I grew up in the '60s and I saw the looks of hurt and anger on the faces of my black friends and teammates when they were called names. Words can be mean and hurtful. I felt the same way during the John Rocker uproar. They're words, people. The use of such words should have social consequences, not legal ramifications.
Racist speech exists today in a society rife with multiple standards.
Most times it is vilified, but sometimes it's glorified. Such are the foibles of a free society. But those are kids. Put simply, in the adult world, politicians shouldn't go running to the AG because their feelings got hurt. What it boils down to is either we have free speech or we don't.