End Of The 'N'-Word In Entertainment?

After Michael Richards' Rant, Black Leaders Ask Stars To Stop Using Racial Slur

(CBS/AP)  Black leaders on Monday challenged the entertainment industry, including rap artists, actors and major studios, to stop use of the racial slur that triggered the Michael Richards scandal.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson and others said they will meet with TV networks, film companies and musicians to discuss the "N"-word.

"We want to give our ancestors a present," Jackson said at a news conference. "Dignity over degradation."

Jackson says the Richards episode shows the word still has the power to hurt and belittle, even though it has been co-opted into much of the African-American vernacular.

"We must not profit off degradation and self-hate to a music beat," he said. "We deserve a higher sense of dignity and respect."

Jackson also asked the public to not buy a DVD box set of the seventh season of the TV show "Seinfeld" that was released last week.

Richards, who played the wacky neighbor, Kramer, on "Seinfeld," triggered outrage with a Nov. 17 racial tirade against two black men when he was heckled during a stand-up comedy routine at the Laugh Factory nightclub in West Hollywood. A patron recorded the outburst with a video camera phone.

Richards has made several apologies, including one Sunday on Jackson's syndicated radio program, in which he has said he is not a racist and was motivated by anger.

At the news conference, comedian Paul Mooney said he has used the "N"-word numerous times during stand-up performances but will no longer do so after watching Richards' rant.

"He's my Dr. Phil," the black comedian said. "He's cured me."

Mooney is just one of many entertainers who use the word. In a standup routine, comedian Chris Rock declared that there are "black people and there's niggers. The niggers have got to go."

Asked about free-speech issues, Jackson said the word is "unprotected."

But not every black person feels that the word should be banned. University of Southern California professor of cinematic arts Todd Boyd says today's black artists have embraced the word and use it almost as a term of endearment.

"If you listen to the way Michael Richards used the word nigger and then listen to the way nigga is used in hip hop, it's clearly two different words and it means two different things," he told CBS News correspondent Bill Whitaker.

U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., charged that only situations such as the Richards incident turn mainstream media attention to issues involving the black community.

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Photos: Michael Richards

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"This is not simply about whether or not the black community forgives or forgets. This is about understanding that this is pervasive, that this happens in all of our institutions, one way or the other," Waters said.

[suiteo1]

Can anyone answer a question that has been nagging me for many years? WHY, is it OK for the black population to call themselves the "n-word" without anybody protesting?

I don't think that the entertainment world will ever stop using the word "***" or anyone else for that matter, there is a thing called free speech if they have not forgotten, I have never used the word towards or about anyone, nor will I ever, I will say that if someone were to try to ban such a word "by law" you might just as well shred the "The Constitution"

[yborangel]

Whenever you ban a word you give it more power! Why not try instead to take power away from the word? Make it meaning-less? I KNOW it is filled with past emotion and "baggage" but perhaps now is the time to make it impotent. Banning it in entertainment will never do that.

[mchcone]

I believe that there should be no double standard here. Everyone should stop using the "N" word, blacks, whites, hispanics....everyone! Many times I see comedians who use the "N" word when doing bits about other blacks. This is unacceptable as well. But, I agree with the writer that if we start banning words we may as well tear up our Constitution.

[vancouverboo]

what about the White Trash word, the Cracker word and the Redneck word?
What about the **** word, the kike word and the *** word?
What about the *** word, the **** word and the Queer word?
Hmmm?

[vancouverboo]

w*p and f*gg*t were the two words bleeped out in my message.

[hungry4more3]

Why do white people want to use the n-word so badly? Why do Anglos say "well black people use it, why can't we?"

Because you can't. Accept it. Find another word to say.

This reminds me so much of the resturant that used to be in south called "Sambos" The restaurant served big stacks of real buttermilk, blueberry and other pancake specialties made from scratch, omelettes prepared with only farm fresh eggs and down home, hearty specials like Chicken Fried Steak & Eggs. And then someone complained of the little black guy on the sign.........Oh how I miss Sambos

[cbgb31]

Black Leaders Ask Stars To Stop Using Racial Slur

What? Blacks have leaders? Where have they been as we've had over a decade of the most obscene,violent, racist,misogynistic,disgusting,degrading,deplorable lyrics from black rap stars. Whites have had this *** shoved down our throats, we've had to try to explain the whole gangsta thing to our kids, geez, if only we would have known there were actually black leaders. And now they're calling for a boycott on Seinfeld. pathetic.

