In case you were wondering what Charles Grodin thought about Post columnist Phil Mushnick's Jay-Z-Brooklyn Nets musings ("Why the Brooklyn Nets when they can be the New York N------s? The cheerleaders could be the Brooklyn B----hes or Hoes."), today is your lucky day. The actor writes in his Daily News column, "I know Phil Mushnick. He is a friend of mine, and he is the opposite of a bigot. He is a satirist and satire can easily be misunderstood." more ›

Working in one of greater New York's two Coca Cola plants may not be such a Sesame Street-esque utopia for minority employees: Sondra Walker, a Coca Cola merchandiser, claims she was referred to as "Nappy Head" and "Aunt JaMamma," while on the job, with no reprimands for the perpatrator. She also claims one white co-worker wore a Confederate flag on the job, and another responded "What am I, a n----- or something?" when assigned to clean a sewer. more ›

The eight year NYPD veteran who was arrested and charged with civil rights violations in connection with a racially-charged stop-and-frisk arrest on Staten Island is now being held in protective custody. And the arrest Officer Michael Daragjati has provoked several elected officials into calling for a federal probe of the NYPD stop and frisk policy: "I have never been stopped and frisked. But I can no longer look mothers and grandmothers in the eye, knowing in the bottom of my heart that there is a two-tiered justice system," said Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer. more ›

Earlier this week, an eight year NYPD veteran was arrested and charged with civil rights violations in connection with a stop-and-frisk arrest on Staten Island. Officer Michael Daragjati, who is also accused of being involved in separate off-duty extortion and insurance fraud schemes, was charged Monday with falsely arresting a black man, then later allegedly using a racial slur while talking about the arrest on the phone. And now, another Staten Island man has come forward alleging that Daragjati ruined his life and his burgeoning baseball career by falsely arresting him: "I feel he [Daragjati] racially profiled me," Jared Williams told the Daily News. more ›

An eight year NYPD veteran assigned to patrol Staten Island was arrested this morning and charged with civil rights violations in connection to an April stop-and-frisk arrest in Stapleton. On April 15th, officer Michael Daragjati and his partner stopped an unidentified 31-year-old black man who was walking alone with his hands in his pockets. Naturally, this suspicious activity warranted further investigation, so Daragjati allegedly pushed the man against a parked van and "roughly" frisked him. Finding nothing, the individual was sent on his way, but while walking away he dared to insult Daragjati. Oh yes he didn't! more ›

The former WPIX reporter who was accused of slapping the Bahamian UN ambassador’s chauffeur over a parking spot was acquitted yesterday. Self-described "bad boy" Vince DeMentri was fired three days after the incident came to light last year, and immediately turned his focus onto getting his job back: "I'm the victim and I'm not the villain and guess what, I need a job," he said, moments after dramatically throwing up his arms in a victory sign. more ›

Last year, former WPIX reporter Vince DeMentri was hit with an assault charge for allegedly slapping the Bahamian UN ambassador’s chauffeur, in true NY-style, over a parking spot. He was fired soon after, and he's now standing trial for the incident. But the trial ground to an awkward halt yesterday after the chauffeur accused DeMentri of calling him the n-word. more ›

Yes, another riff on the publishing company that's putting out a sanitized version of Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn with the word "nigger" replaced with "slave." The last parody of this was the Hipster Huckleberry Finn. Not to be outdone, two West Coast wags are raising money to release a version that trades in the clunky old analog n-word for the shiny high-tech r-word. While we're all pretty much over this, the video they made to promote the Robot Huck Finn is definitely good for a laugh: more ›

Some people don't think there's much to debate about, but one thing is certain about the forthcoming cleaned-up edition of Mark Twain's classic "Huckleberry Finn": everybody has an opinion on it. There are so many varying opinions and angles on the sanitized novel—besides offering an editorial criticizing the new version, the Times let ten different writers and professors weigh in on the controversy on the Opinion Pages. And that still left plenty of room for others to stir the pot. more ›

Before the holidays, there was much debate about the appropriateness of giving elementary school kids poetry with references to crackheads performing oral sex. City Councilman Charles Barron argued that 'Huckleberry Finn' was more offensive, since it included over 200 uses of the N-word. While nobody may want Barron to be their Governor, it seems as though the publishing industry was listening: Publishers Weekly announced the release of a new edition of the Mark Twain classic, which will leave out the N-word entirely. And that hasn't gotten anybody riled up at all. more ›

The Daily News reports on some personnel problems at The Union Club, the first social club in the United States. Seems that yesterday the all-boys, jackets-required club on Park Ave. canned an employee for using the N-word in front of a black food server. Back in early November Arnold Price, a 17-year-veteran of the club, was discussing a brand of lip balm with another employee when a manager cut in to say "all the big-lipped n------ use Blistex." more ›

The Education Department is investigating an employee who was allegedly caught on tape repeatedly using the word "nigger" during a PTA meeting in Queens on May 27th. Ron Barfield, who makes $50K working as a "family district advocate" to assist parents, was recorded during the organizational meeting saying, "Keep the niggers out. All them niggers are going to be voting and getting y’all to debate and dividing up the board." more ›

Congresswoman and likely Senate candidate Carolyn Maloney may have stepped in some serious S-word. While giving an interview to the publication City Hall, Maloney was discussing Kirsten Gillibrand's stances being all over the map and relayed a story from a voter on the issue of language in the schools: "I got a call from someone from Puerto Rico, said [Gillibrand] went to Puerto Rico and came out for English-only [education]. And he said, ‘It was like saying n—r to a Puerto Rican.’” City Hall emphasizes that Maloney used the "full racial slur." Talk about bad PR! Well, if Jesse Jackson wasn't going to let Nas use the N-word, you knew Al Sharpton would waste no time in having words for Maloney. The Reverend, who has already endorsed Gillibrand, said the utterance was "alarming and disturbing at best" and wants her to out the person who said this "so we know that in fact this conversation did occur and the way in which it occurred." Maloney was quick to back away from the comment, saying, "I apologize for having repeated a word I find disgusting. It's no excuse but I was so caught up in relaying the story exactly as it was told to me that, in doing so, I repeated a word that should never be repeated." more ›

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A non-profit organization dedicated to the abolition of “the N-Word” and its replacement with the word "President" may actually be making some linguistic headway in the wake of Barack Obama's victory. According to a borderline-Comedy Central segment on "NY1," some black residents in Harlem have been substituting President for the N-Word in everyday slang. (A NY1 rep confirms, "That was not at anytime a news story on NY1, nor is the person in the piece a NY1 employee.") more ›

Students at a 90% black and Hispanic middle school in Park Slope say their white teacher upbraided them with racial slurs when they disrupted a movie shown in class on Wednesday. 12-year-old Pryce-Gary Forbes tells the Daily News, "She said, 'You don't know how to act. You're acting lower class. You're acting like a whole bunch of n------.'" 14-year-old Tyasia Knight was also in the class, and says, "Our reaction was like, 'What did you just call us?'" And according to Forbes, the teacher offered him candy to keep quiet about the incident! The Department of Education is investigating, but the unidentified teacher, who's employed at the Secondary School for Journalism, denied any wrongdoing when questioned by some low-class reporter: "No, I did not use the N-word in class and that's a fact. You're taking an allegation and you're making something out of it, and that's what it is, a goddamn allegation." more ›

When 8-year-old Jaiden Haber appeared at her Amityville elementary school wearing a pink shirt reading "N the 'N-word'! It's Time!", Newsday reports she was sent to the principal's office and asked to change her shirt. Now, her mother and school officials disagree about whether or not an 8-year-old and her shirt should be what prompts dialogue on race. more ›