being, less deserving of respect, and that they have met niggers of all races. They usually also go on to tell me they have met really good people who happen to be black.

To me, that is just someone rationalizing their calling someone else a nigger.

I want to tell you something, I don't have any problem with saying (or typing) the word nigger in this context because the word does have power. As you read it in front of you, you are forced to decide whether it is meant to offend you every time, the same way you would be forced to decide if it was meant offensively if you heard the word nigger out loud. I do have a problem with calling someone a nigger. It's like when you were a kid on the playground, and someone started talking about your mom. They didn't know your mom, they were trying to get a rise out of you. And for me it worked.

Whether your are black or white, Asian or Hispanic, or any other race, any religion, or mix,  remember this before you use the word nigger;

A lot of good people fought a long time for the right not to be called a nigger,. not to be treated like a nigger, and not to be branded a lower form of human being, which really is what the word implies when used as an insult. Some of those people died for those rights. A lot of people today still don't have those rights.

So before you use the "N word" remember you don't have to respect someone because of the color of their skin, but you do need to show respect for the people who struggled for their rights as people! Every time someone calls someone else a nigger, they are disrespecting thousands of people they never even met, not just that one person.

So no matter what color God made you, if you would get offended at someone calling you a nigger under any circumstance, if they were black, white, or purple, do us all a favor and don't say it either, because you're definitely offending someone else.