Words do not bother me. Intentions do.
Within a battle the intention is to win. Much in the way that homosexual men, for instance, can call each other fags, it's not okay, in their mind, for someone else to say that to them. That's about intent. Do you want to be hurtful, or are you just being clever and trying to win? That's the deciding factor.
I've tried to shield myself from all destructive outside opinions so that words and even some people's intentions, in my personal life, do not have any negative meaning to me. What's coming out of someone's mouth has zero to do with me, and everything to do with what they think.
Racism and it's place in a battle has to do with a social war. If you believe allowing someone to disrespect your race gives racists more freedom to be outwardly hateful then I can see where you could be 'offended'. It's not that individual you're battling that you necessarily have an issue with, but that the content of what that person is saying means within the social war you believe you're fighting.
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