The "N" word
Nov. 28th, 2006 02:26 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lurkittyI remember being shocked one day as a kid watching Shirley Temple in "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm". A sweet young child - she must have been 9 or 10 at the time - dressed in a frilly gown that was snowy white on the black and white TV screen. She had been out playing with the servant children, who were black and dressed in Hollywood shabby clothes (it wouldn't do to upset folks by being too real. This was supposed to be an uplifting picture). She came running into the house later and was asked what she wanted for her birthday.
"I want a nigger-baby!" she replies.
I still recall being flabbergasted. Shirley Temple, the epitome of sweetness and light, the kid I knew my mom always wished she had, had just dropped the N-bomb in my living room. Growing up, there was no more forbidden word than that (at least until we learned the word "cunt").
I still wince internally when I hear that word. I saw Richard Pryor live, I know all about the movement to take the power out of the word. As a tool to diffuse the violence of race riots, it was brilliant. It's a time honored way of dealing with bullies that call you names: take the power out of the word. A lot of other black comedians picked it up. It became quite fashionable to use the word.
No one was prepared to hear a white comedian use the "N" word with bile and hatred in his eyes. Michael Richards' audience kept waiting, even hoping, for a punchline that never came. The hate was real; Richards had a real breakdown onstage and said what he said and meant it at the time. It was no slip of the tongue.
Richards has apologized over and over again. Many prominent African Americans aren't accepting his apology. This may mean the end of his career (disclaimer: I'm no Seinfeld fan - I watched one or two episodes and never found him funny in the first place).
This debacle has resulted, however, in an awakening within the African American community to the fact that continued use of the "N" word has not served the purposes of promoting understanding and harmony. It is, rather, an unwelcome and unnecessary reminder of a past best left to the history books. In recognition of the fact that use of the word is causing more harm than good now, Congressman Maxine Waters, Rev. Jesse Jackson and other African American leaders have called for a voluntary effort to stop using it.
The Laugh Factory announced today that it would begin fining performers who use the word.
Perhaps we need to remember why such words are disturbing before we can finally put them to rest.
"I want a nigger-baby!" she replies.
I still recall being flabbergasted. Shirley Temple, the epitome of sweetness and light, the kid I knew my mom always wished she had, had just dropped the N-bomb in my living room. Growing up, there was no more forbidden word than that (at least until we learned the word "cunt").
I still wince internally when I hear that word. I saw Richard Pryor live, I know all about the movement to take the power out of the word. As a tool to diffuse the violence of race riots, it was brilliant. It's a time honored way of dealing with bullies that call you names: take the power out of the word. A lot of other black comedians picked it up. It became quite fashionable to use the word.
No one was prepared to hear a white comedian use the "N" word with bile and hatred in his eyes. Michael Richards' audience kept waiting, even hoping, for a punchline that never came. The hate was real; Richards had a real breakdown onstage and said what he said and meant it at the time. It was no slip of the tongue.
Richards has apologized over and over again. Many prominent African Americans aren't accepting his apology. This may mean the end of his career (disclaimer: I'm no Seinfeld fan - I watched one or two episodes and never found him funny in the first place).
This debacle has resulted, however, in an awakening within the African American community to the fact that continued use of the "N" word has not served the purposes of promoting understanding and harmony. It is, rather, an unwelcome and unnecessary reminder of a past best left to the history books. In recognition of the fact that use of the word is causing more harm than good now, Congressman Maxine Waters, Rev. Jesse Jackson and other African American leaders have called for a voluntary effort to stop using it.
The Laugh Factory announced today that it would begin fining performers who use the word.
Perhaps we need to remember why such words are disturbing before we can finally put them to rest.
