11-Year-Old Tries to Abolish the N-Word

The American Spirit: Jonathan McCoy's Speech "A New Petition" Goes Viral on the Web

(CBS)  Two days a week, 11-year-old Jonathan McCoy is at the gym with his mother.

But when this sixth grader is not working out, he is exercising another muscle of sorts, speaking truth to power.

"According to the definition of the n-word, an n-word will never be a lawyer, a doctor or a teacher," said McCoy.

CBS News Chief National correspondent Byron Pitts reports McCoy is on a mission to abolish the n-word.

"It is implausible that 40 years after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., that we still use this word that holds no worth in our lives and our future." McCoy said.

In March, he gave a powerful speech about eliminating the n-word. More than 1,500 congregants at the Empowerment Temple in Baltimore, Md., heard his message.

McCoy's Speech on YouTube
Burying the N-Word
Dave Chappelle on the N-Word
End of the N-Word in Entertainment

"You gave your speech the adults were applauding," Pitts asked McCoy. "What did you think about that?"

McCoy replied, "I think that I am getting to them. I am getting people who are ready for a change."

McCoy is not a childhood preacher, nor is he an activist in the making. But last February, when he couldn't think of anything else to talk about for a speech competition - McCoy came up with the idea to write about the n-word. He won the competition.

Pitts asked, "why the n-word? Why write about that?"

McCoy said, "When it was used, we were beaten - we were put in slavery. And now people just don't even think about that they are like 'what's up n-word?'"

"And you think that's wrong?"

"Yes I think it's wrong."

The speech has gone viral. More than a million people have watched it on YouTube and more than 2600 people have signed his on-line petition promising never to use the n-word again.

Morehouse College in Atlanta was so impressed they invited this eleven year old to speak to their freshman class.

But he has met some resistance.

"I say 'don't use the n-word,'" said McCoy. "And some people just said, 'shut up.'"

"Discouraged when people say be quiet," Pitts asked.

"No, because that encourages me more to give a positive message."

Of all the attention he's getting now, McCoy said, "it's pretty cool but I don't let it get all to my head."

Gifted and talented, McCoy plans on taking his message all across the country until the n-word is gone.

[Hosheen]

He has a good idea and a good heart. But he if he believes he can make black people stop using it in everyday speech and no-talent rap "artists" leave it out of their "performances", he is going to be in a very long uphill battle. Ignorance is not the sole property of white bigots.

As I told a black friend that says the "n-word" incessantly, "When you use that word, you're giving permission for everyone else to use it, too."

His reply was. "It's just a word. It really has lost it's original meaning long ago." He may be right and we're making much ado about very little.

[joymotte]

I love this young man's ambition and drive. I'm glad he has a dream. He is a gifted speaker. I congradulate him.

[barbaram99]

My late aunt taught me this as I asked her what race am I...Her answer We are human beings and there is one race that being human. As humans we are all shades of colour from white to black. I have meet a black man whose skin whiter than me.
When I first heard the n word said I was appalled and had no idea what it meant..I trully did not..I knew it was a rude word. My birth Mum said darkie and I never heard it said. So I knew what her meant.. i was floored. Mother heard it as a child I guess. Words have power.
It is a child making a difference and asking everyone to not use it. We can say the negro. Dr King was for all persons. The founding faters wrote and talked in english so that is this nation's touge.

[sam-kiley]

bonsoir
by harp3coat October 24, 2009 9:26 AM EDT
Young Mr. McCoy is a person with a noble ideal, but a misplaced cause.
pourquoi ça une cause perdue et impossible..il suffit de le vouloir, d'essayer de changer ces mauvaises habitudes acquises au fil das années
et toutes ces idées transmises de génération en génération.héritage d'un
passé souvent douloureux..


He represents a future that America has not evolved enough to accept, a non "racist" society. His day will come, but it will probably be his grandchildren who enjoy it.
justement votre société cultivée et civilisée a évolué dans tous les domaines, il faudra peut qu'elle essaie de le faire dans ce domaine aussi
vous vivez ensembles depuis des dizaines d'années, vous devriez vous acceptez au lieu de vous mépriser...les uns les autres..ne t'en fait jonathan ce "N.word" qui te fait autant de peine disparaitra un jour c'est une certitude..tu es courageux jeune homme..tu devrait te présenter aux éléctions présidentielles pourquoi pas... au revoir

[brianbwb-2009]

Bonsoir

La cause est mal placée parce que le mot est seulement un symptôme de la vraie maladie. Guérissez la vraie maladie, la raison le mot a vu le jour du tout, et les symptômes disparaîtront. Au lieu de cela, le " ; Whites" ; souhaitent simplement continuer leur xénophobie, sans conséquence à lui-même. Ils sont seulement jaloux parce que maintenant ils ont peur pour employer le mot, car maintenant leur haine a des conséquences, ainsi ils se plaignent au sujet de notre utilisation d'un mot qu'ils ont inventé.

