Florida ? The head of the nation’s oldest and largest black fraternity Saturday called on the black community to ban the N-word from its vocabulary. The offensive racial epithet should be purged from music lyrics, movie dialogue, talk radio and playgrounds, said Darryl R. Matthews Sr., general president of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.

“I don’t know many ethnic groups other than the black community that use such harsh language with each other and empower other people to think it’s OK to use it,” Matthews said in an interview following his address to 3,000 fraternity members attending their annual convention in Orlando.

“The word has evil intent. It’s not a term of endearment. It is not just symbolic.”