re: Should Cooper have been fined for the slur?

I like how there are 4-5 threads on this here, one even asking if it is being overblown by the media. The Eagles fined him, the NFL will not take further action, the case is basically closed.

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I think that's the most people's point. Why isn't it?

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I don't think there is a simple answer to that but they aren't the same and all of us know this. The easiest answer is that one group has more power than the other group (and always has) and that one phrase has a particularly ugly history. All of us know this.

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Either racial slurs have to be acceptable or not.

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Well, one phrase is less acceptable than the others. This isn't a surprise to anyone who has grown up in American society or knows about the history of race relations in this country. And you can argue about how things "have to be" all you want; they aren't that way. That doesn't mean race relations have not improved, but it also doesn't mean you can go around derogatory phrases, especially in anger toward an African American, and expect everyone to be okay with it. This is common sense.

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There are gray topics and racism shouldn't be one. The grayness just perpetuates race problems.

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It is one. It doesn't matter what you think it should or should not be. I agree that it probably doesn't improve race relations. There has to be give and take from both sides. But give and take does not start with intellectually dishonest arguments that words like honky or cracker are equal in meaning to the n word. I'm not saying you did that but I've seen several people do so on these threads.