Topic : 09/12 The N-Word Debate

It seems to me that there is reverse racism going on.  Blacks can use N***** in their songs and raps but Whites aren't supposed to say it.  Where's the logic in that?  If they can use it about themselves then they shouldn't  get all in our faces when we or anyone else uses it too. 

Besides....aren't there more important things to work on in this world of ours besides the use of a word?

It was very telling when Paul Mooney said that blacks using the N-word among one another is like "honor among thieves" or "a whore calling another whore, a 'whore'". His words illustrated the problem of the word's entering history as a derogative/pejorative expression, and now being used as a term of endearment. OK, let's consider the whores. They would use the name in friendship to dispel the value judgment placed upon them by the ones who insulted them. Doing so nullifies the word's sting. Yes, I can see how the N-word took on a similar transformation culturally, so that now only black people use the word in friendship, but its not something that a white person is permitted to say--or more appropriately, that someone with an ill intention of any race is permitted to say. The problem is--then the insult is still there in the shadow. Furthermore, so is the passive-aggressive response to the insult by changing the word's usage to an intimate endearment. It mocks the original intent. The word makes whites feel uncomfortable (usually), because of this--the shame of its origin. The word grew as a way to say, "Your words are fine with us because we love ourselves and can remove your value judgment against us." Perhaps that was appropriate for a time, but is it still? Why should being black, and loving being black, continue to foster the same kind of value-dismissive communication of thieves and whores? It doesn't contribute to where people need to go today in terms of equality and respect. There's so much pain from which to heal. I think the more that people like Paul Mooney recognize its growth throughout history and decide that it's a word that should be obsolete altogether--not spoken or even thought--the more equality and respect will grow, as it should.

Again, regarding Paul Mooney, I watched him closely. I've never heard of him before today. But am I the only one who can see the pain written all over his face? He's funny and bright, but he has clearly suffered racism--it's visible. I don't know how the woman on the show could call him a racist. That's like calling the kid in school a 'bully' who has been beaten so many times that he has his fists up and ready for a fight. We can't blame a victim of racism of being racist. That adds insult to injury, truly. The most we can do is individually choose to express ourselves in ways that aren't offensive and provide food for thought to others to do the same. If we do, eventually racism will die. We can help it along by not partaking of its constraints. After all, a whore is still a wrongdoer and can rightfully be insulted as such, but is it kind? But being black is not wrongdoing, and the sooner we stop the insulting word, even as dismissively endearing, the sooner we will one day look back on the N-word and laugh at how strange people were back then. Get the idea? It matters. Changing the smaller issues, like the words we use, can help to change the real and bigger issues--like the fact that people ever thought it was a bad thing to be black and treated blacks unequally and disrespectfully because of their wrong thinking. It's a very complex subject that warrants complex thought and strategy to change. No matter who you are, be a part of the solution.