La société américaine, et la plupart des autres, feignent seulement pour être civilisées, mais il y aura toujours des victimes de la réalité qu'elle n'est pas, et tant que il y a des victimes de la nature vraie incivilisée de la société, les mots nécessaires pour décrire les causes existeront.

But then you already know this.

[Virgil-1]

James gave a warning of the evil poison of the tongue. He described some who try to use their tongue as praise and blessing to God, then turn around to use their tongue to speak evil of one another. ?With it we bless our God and Father, and with it rue curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so? (James 3:9-10). We cannot use our tongue to curse and bad-mouth our brethren, then continue ?business as usual? with our relationship with God. The Bible says that such tongue behavior is characteristic of hypocrites. ?The hypocrite with his mouth destroys his neighbor... ?(Prov. 11:9).

[brianbwb-2009]

Ignoring truth also is generally accepted as being against the commandments given Moses by his "god". The word was coined to further the cause of pre-judgment against people, and their subjugation, another folly advised against.

If there ever was a God, (which I do not believe) then He/She/It left this place, or died long ago.

The word is proof of the transgression against fellow humans, and exists as testimony against those who coined it.

This word is becoming like a cross to those guilty of its creation, now they pretend to be unable to bear it, when the truth is that they are unwilling to accept that there are now consequences to their intolerance. Too bad for them.

[Lawyers-Guns-n-Money-01]

by brianbwb-2009 October 24, 2009 9:51 AM EDT
As Bob Marley sang, "None of them can stop-a the time".
========================================

Redemption Song!!!

THE best Marley tune -- hands down.

[brianbwb-2009]

Agreed, simple, elegant, and oh so true.

[harp3coat]

by brianbwb-2009 October 24, 2009 10:04 AM EDT
Aww, you are just frustrated because we have taken the single most obvious symbol of the centuries of crimes against humanity by you and your forbears, and hold it constantly in your face. We endured it for four hundred years, what's the matter, you can't hang?

You obviously don't like the way it looks, but it is only a reflection of you.

You call it the gutter of society, that speaks volumes for the "whites" who coined, used, and continue to use it, as well as those who don't openly use it, but still advocate and practice the hatred, intolerance, and discrimination that originally engendered it.

In fact we should and will hold it there until the last vestiges of the ethnic intolerance that is in your nature is finally cleansed from your being.

And you, like all the others, still fail to show where Mr. Foxx errs.

brianbwb,
I'm going to say it like it is BRO. You are a prime perfect reason why blacks cannot overcome as a people. Your level of abject stupidity will keep you being a worthless n i g g e r. You desire to be that? Than fine, BE IT. But in the end, you will still be like many who will blame, beg, and eventually become criminals because of a uttermost gutter mentality. Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, W.E.B. Du Bois DID NOT STRUGGLE FOR THE LIKES OF YOU.

[brianbwb-2009]

No, you say it like you think it is, and your thinking is obviously strained by lack of experience. You, by your own nature and choice, are not my "bro", and it is actually funny that you would even try to use that word.

You have yet to refute what I have posted, your logic is non existent, only calling people names whose points you don't like, but still you can offer no logic to show where I am in error.

You said forget about Mr. Foxx, it was you who brought him into the discussion.

You have thus been reduced to hurling the very epithet you decried earlier, and so I have made you un-mask and expose yourself for what you really are.

Another one bites the dust.

I don't beg, as you have nothing worth begging for.

Nor do I blame, as you cannot help the social deficiencies that are part of your nature.

I simply remind you of what you are, by holding your own attitude up there in your own face, and you respond with the typically predictable reaction.

As for a calling me a criminal, just like all your other statements, where is your evidence, what logic backs your claim? LOL!

You dare mention Dr King and Malcolm X?