[genescamaro]

*****, please!!! It's all B.S. Who gives a rat's *** anyway? The truth....Nobody. It's all about who said it and why. If it's said in jest, everybody laughs....But if a white person says it in anger...all hell breaks loose and every black person out there wants their cut of the money for simply hearing it. That's the simplest way I can explain it.

[fritzalvarez]

This is great! Let's also ban "***." If we are going to abridge speech, why not be constant?
Give a gift to our predecessors who were burned at the stake.
Maybe we can also suggest "Black Entertainment Television" change their name to "Entertainment Television." Let's get rid of prejudice in all of its forms.
Fritz
http://heathenmiddle.com

[fritzalvarez]

F*G F*G F*G that was the word F*G, slang for homosexual. The network already blocked it out.
Fritz

[ourtomorrows]

It is a free speech issue in a sense. However, there is no justification or excuse for a white person to ever use that word. There just is not. Said by a white person the meaning of the word itself is altered and brings spectre of slavery. Said by a black person, it does not conjure the same image or have the same weight, that is just how it is.

It is funny how you learn things sometimes. I had never heard the word before until, when I was a kid, I was watching an episode of the Jeffersons I don't remember all the details, but a white guest star called George Jefferson that. The look that Sherman Hemsley projected for his character spoke volumes. I don't even remember so much what happened after that as I do that look. From that point on I just new it was a word that should never be uttered.

Of course as I grew up and learned about the history of the US it all made more and more sense. But what is etched in my memory as why, even now, I can't ever say that word is that look on Sherman Hemsley/George Jefferson's face.

genescamaro, could not said it better myself

[shanev137]

Jessie Jackson is a race-bating scum bag....not only does he have Richards on his show to let him apologize but then he asked the public to not buy a DVD box set of the seventh season of the TV show "Seinfeld" that was released last week.

Where is this scum bag Jessie Jackson telling America to not buy all this black racial hate rap trash?

SICK SICK SICK

[old300d]

Is he kidding ? That's a big money word. People get millions for saying that word. It would be real hard to have a hit rap CD if it didn't have "N" words on it. The kids love that word.

[shanev137]

"We want to give our ancestors a present. Dignity over degradation."
Jesse Jackson

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then tell all your black freak rapper trash singers (who you're too skeerd to speak out about) to stop giving black people such a bad name.....blacks are -way- more racist than white people have been in the last decade.

[lestb35]

It's blacks that have dummed down the word. You never heard the word unless it was some total racist freak, now you hear it all over the radio. Where was the outrage over that.

[old300d]

If it is ok for black people to say it and not white people than how about people from Japan ? Is it ok for them to say it ? How about if you have a white dad and a black mom ? There shouldn't be a second standard for people with dark skin. How light does ones skin have to be before it is not ok ? Most of us are not black or white.

[old300d]

Jesse Jackson my skin color is closer to brown than it is white and your skin is closer to brown than it is black. I am not white and you are not black.

[djberson]

I think everyone here should go rent the 1974 Dustin Hoffman film "Lenny" about Lenny Bruce. This "N word" debate is not new by any means, but this film offers some very interesting and thoughts on this timely subject.

[old300d]

Are these people upset at Michael Richards because of the color of his skin ? Is that why what he did was wrong ?

[old300d]

I hate that word.

[agnim]

Jesse has dropped the ball on this one.
He's getting side tracked.


The problem is not Black's relatively HARMLESS use of a mere word among themselves.


The problem is, was, and always has been BIGOTED WHITES AND WHITE HATE.
Let's deal with the issue at hand -- this fool, this rabid racist richard. He IS the issue for now.

[shanev137]

if they had been woman and Kramer had dropped the C-word....which talk show do you think he'd have ended up on?

