NAACP: End hate talk

DETROIT, July 8 (UPI) -- The NAACP opened its 98th annual convention in Detroit with Chairman Julian Bond vowing to bury hurtful slang used against African Americans.

"We don't believe it's a violation of the First Amendment to say to somebody you ought not to talk that way, you ought not denigrate women, you ought not condemn people because of the color of their skin," Bond said at a news conference Saturday.

Bond said people need to understand "there are certain words that ought not to be spoken and the N-word is just one of them. It's just one of many," the Detroit Free Press reported Sunday.

Bond said awareness was raised by the controversy surrounding radio talk show host Don Imus, who was fired after he called the Rutgers women's basketball team "nappy-headed hos."  

"I heard somebody say that when (rapper) Jay-Z talks about hos, he gets a gold record. When Don Imus talks about hos, he gets fired," Bond said. "We believe in equal justice and equal justice for everyone."