In fact you and your ilk celebrated the deaths of those heroes, because you opposed everything they worked for, indeed their deaths came from the hands, or the orders of people of your ilk, and now you want to bring up their names? They struggled because of the likes of you, had you and your forbears possessed even an inkling of humanity, empathy, and an understanding that such practices are always doomed, such a struggle would not have had to take place.

You are really funny, klem, perhaps you should write for Rush, his comedy routine is right up your alley.

And so again, with no logic to refute the posts, yet another redneck exposes his true nature.

Gets them every time.

[Lawyers-Guns-n-Money-01]

by 2easy2bme October 23, 2009 10:47 PM EDT
So DUDE, you actually think rocks are one of your higher life forms.
==========================================
Most of the rocks I've encountered are more intelligent than you. So yeah, if we're grading on a curve, you're responsible for dragging our species down below inanimate objects.

[harp3coat]

To see what this young kid wants to accomplish is noble and sad at the same time. Noble because he is fighting not just one people but two, one white and the other black, and also because it is right. Sad because his fiercest adversary will be the same color as he is, black. It will be the ignorance of blacks who use the N-word all over the place and never intend on stopping that will make it impossible for the kid to accomplish this in his lifetime.

[brianbwb-2009]

It is indeed right, but for a future that many like yourself still resist.

It is also the ignorance of "whites" who practice the exact same intolerance and discrimination, but without the word itself, who never intend on stopping, that will make it impossible for the young man to accomplish his goal, in fact, as he grows older, and is more able to understand the socio-economics behind it, and learns more about the historical manifestations, he will probable come to see the light differently anyway.

All it will take is a couple unwarranted police harassment incidents, or refusals from banks to lend business capital, or when he learns that the "white" person in the same status as he pays less insurance, then he will understand what the word means.

[harp3coat]

Young Mr. McCoy is a person with a noble ideal, but a misplaced cause.

He represents a future that America has not evolved enough to accept, a non "racist" society. His day will come, but it will probably be his grandchildren who enjoy it.

The rich and powerful still need to sow division to maintain their status quo, their sycophants still hope for crumbs from the table, so they follow, and those with no self-esteem still seek to regard others as lower than they, and the pimps will always seek to make money assuring their suckers that "Blacks" are a threat to themselves, and that by contributing to them they will "protect" the "White race".

The word itself will cease to have a negative connotation from the mouths of "Whites" only when the discrimination that engendered it ceases.

Mr. Foxx states a valid case, and to date no "White" person has been able to put forth a credible response, and so fall back to insult.

Perhaps by instead showing where Mr. Foxx errs, you would have stated a valid response, and would be among the first "Whites" to do so.

Forget stupid, dumb, ignorant Jamie Foxx and you need to get over his celebrity status because he is still stupid. Again, IT IS AMAZING THAT BLACKS ALWAYS CONDONE THE MOST GUTTER OF SOCIETY AND TRY TO MAKE IT A "COOL" THING WHEN THEY DO IT OR SAY IT. Jamie Foxx cannot change that fact because he contributes to it.

[brianbwb-2009]

Aww, you are just frustrated because we have taken the single most obvious symbol of the centuries of crimes against humanity by you and your forbears, and hold it constantly in your face. We endured it for four hundred years, what's the matter, you can't hang?

You obviously don't like the way it looks, but it is only a reflection of you.

You call it the gutter of society, that speaks volumes for the "whites" who coined, used, and continue to use it, as well as those who don't openly use it, but still advocate and practice the hatred, intolerance, and discrimination that originally engendered it.

In fact we should and will hold it there until the last vestiges of the ethnic intolerance that is in your nature is finally cleansed from your being.

And you, like all the others, still fail to show where Mr. Foxx errs.

[harp3coat]

Blacks use that lame tired-old excuse that when they use it, the context is different. It is amazing to me how blacks always distort to the gutter of society in anything and then say it is different when they say it or do it. What is so degrading about this gutter mentality is that blacks are the only ones that do it. Jews don't go around saying "what's up my kite" or Mexicans saying "what's up my *******". ONLY BLACKS!! And then they unbelievably try to justify it with self-loathing and stupidity on the lowest level.

[brianbwb-2009]

And now we have "Mr. Cunning Linguist" here to try to explain that of which he obviously has no knowledge.

No, Jews don't call each other "kike", but they call us "shvartzers", as in "don't give credit to the shvartzers". You have heard that phrase, have you not?

Mexicans also don't call themselves whatever word the censorbot jacked from your post, but they also do have their own pet epithet for us.

