> since racial slurs are highly offensive, they are very useful in that.

I agree! And the context of this is important, as you note -- as verbal constructions, racial slurs are more effectively offensive than pretty much any other available words, and one can often easily use them after just having looking at someone. And, after having these verbal weapons leveled at him, and being in a subsequent fistfight, he was essentially told that "boys will be boys".

This should tell you something about how the power structures in play deal with minorities.

>And, after having these verbal weapons leveled at him, and being in a subsequent fistfight, he was essentially told that "boys will be boys". This should tell you something about how the power structures in play deal with minorities.

The "boys will be boys" mentality has traditionally applied to all men involved in fistfights, not just minorities.

And by fistfight You mean that one party does all the fighting and the other being all the unconscious?

One-sided assaults included, yes. The "boys will be boys" mentality is not big on the details.

Or perhaps it was simply them trying to brush off an inconvenient situation? That's something many institutions do, it's not just done exclusively when it concerns racial issues. Hell, the fact that it was a racial issue gives them more incentive to keep silence.

As for his friends, they might have simply decided it wasn't worth expending energy on a lowlife punk.

Two white guys (or two non-white guys) getting into a bit of a fight isn't going to make the local newspaper, let alone even the student newspaper. A racially motivated assault (which this most definitely was) just might.

Also consider that racially motivated slurs mostly have their power when used against minorities, rarely the other way around.