'N-Word' to be 'buried by NAACP

WASHINGTON, May 1 (UPI) -- The U.S. National Association for the Advancement of Colored People will symbolically "bury" the racist "n-word" as a message to entertainers.

A spokesman for the group, Richard McIntire, said the national event to hold a funeral for the word will take place at its annual convention in July, although he said it has already been done at two regional conferences.

The campaign developed after New York radio personality Don Imus made offensive remarks about Rutgers' predominantly black women's basketball team and used terms the NAACP and other rights groups denounced.

Imus was fired, but supporters -- as well as some black groups -- questioned why it wasn't alright for him to use racially-charged language when such language is commonly used by many black hip-hop performers, the Washington Times reported Tuesday.

"It fits very well with our 'Stop Campaign turning the corner' and going beyond the Imus controversy and taking personal responsibility to stop the derogatory speech and images in hip-hop music and videos and other media," McIntire said.