His voice comes through soft but pointed. He remembers his childhood in the Jim Crow South and understands the daggers of inequality and the tarnish of discrimination. </p><p>&ldquo;I went through that,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;My generation.&rdquo;</p><p>Larry Johnson Sr. said that he vowed so many years ago that he would teach his children to treat everyone with compassion. He said he raised them to consider everyone equal, regardless of race, gender, beliefs or sexual orientation. He said it hurts that his son, Chiefs running back Larry Johnson, used gay slurs in public two times in 24 hours. </p><p>&ldquo;That&rsquo;s just not who we are and not what we believe,&rdquo; said the elder Johnson, 56. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not how he was raised.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s tough for me as a father.&rdquo;</p><p>He said young Larry learned that hateful or inappropriate words are &ldquo;just not tolerated.&rdquo;</p><p>On Tuesday, Johnson learned that lesson again. After he issued an apology, the Chiefs instructed him to stay away from their headquarters and barred him from all team activities. Johnson remains on the roster, and he will continue to be paid. He was similarly benched for three weeks last season before being suspended by the NFL because of his alleged involvement in separate skirmishes with two women at Kansas City nightspots. </p><p>The Chiefs did not say how long Johnson would be out or whether he might face further punishment from the team or the league. An NFL spokesman said this week that the league is investigating the matter. But Johnson wasn&rsquo;t at the team&rsquo;s complex Tuesday, and his locker was undisturbed. </p><p>It was at that locker where Johnson muttered a gay slur to reporters on Monday morning, hours after he posted disparaging remarks on his Twitter profile about Chiefs coach Todd Haley&rsquo;s lack of football playing experience. </p><p>&ldquo;Get your faggot ass out of here,&rdquo; Johnson said after saying he wouldn&rsquo;t speak publicly until Thursday, his normal day of meeting with the media. </p><p>On Tuesday, Johnson apologized in a statement released by his agent, Peter Schaffer. Neither incident was addressed specifically, and the apology was directed toward Haley, the Chiefs&rsquo; fans, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and Johnson&rsquo;s teammates. </p><p>&ldquo;I regret my actions,&rdquo; the statement read. &ldquo;The words were used by me in frustration, and they were not appropriate. I did not intend to offend anyone, but that is no excuse for what I said.&rdquo;</p><p>Rashad Robinson, senior programs director for the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, said Johnson&rsquo;s apology was a good start. Robinson said it was a sign that Johnson takes seriously the inflammatory nature of the slurs, and Robinson said he hopes Johnson learned the hard way that words can be damaging.</p><p>&ldquo;For him to use the word and feel that it&rsquo;s OK,&rdquo; Robinson said, &ldquo;it&rsquo;s disappointing and really reminds us of the ongoing challenges we have in our community.</p><p>&ldquo;We hope the statement is the first step. He has a real opportunity here. There are kids no doubt being bullied in Kansas City and across the country. This is one of the many words that get hurled at them to &hellip; feel ashamed of who they are. He (Johnson) is in an opportunity to be a role model for young people.&rdquo;</p><p>Johnson&rsquo;s father was his role model, and he said his son&rsquo;s words didn&rsquo;t match what he was taught. Johnson Sr., the defensive line coach at Penn State University, was raised in Williamston, N.C., and he remembers the segregated water fountains and the split schools.