That Pesky Word

I dropped by TK's journal to read his latest post; I have him on my alerts.  I can count on him to raise interesting issues that make me think and I wasn't disappointed.  I started to leave him a comment but soon realized that it was going to exceed the comment length, so I'm posting my comment here.  To place my comment in context, you need to hop over to TK's journal and read his post first.

To TK, regarding his post: This is powerful stuff and I admire your strength of character in being willing to put it out here for all to read. 

 

I agree that there is a double standard but I don't think that it is so clear.  I don't use the N-word and I've debated with family members and black friends what I perceive as the harm that is perpetrated when we use the term among ourselves.  However, there is still a difference between one black person using the N-word in reference to another.  The N-word does not have the same power, the same insult, when used black on black.  Maybe it's impossible for a white person to understand and maybe it appears inconsistent, but there it is. 

 

The best example I can give is family interactions.  Siblings call each other names, fight over stupid things and it's all a part of growing up.  But let someone outside of the family pick on your brother or sister and you are immediately ready to stand up for him or her, no questions, no hesitation.  You can thump your brother upside the head for taking your toys but Johnny from down the block better not touch him. 

 

Michael Richards wasn't using the term to be humorous, nor was he using it as sort of an insider term  of affection or camaraderie.  He used the N-word with the full force and  power of the hate and degradation carried with the word.  Our choice about the use of the N-word is an internal struggle, but nothing that we do gives license to any white person to presume to use the term. 

 

There are black comedians that use the term, but they don't use it as a weapon.  It's used to make a point, a sort of insider joke.  Richard Pryor was one of the first black comedians to use the word in his comedy act.  But after visiting the African nation of Zimbabwe, Pryor rejected use if the word. In writing about the people of Africa, Pryor stated, 'There are no niggers here. The people here, they still have their self-respect, their pride.'  Paul Mooney, a black comedian who was a writer for Pryor's comedy shows, recently announced that he will no longer use the N-word, following Michael Richards' tirade at the comedy club.

 

My main objection to the use of the word by black people is not that I believe that it has the same intent when used black on black, but that our use confuses white people, leads them to believe that somehow we are condoning the use of the N-word.  Perhaps it is a part of the schizophrenia that we suffer as a people, a collective internal struggle of identity caused by the peculiar nature of our history in this country, that makes us capable of abjuring the use of the word and allowing it to be used internally.  The majority of black people in the US are not descendants of immigrants.  Immigrants elect to migrate to a new country; our ancestors did not choose to travel across an ocean, packed in the bowels of cargo ships like chattel. After emancipation in 1865, we still were not treated as full citizens of this country.  We were the "other," treated as inferior, not just by social convention but by law.  Truthfully, I am amazed that we have survived with our sense of identity reasonably intact.

 

As difficult as it may be to fully comprehend, the use of the N-word by black people has nothing to do with the use by Michael Richards or any white person for that matter.  Richards is not a young child; he didn't use the word without fully understanding its meaning.  He intended to belittle and insult the black men at whom he directed the word.

 

As for the perception that effective black leadership died with Dr. King and Malcolm, I don't think that is an issue for white America to judge. I realize that this will offend some people.  But in my middle-age years, I've become impatient with the notion that white folks know what black folks need.  We certainly do not attempt to define who is worthy of white leadership.  My personal belief is that we have reached a time when a single, charismatic leader is not the essential force for advancing change.  I believe that the political arena is where the next great wave of change will take place.  Dr. King and Malcolm were necessary at the time, when the entire social foundation of this country was firmly built on a belief of white superiority and black inferiority.  I believe that they successfully cracked that foundation, but that we are still a ways from building a new structure.  I have hope that we are capable of doing so.  I believe that an essential step is to continue to engage in open and honest dialogue.

 

New holiday song is Santa Baby as sung by Eartha Kitt.  This is not a song for the kids!  By the way, previous songs remain available in the entry in which they were originally posted in case you have favorites that you want to revisit.

Tags: race, N-word, race relations, Michael Richards' tirade, racism