Friday, September 12, 2008
Nigger...Nigga....The N-Word....What does it mean to you???
While in my boredom I happened to stumble across Dr. Phil (yea I know) and the topic for the show was...The N-Word debate. And he had 4 guests on the panel, some white conservative radio talk show host, black comedian Sheryl Underwood, black comedian Paul Mooney, black actor/writer Hill Harper, and the Rev. Al Sharpton. Throughout the show they would play clips of audience members and what they thought about the word. Some people, black and white, said it was okay for black people to use it and not okay for anyone else to say it. They also had people, black and white that said no one should use it. And they had people up there, black and white that said everyone should be able to use it. Some of the audience members said that black people should get over slavery and the word because it didnt happen to them and they are perputating racism by using the word and by always talkin about it. The guests, well I should say Paul Mooney, came off like a militant black man but everyone else sounded someone educated. I know this is poorly worded and all over the place but it leads to this one question and I know there has been this debate before and some people are tired of hearing about it but, what does the N-word mean to you? And how do you react/feel when anyone says it?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Man... shucks. I don't think anyone should be using it in any of its forms.
I still remember the first time I heard someone use the n word without intending it to be offensive. I must've been in like 3rd grade, and this white dude that lived across the street was telling me and my brother some story about school. He used it a few times - never directed to us - but I knew when he said it that I didn't like hearing it. By the time I got to middle school, though, I heard it every day, so I guess it stopped bothering me.
I also remember a few years ago (I think you were there) we were at JMU and one of our white friends was drunkenly giving me directions and said "turn left here ____er!" Of course, he had used the word before, without the -er if that matters, but he realized that this was wrong and apologized right after he said it. It didn't really bother me, and thinking about it right now had me laughing my ass off.
But I guess the best thing to do would be to have everyone avoid the word, even though that's not gonna happen. The argument that black people say it so everyone else can sounds stupid, but it does kinda make sense.
Post a Comment