I just don't see this as a) anything new or b) an area of real concern for a legitimate slippery slope. It's never been okay to say the n-word, or other racist epithets. This isn't an ever-expanding category. The only expansion I can think of is the broadening of the category to include homophobic slurs and the like, and I can't exactly say I object to that.
The argument really shouldn't be about whether a person can say the n-word or not, but rather what the consequences should be, and obviously that depends on the context. Given the context here, having to endure public shaming and disciplinary action do seem pretty extreme.
But I'm not so much bothered by the consequences to Mesley as the general atmosphere that seems to exist in news organizations at this point, as I noted in talking about that Taibbi article in the US politics thread last week.
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