Much ado over a little bit of decency. Enough of them and it's no longer a slur?
Then it becomes something else.
I know you didn't mean that racial slur to be a racial slur. When you posted it it was not as a racial slur. And nothing in your post indicates it was anything but a slur. It's only later with an explanation does a more innocent origin become possible. And coming from you is believable. Now if Lee trotted out the same explanation it would have been a hard sell.
The words are the words. The statement speaks for itself. A complex interplay of personalities and loyalties seems to cloud what is to me a black-and-white matter.
And speaking of matter, it matters not. As I said, much ado over a little bit of decency.
Arf