From white or black, the N-word is not OK

LZ Granderson
Special to CNN

[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/OPINION/08/16/granderson.n.word/tzleft.granderson.espn.jpg caption="Granderson: Word too freighted and hurtful to be tossed around by Dr. Laura or anyone else" width=300 height=169]

I was out roaming the streets of east London with a group of friends back in 2007 when we stumbled across this sweaty hipster club tucked between an old church and a bank. It wasn't a very large space, holding maybe a couple of hundred people, but what it lacked in size was more than made up in the energy coming from the predominantly white, eclectic crowd on the dance floor.

The music was a continuous flow of everything from '80s house music to current hip hop and I had just enough beers in me to join the raucous crowd in singing the words of each song at the top of my lungs. From Inner City's "Big Fun" to House of Pain's "Jump Around," it seemed with each track, the crowd grew louder and louder.

Then Kanye West's "Gold Digger" came on. For those of you who don't remember the chorus, allow me to refresh your memory:

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