"Woman is the 'n-word' of the world"?

The other day I was watching a video, in which one white teacher was being accused of using the word "nigger" in reference to one of his students who was black. The newscasters, before showing the video report, didn't dare to say the whole word "nigger" and instead just said "a teacher used the n-word in class...".

So, I guess, this word is really bad since the newscasters can't say it in the full length. But this reminded me of the song by John Lennon "Woman is the nigger of the world". I am kind of puzzled here: As far as I know Lennon had already moved to the USA by the time he released this song. I know that some radio stations refused to put it on air because of the n-word in it, but that was 40 years ago. Have things not changed since that time? If newscasters don't dare to say "nigger" even today, how would they refer to that song today if they needed to?

EDIT:

Just found this video on YouTube where Lennon himself explains the situation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5lMxWWK218

Solution 1:

You have to accept that in America, the n-word is regarded as a more vile epithet (or as more taboo) than it is elsewhere in the world. You generally wouldn't use it most places, except perhaps in a discussion of historical attitudes towards negroes and slavery (and I'm not even sure that the alternative n-word is really acceptable; people tend to use circumlocutions or euphemisms to avoid it), but in America, you really get into trouble for using it. The sort of level of odiousness is that kids using it at school will be hauled to the principal's office, and possibly suspended.

I would expect that the newscasters would avoid discussing the song if at all possible - there'd be other subjects to discuss instead.

Solution 2:

Taboo words worry me a great deal, because they're a sign of a social problem that isn't being dealt with. When a word has acquired heavy negative connotations, as "nigger" reeks of the slave trade, then the thought goes that we should use a different word instead which doesn't have those connotations. This is a very emotionally appealing argument as it avoids difficult confrontations. Unfortunately I don't believe it has ever actually worked. The new word quickly acquires the connotations of the old as well as its own, with a large dollop of cynicism added as people recognise the avoidance tactic for what it is.

I've tracked this particularly with relation to disability (my father's job was helping disabled people find work), through "cripped", "disabled" and "differently abled". Now we have "special needs", and I've many times heard people (myself included) look at a particularly silly mistake and say "Well, that was special." Unless you turn around and positively take back the word, as was done with "black," nothing really changes.

Solution 3:

And the Irish are the niggers of Europe, Roddy Doyle tells us. Social attitudes toward this sort of language can change very quickly over the generations.