What Do You Call Someone That Says

It’s just a word?

A word used while lashing men

A word used while raping women

A word used while lynching children

But it’s just a word,

They shouldn’t be offended when you use it

Yet you hate to be told you can’t

Two hundred years of slavery

A hundred years of Segregation

No reparations

And you can’t give them a damn word?

It’s just a word,

But you never owned any slaves

And they aren’t slaves anymore

But you remind them where they came from,

With just a word

A word you use with your friends

A word you use with “Oreos”

A word you use with a hard “R” when you want to make it hurt

Because you know it’s more than just a word

You don’t carry the stigmas

You don’t carry the pain of generations

You don’t really care at all

Of course, it’s just a word to you,

Just don’t be surprised with the words used to define you