[old300d]

What if it had been a fat person that heckeled him and he called them a fat slob. Whould that mean he hated fat people ? I don't know. I can't see into his heart. Only G-d can. He said he was sorry about a hundred times.

[aeasus]

I hear blacks use the "N" word all the time and noone jumps their case. I agree it's not polite used in a bad context. The problem really isn't the word as it is the intention of hurt behind it. The intention of directing pain towards someone is what's due an appology,and not simply for a word that was used.

[lang76er]

The day we stop protecting words, no matter how offensive or brutal they may seem, is the day we have completely given up on the idea of thought and liberty of mind.

Jesse Jackson is not protecting anyone. He just wants power, same as Maxine Waters. They'll give you the illusion of safety and then strip you of your rights.

[lang76er]

The day we stop protecting words, no matter how offensive or brutal they may seem, is the day we have completely given up on the idea of thought and liberty of mind.

[djberson]

While this situation might call for a press-conference for Richard's to face the music, does this really call for Jackson to organize a press-conference of this scale?? Isn't this giving a bit too much attention to one jerk's stupid comment, in a comedy club... hardly a very big or important forum?? I mean, if someone said this in Congress, OK, but come on.... what Richards did was unpleasant and rude, but hardly a national crisis. And where is Jackson and his press-conference circuses when certain musicians objectify and degrade women, or when other minorities are discriminated against?

[ladycascadia]

I'd say it's about time our leaders stood up and said something about this! Never did like the "N" word...and I can also thing of several other offensive slurs and epitats that could stand to be done away with to...such as the one used against women that rhymes with hunt.

It's time to make comedy FUNNY again...not try to vent hostility, rudeness, racism, sexism, homophobia and just outright meanspiritedness on others and say "oh, it's just a joke" or "I was only kidding" or worse..."I was drunk or high."

[ladycascadia]

For the record, Aeasus,not all black people use that word...and I do think that this assumption that all black people do it is part of the problem. The used of that word by black comedians and artist has exacerbated the problem. So yes, I'd say it's time for them to clean up their act...so it doesn't continue to give the message that it's ok. This is not about protecting speech as it is a matter of respect and dignity.

[Syndicate]

I have actually met some *******. No other word would acurately describe them.

[bluestardad]

WHO CARES?

[bob_burd]

No one is going to take these people seriously until they stop using the n-word themselves. But that'll never happen because they use it to perpetuate their unending culture of victimization at the hands of Whitey.

Oh, the pain those crackers caused us, generations and generations ago. It's still unbearable, you know.

Selah

[mleigh22]

I say let the black people say it all they want. If they want to use a word they was used to degrade them and put them down for so long then i say let them have at it. That shows how highly they think of themselves. Do italians call themselves *****? Do jews call themselves kykes? So I can understand if an italian or jew got upset about someone else saying it. But blacks use the n word so casually so why get so mad about something that they themselves desensitized everyone to.

[suiteo1]

Seems to me it all comes down to how you translate the meaning of the "N" word. I'm sure it means different things to different people. It depends how much "power" you apply to the meaning of that word, which can be destructive. To me, it has always meant the lowest, trashiest form of low-life, with no regard for others, but I have always applied that word to all races. In other words, there is no ONE race that is superior or perfect in any way. I am Caucasian, and I strongly feel that my race has its share of low-life%u2019s who seem to fall in the category of that word. On the other hand, there are blacks who have my utmost respect for various reasons such as education, accomplishments, etc., but I don't care for the low-life%u2019s of that race, or any other, just as equally. I also have very good friends of black persuasion as well as a few other races and rarely is this word ever used among us.

It seems that the ones who are protesting the loudest over this latest word issue are doing it for some sort of attention. No, I don%u2019t agree with Richard's outburst, I think he needs to sort out issues through counseling, but apologies have been made yet it%u2019s not enough. What will it take? When will enough be enough? Jessie Jackson is not the answer, he%u2019s just a catalyst that will make this thing linger as long as he can get a mug-shot on TV whenever he gets the chance.

Is it OK for someone in the audience to interupt his show?, I don't think so, he should have been ejected from the building, no one talks about how rude he was to Richards, perhaps Richards should conter-sue if it comes to that?

