Imposing curbs on our own words

"Freedom of speech doesn't really mean being able to say whatever we want in whatever setting we want." In a literal sense, freedom of speech under the First Amendment _does_ mean being able to say anything anywhere with certain well-defined exceptions, like pornography, publishing details of troop movements in wartime, or yelling "fire" in a crowded theatre and risking catastrophe.

But I agree that in the practical exercise of good judgment, people should think about the effect of their speech on their audience, especially when acting in an official capacity, or when their speech can have serious social, financial or criminal consequences.

Political correctness is censorship as far as certain speech by certain groups is concerned. The politically incorrect description of a ROCK gets all this attention. Pretty amazing when put into perspective.
I feel sorry for Mr. Morse for committing a heinous act which he will be labeled for, thanks to the incessant attention, the latest of which is the Sun's decision to make it the subject of an editorial. But I'm sure all this attention and scrutiny will "get his mind right".

Everyone ought to lighten up. Why have we become so thin skinned about words? Doesn't anyone remember the old saying"sticks and stones..."?

Why is it the only people that really raise a fuss about this are uptight white people. Were there any black students or teachers there when he said it...I doubt it. So an uptight white guy would have had to repeated it. Otherwise, those that would have been offended would have never known about it. Kind of like Imus. How many of the Rutgers womens basketball team really listen to Imus in the morning?
I'm not saying that racism doesn't exist, because it most definately does. I'm also not saying that racism should be ignored. But, is making public every racial slur ever uttered really helping matters?