Fraternal use of N-word still unacceptable

Nigger.

Now before the general Kaimin audience starts running to their typewriters to fire off letters to the editors, let me state that I am an African American, which makes my using that word all right. Or does it?

It shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that race is still an issue in America even four decades after the Civil Rights Movement and nearly 150 years after the abolition of slavery. Just listen in to any affirmative action debate or consider that nearly 11 years later, some people still aren’t over the O.J. Simpson verdict.

Often an issue talked about in barbershops and political science classes, the issue of race has been thrust into the national spotlight due to the rantings of a washed-up sitcom star. For those not in the know, former Seinfeld star Michael Richards, after being heckled at a comedy club by some African Americans in the audience, recently went on a rant littered with racial epithets, often using the N-word.

In the days following his tirade, Richards has received plenty of scorn and been doing major damage control, apologizing profusely to anyone who will listen.

While Richards’ comments were unquestionably disturbing to listen to, they have inserted the controversy over the N-word back into everyday conversation. What exactly makes Richards’ outburst wrong while the lyrics to any 50 Cent song, which are often laden with the N-word, are considered culturally acceptable?

Some will argue that the N-word, which has taken on the form of “nigga,” has cultural significance when used appropriately, which in almost all cases involves African Americans. BET.com recently had an online poll in which 40 percent of those surveyed acknowledged that using the N-word was wrong, but 36 percent of those respondents admitted still using the word frequently.

The N-word has almost taken on a fraternal meaning, making it acceptable for one group of individuals to use it while unacceptable or, in this case, racist for another.

However, this sets up a double standard, which has not gone unnoticed by some prominent African Americans throughout the country.

On Monday, African-American comedian Paul Mooney said he will no longer use the N-word in his act and activist Jesse Jackson suggested that other African Americans join him and Mooney in their boycott of the word. After a trip to Africa in the late 1970s, the late comedian Richard Pryor refused to use the N-word in his act, despite building his career around using racially charged language. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People also denounces the usage of the word.

What Mooney, Pryor and Jackson all recognize is the root definition of the word. The N-word was never intended as a compliment, it was used as a word to degrade our fathers, grandfathers and other ancestors. The Civil Rights Movement was fought, in part, because of the racist attitudes best symbolized by the N-word.

The racial war is still being fought, but we, as African Americans, aren’t doing ourselves any favor by continuing to use a word synonymous with hate and racism. Seriously, what’s the point of denouncing discrimination when we continue to demean ourselves?