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NEW YORK (AP) - When Ozzie Wiggan first moved to a new high school in suburban New York, the black teenager would sometimes get into fights with white classmates over their casual use of the N-word. But the 17-year-old soon came to the sad realization that hip-hop culture had made it popular — if not acceptable — for people of all races to use the epithet, often in a way they considered harmless.
"I think people have forgotten what the N-word truly means," said Wiggan, who added that he doesn't use it. "When I hear that word, it hurts me so much inside."
Wiggan spoke Wednesday at a panel discussion on the most debated racial epithet in the country's history. Several hundred New York City high school students attended the event at Wadleigh Secondary School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Harlem.
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