A racial or ethnic slur is best off-limits

In attempting to transcend the odious nature of the N-word - a calumny freighted with the hurtful history of America's original sin, slavery - Charles McIlwain fails to realize that ubiquity breeds contempt ["Stealing the sting from a six-letter slur," Opinion, Feb. 9].

While some creative artists may have used this slur in "helpful, not malevolent" ways, others would have no compunction brandishing it with the gusto of a born-again bigot. And imagine how Hollywood, freed of any societal constraints, might profit from the cinematic minstrel shows that would surely follow.

Like William Shakespeare, whose Shylock skewered the anti-Semitism of his day, Mark Twain employed a racial epithet in "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" to rebuke America's vile subjugation of a people. But such literary titans are a rarity.

African-Americans ought to be thankful that they've steadfastly resisted romanticizing an ugly aspersion - unlike Italian-Americans, who have allowed yesteryear's slurs to flourish. Whereas the N-word remains essentially taboo, the guido-goomba-guinea stereotype has become entrenched in the national psyche.

Rosario A. Iaconis

Mineola

Editor's note: The writer is the vice chairman of the Italic Institute of America.