A letter to Reverend Jesse Jackson.

While I do not agree with your ambulance-chasing, spotlight-hungry politics, I have always been impressed by your skill in oratory. You are an accomplished user of words and turner of phrases.

Therefore, I am saddened by your association with the "banning" of the "n-word." Reverend Jackson, when we cannot even say the word to discuss it, the word has already won. By relying on context for readers to understand what you mean by using a euphemism, your message is diluted to the point of nonexistence. You cannot defeat our enemies if you do not identify them.

Furthermore, the banning of words smacks very much to me like the banning of books, and this is something that I will not support in any way shape or form. Words are tools. If a hammer hits your thumb, you don't throw it away. You learn how to use it properly. Words have power, and like all things with power, they can be used to do evil or used to do good. The more powerful the word is, the more good it can do.

Please don't ban words. If you want to discuss a word, use that word in the discussion. Otherwise, you're just dancing around the issue. Or trying to get headlines.