The word itself was coined by ignorant dyslexic whites, unable to pronounce the Latin for the color black, which is "negro".

Your own statement about how "Blacks always"...etc., is itself evidence of your own racism. I myself have no need to use it, unless I want to refer to the most obvious example of the hate visited upon people like me by the xenophobic descendants of slave mongers and holders.

The fact that some "Black" people do use it but you are now afraid to, is a small step of irreversible progress as society evolves beyond your outdated prejudices.

Just think, your parents weren't afraid to use it, and the politicians they voted for were not afraid to use it, because they met no consequence for their use. But now you will meet social, economic, maybe even physical consequences, should you decide to.

Might as well get used to it. Your ancestors created the problem, and you rode the advantage of their creation, but now your time is almost up.

As Bob Marley sang, "None of them can stop-a the time".

[mawskrat]

is the word ********* gonna go down the memory hole also?

[harp3coat]

Black people use the N-word against each other more than whites ever could. Blacks have a monopoly using the N-word. And it does not help this young kids cause when you have stupid idiots like Jamie Foxx condoning the use of it. And then there is the unbelievable stupid "gangster" rappers who act like it was never a bad thing.

[brianbwb-2009]

Young Mr. McCoy is a person with a noble ideal, but a misplaced cause.

He represents a future that America has not evolved enough to accept, a non "racist" society. His day will come, but it will probably be his grandchildren who enjoy it.

The rich and powerful still need to sow division to maintain their status quo, their sycophants still hope for crumbs from the table, so they follow, and those with no self-esteem still seek to regard others as lower than they, and the pimps will always seek to make money assuring their suckers that "Blacks" are a threat to themselves, and that by contributing to them they will "protect" the "White race".

The word itself will cease to have a negative connotation from the mouths of "Whites" only when the discrimination that engendered it ceases.

Mr. Foxx states a valid case, and to date no "White" person has been able to put forth a credible response, and so fall back to insult.

Perhaps by instead showing where Mr. Foxx errs, you would have stated a valid response, and would be among the first "Whites" to do so.

[scgirl7]

brianbwb just can't see the use of the n word as anything but a white thing. But the only people I ever hear use it are black people against each other or black rappers and black comedians in general. Make all the excuses for them you want, brianbwb, but it's primarily black people who use this word. Your anger is misdirected.

[brianbwb-2009]

Just like those below, you don't get out much, just read the posts below, like the "samy" person, then repeat that lie.

Go to the suburbs of Detroit, Chicago, Kansas City, Los Angeles, all of Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Massachusetts, in fact any of the 50 states, and then repeat that lie.

Maybe it is a selective thing, you only hear it when a "Black" person says it, and perhaps it is so deeply ingrained in your psyche that you don't even notice when the usual "White" people you hang out with in your bunker use it.

Or maybe you never go outside in your neighborhood, never spoke to your own parents, and only listen to "rap" music, as these are the only situations that could possible make your claim possible.

Again I ask, and so far none of you have dared attempt an answer, If you claim not to use the word, but still practice the discrimination behind the word, what is the difference between you and the kkk, other than your slightly higher degree of hypocrisy?

[excoachken]

The use of this word is simply restricted to fools who are not creative enough to get their point across with manners or even more simply Racists. In 36 years of teaching and coaching high school in a northern suburb, I only remember hearing a student say it two times. Amongst adults, however, who thought they were in the company of a person born before the Civil Rights era and clearly Caucasian, I think perhaps I've heard it used just a couple of times a year. But, now as a college coach, I must put up with the N word hollered at the highest level of volume, while visiting college and some high school stadium loud speakers, during pre-game warm ups. Just what is the source, Rap Groups that seem to feature the degradation women and others. And, those groups belong in the definition that I put at the start of this thread.

[brianbwb-2009]

I also grew up in the Detroit area, about as far north as a major central US city gets, and I can assure you that I heard the term several times each day from "Whites", and as is evidenced by many of those posting here, the whole issue they have is that they want to use it, but are too cowardly to face the now inescapable social ostracizing and other similar consequences,

So now they whine complain about our use, even though the context, and therefore the word itself, is different, and it should be obvious that the public knows the context, responding accordingly.

C'mon Ken, you have been posting here for quite a while, and such a weak rationale is far below your usual level of intelligence.

[kcits]

by brianbwb-2009 October 24, 2009 9:06 AM EDT
I also grew up in the Detroit area, about as far north as a major central US city gets, and I can assure you that I heard the term several times each day from "Whites",
=============================

The point you are missing is that the word will never go away as long as black people continue to use it. It is sad that they do.

