America, context doesn't matter. It's the same thing with the N word. Both were used by white people exclusively to demean, to ridicule, to keep down, whatever. In the 1980s, I was certainly far less aware of that, and if I'd been writing this note back then I'd probably have spelled the word out, instead of saying "N" word. Think Bill Maher getting an earful from Ice Cube for saying the full word, thinking "I am so on board with equal rights and a liberal agenda, I can say that word with impunity". Ice Cube's point was "nope. We can argue about whether anybody should use it, but no white person can, ever, under any circumstances, given the historical context".

That said, I think more context should be used when passing judgement. Maher survived. I'm not 100% on board with this dem "0 tolerance under all circumstances" attitude. It happens to be true that many white folks in the 1980s and before didn't know this context, and didn't think they were giving offense. So if now, looking back, this appears to have been more anomaly than pattern; more youthful indiscretion (out of ignorance perhaps more than insensitivity, even at the time) than underlying lifelong prejudice, then I think society should be more forgiving.