(oops, pardon the bungle. Should have been:

>.All the same "darky" is a terrible word. Not as
>.hateful as "nigger," but still condescending,
>.insulting, patronizing. So what do you do?

Come to think of it, is there any word Foster could have used that would not have been condescending, insulting, whatever? When attitudes towards a thing are wrong, no word for it will be right.