[brianbwb-2009]

kcits

The point you are missing is that as long as the intolerance, discrimination, and hatred continues to be directed at us by those who are now afraid to use the word itself, we will continue to use it to sum up their entire justification for their nature, and put it right in their faces.

What is sad is that we still have to.

[skyk-2009]

Now IF we could just convince the BASE of the Republican Party....

[g-gfather]

We make many choices in life,our race is NOT one of them. You and I are distinguished by our humanity only. For all the children.

Great-Grandfather.

[longtree-2009]

they call each other using the n word and it's probably even in their music. there are many words used by many groups of people to describe them from the n word to burr head and so many more. for a while their comedidan used it regularly. comedians of other groups use words to make fun of their race. it will never go away. either use the words, don't use the words, or deal with it because others use whatever words.

[skyk-2009]

longtree-2009, YOU are part of the problem here aren't you? IF you have no more concept of what this Boy is saying than this, maybe you should think about a Night Course or two.... LOL It was just a week or so ago that HBO had a Documentary about the attempt of Morgan Freeman to get a small Mississippi Town to have ONE prom for their High School. THAT is what this Boy is talking about and what YOU should be trying to understand here. As long as we have people THIS uneducated and UNWILLING to change, it's going to be a struggle.

[dropie1]

the usa cannot abolish the 'n' word for a sinple reason. english is not their official language, and the word is a normal one in the english language

[RCHOBO]

I cannot believe some of the comments on here. I will refrain from classifying you people as I feel you have done a fine job representing yourselves.

This has nothing to do with free speech or self-expression. This is an 11 year old kid asking people to voluntarily refrain from using a word that has a lot of baggage associated with it. He isn't asking the government to outlaw the word or make the use of the word a hate crime. All of you are overreacting. If you are so attached to the word, ignore the kid, and continue using it.

I am white and a Constitutional Conservative. I do not use the N word and I know few white people who do. I find it extremely ignorant to use the word because of the historical significance and emotional baggage attached to it. I would like to think I live in a society where we do not need to use derogatory labels. However if you chose to use the word, feel free. I will just assume it is because you lack the intelligence to define a person as an individual with more thought.

In my opinion the people who are really keeping this word alive are black rappers and the black community. For those of you to lazy to listen to this kid, his message is also directed at this community as well. You assume because the young man is black he must be pointing his finger at white America. He isn't. He is pointing his finger at EVERYONE who uses this outdated derogatory term. Again, your attacking a little kid and lumping him in with the "poor pitiful me black liberals" because you see all blacks the same way. The problem is with your perception. That is also why you see no problem using the N word.

As a Conservative American I can see how a Marxist like Obama can land in the White House. Sometimes you people leave your humanity and common sense at the door and attack things you don't understand for no reason...and common Americans run as far away from you as they can get.

Newsflash: I am as Conservative as they come. That doesn't mean I am required to give up my humanity or common sense. So stop with your ignorant tirades at an 11 year old kid who is just asking people stop using a derogatory word just because you are sick of how black leaders over the years have played the race card way too many times. They are unrelated issues.

[brianbwb-2009]

You are indeed as conservative as it gets, because there is a point you don't see, even though your post suggests that you do possess the intelligence.

If you, or your company discriminates against "n-words" but simply refuses to use the term, what is the difference?

The word is still used, because the context still exists.

You say "In my opinion the people who are really keeping this word alive are black rappers and the black community."

But you ignore the inescapable fact that those keeping the concept alive are the insurance firms, banks, police, schools, churches, and even charitable organizations, government institutions, and all others who discriminate against people because they belong to this ethnic heritage are the ones keeping it alive, in our music we simply remind that the word sums up the total justifications used by those who so discriminate.

You want to pretend that discrimination still does not exist? Then ask yourself, what is the concept of "social conservatism" if not an agenda to force people to conform to the social dictates of others, i.e., discrimination?

Most of us don't want to even try to "be like you", this is why we struggle for centuries against people like you.

Ex-Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Kwan Yew, when asked about a recent trend for Singaporean Chinese females to bleach their hair and wear blue contact lenses, said "It is not illegal to try to be like the whites, but if you think they will accept you as one of them, you are mistaken, your Asian heritage is in your face, they will never accept you as an equal."

Wise words, learned from history.