For example, she hopes to launch a dialogue that will result in educating Connecticut residents of all types that it’s never acceptable to use the N-word, inside the workplace or anywhere else. “There’s a big cultural divide between the N-word on whether it should be used or not…It’s not appropriate anywhere, anytime,” said Hughes, and African American. She said that younger people tend to think the word is OK as long as it’s not used in anger. “They think it’s a term of endearment; it’s never a term of endearment,” Hughes said.
Hughes had been serving as the CHRO’s interim executive director since July, following the retirement of longtime executive director Robert Brothers, who had been at the helm for 20 years. Hughes, who for 15 years headed the CHRO’s Bridgeport office, was appointed to the executive director’s position on a permanent basis on Nov. 1.
