According to People Mag while Paula did reply “Yes, of course” to the question about using the n-word, she also added, “It’s been a very long time.” Paula said that she had used the word or thought about using the word in the 1980s when she was a bank teller and the bank was held up by a black bank robber, and she says she “probably” used the word when describing the events to her husband. Paula also said, “But that’s just not a word that we use as time has gone on. Things have changed since the ’60s in the South. And my children and my brother object to that word being used in any cruel or mean behavior. As well as I do.”
It is still inappropriate to joke like that at work, especially as a boss, regardless of how you grew up or who else is doing it. No excuse for stupidity and laziness. :)
I remember as a kid growing up I was proud to live in a country where you were free to think and express yourself as you wish. “Sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me”.