Obama says the United States has not overcome its history of racism – and uses the N-word to make his point. In an interview with comedian Marc Maron, Obama adds to the debate over race and guns following the racially motivated murder of nine black churchgoers in South Carolina last week. He says: 'Racism, we are not cured of it. And it's not just a matter of it not being polite to say nigger in public. That's not the measure of whether racism still exists or not. It's not just a matter of overt discrimination. Societies don't, overnight, completely erase everything that happened 200 to 300 years prior.'