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Monday, November 27, 2006
Do you have an n-word double standard?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Michael Richards, who played the goofy neighbor Cosmo Kramer on “Seinfeld,” recently made ugly racial remarks and used the n-word after two black men allegedly heckled him during his comedy routine.
Richards, who was rightfully taken to the whipping shed about his racially insensitive remarks, has apologized for his hate-filled language. Hopefully, he has learned his lesson, has had a change heart and genuinely won’t want to use such distasteful language in public or in private again.
What bewilders me is the double standard that millions of African-Americans and others have when it comes to who can use the n-word.
We cringe and become outraged when any white or non-black person uses the demeaning word. Yet even those of us who dislike the word and never utter the n-word ourselves have an eerie tolerance and acceptance when African-Americans refer to each other this way.
Updated hip-hop versions of the n-word are often part of the repertoire of black comedians and the lyrics of black rappers.
Many of the same people who are angry at Richards for his use of the n-word spend good money to buy the CDs and attend the performances of African-Americans who use the n-word throughout their work.
Moreover, many African-American youth have claimed the word and use it with familiarity and camaraderie with each other. They are seemingly indifferent to the historical roots as well as the psychological pain and exclusion that the word has caused for countless other black people.
The other day while visiting a convenience store in my Duluth neighborhood a trio of young black men who appeared to be in their late teens to early 20s casually called each other the n-word and other expletives.
I cringed inside with embarrassment each time they spoke that infamous word. There were no white people in the store, but I wondered what the Indian clerks and the Latino customers thought, if anything , about hearing the young black men shout the n-word.
I wanted to pull one or all of those young men aside and share with them my pain in hearing that word spoken by anyone, but especially by them.
I know that words reveal our innermost thoughts and I prayed that deep inside those young men really don’t believe that they or their buddies are that word.
I lacked the courage to speak up that day. I should have said something to them about using that degrading and inflammatory word. If the offenders had been white I would’ve dug deep inside myself and found my voice. I was uncomfortably confronted with a double standard.
Why could I have found the courage to challenge racists and not the courage to counsel misguided young black men who could be my sons about the perils of the n-word?
This inconsistency about who can use the n-word and who can’t is the reason the word still thrives among whites and blacks.
The next time I hear that vile word used by anyone, I will challenge them. I promise.
Do you respond differently to whites or blacks who use the n-word? Why?
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