[olebd]

Thanks to everybody who thrust Jesse and Al back into the spotlight and gave them something to do. Hey Al, please put the velvet sweatsuits back on. How and why these two became the spokespersons for blacks, I'll never understand.

[craven668]

Yall are a bunch racists yourselves, the reason comedians and rappers use the word ***** so much is to really demean the word so that eventually it isn't as hurtful to black people.I am an ardent seinfeld fan, i think it was the best show every invented but i was shocked when i heard "kramer's" comments. Although it may be hard to beleive, i don't think he is sorry. He didn't really apologize he was protecting his image by saying that he wasn't racist, he was just angry. Mel Gibson was just drunk right...!

[marcpcbs]

If we are going to "Outlaw" the "N" word, we need to outlaw it for every one, including African Americans. I'm white and I hate the "N" word no matter who I hear say it. If we are going to move beyond this word than we all need to put it down.

[naber1961]

Seems funny to me that African Americans use the N word freely amongst them selves. If it is so offensive, then why do they use it to describe each other. Also Honky is a term that is just as bad as the N word, and people of color seem to use that very fluently as well. Racism comes in ALL colors, not just white.

[kemetorigin]

Speech is protected as long is at is not used to incite a riot, panic, or violence. Thus, Kramer's use of the word *** in its context is not protected because it was used vehemently to provoke someone else. Comedians are heckeled all the time. It goes with the territory. Comedians are expected to ignore and continue with their material as are athletes when they are taunted in stadiums. There is no difference. I concur with Eleanor Roosevelt, no one can make you feel inferior without first having your permission to do so. Thus, the word *** has no power unless you allow it. Why are whites so angry about this and using it to dry imaginary and impossible parallels to Chris Rock and Chappelle?

[kemetorigin]

***correction***
draw imaginary

[kemetorigin]

btw, who still uses honky? I haven't heard that in years.
Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton are opportunist who only represent themselves and the unfortunate ignorant souls who haven't the deliberative faculty to stand for themselves. Kramer is not a real issue. Institutionalized racism is. I worry about the closet racists who do not hire minorities, red line minority districts to restrict voting rights, destroy educational opportunities, and whose wives bump into you at the supermarket without even the slightest hint at excuse me because saying such to a person of color enrages them.

[mav80404]

Naber1961, you took the words right out of my mouth. When will people of ALL RACES, COLORS, AND CREEDS stop jumping the "racist" term wagon?! And don't blow me any junk about "*****" being different than "the N-word".... It's the exact same word that was put together out of a slang from people who refuse to learn the basics of the English Language Pronounciation. It's the same word. Be careful all those who say that they are two different words... Because otherwise people will be using "*****" instead of the other term... and it says right here in the article it is acceptable. I like what my Drill Sergeant said the 3rd day of Basic Training... "NOBODY will use that term... not even blacks... because *I* can't use it, so neither can you! FAIR IS FAIR!" I agree... no double standard. Let's put the works on level ground and all agree to either not use the term altogether, or stop complaining about people using it. The way I see it, anything other than those two options is simply hypocritical.

[mleigh22]

You know what I cannot wait for the day (although i will never see it) When there are no races. We will just be one big mixed race. That day is coming and then the stupidity and ignorance won't be an issue anymore.

[mav80404]

mleigh22, I hope you are right. I just want EVERYBODY to be on the SAME playing field... no "it's ok for this race or that race, this creed or that creed, to say and/or do this thing or that thing." Let's just all get on the same page and decide what is and is not acceptable. What is acceptable, don't gripe and complain about (ANYBODY), and what is not acceptable, don't do (ANYBODY)! Seems like a simple enough solution to me. Why do people insist on making it 200x more complicated than that?

[olgreyghost]

Great, because a word is considered offensive, some people want to ban its use, but we have to ask where will it stop? Remember the raucus over the use of the term "*********" a few years back? That term has no racial undertones, but what the heck, Orwell was only a few years off...

[ms38654ob]

Hey, if you can use a word, I can use it too, regardless of the word or the meaning. Anything else is unaceptible.

If blacks want non-blacks to not use the 'N' word, then they have to stop using it too. No double standard!