The N Word and the Entertainment Business

The n-word continues to be commonly used by black entertainers, writers and musicians. In recent years, however, some notable African Americans have criticized its use by blacks across the U.S. Those critics of the n-word say they do not draw a distinction between the version of the word ending in -er and the one ending in -a; both are reprehensible, they argue.

Some critics, including the comedian and former sitcom star Bill Cosby, have argued that the continued use of the n-word by low-income black youths serves only to exacerbate their marginal status in society. In a controversial 2004 speech delivered at the annual meeting of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, a civil rights organization, Cosby referred to young African Americans as "dirty laundry":

"Your dirty laundry gets out of school at 2:30 every day, it's cursing and calling each other niggers as they're walking up and down the street. They think they're hip. They can't read. They can't write. They're laughing and giggling, and they're going nowhere."

A November 2006 incident brought the n-word directly into millions of Americans' homes. That month, Michael Richards, a former star on the sitcom Seinfeld, was performing stand-up comedy in a Los Angeles nightclub when several African-American audience members began heckling him. Richards responded with an angry, racist tirade in which he used the n-word several times. Video of the performance turned up on a popular celebrity-gossip Web site, causing an immediate media firestorm.

In the days following his outburst, Richards appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman to apologize, swearing that he was not a racist. Black leaders, however, called for a boycott of Seinfeld DVDs. They also pledged to meet with media moguls--including heads of record companies, television networks and film studios--to discuss the use of the n-word in popular entertainment. They argued that if the entertainment industry stopped using the n-word, then society as a whole might do so as well. "We must not profit off degradation and self-hate to a music beat," said Jesse Jackson, the president and founder of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition. "We deserve a higher sense of dignity and respect."

In the months following the Richards incident, the governments of New York City and Los Angeles both passed nonbinding resolutions banning all forms of the n-word within city limits. Because outlawing specific words is unconstitutional, both resolutions are merely symbolic; residents of the cities cannot be punished in any way for uttering the n-word in public. Nevertheless, city leaders praised the resolutions for making people more conscious of the harmful nature of the n-word. "People are...denigrating themselves by using the word, and disrespecting their history," said Leroy Comrie, the black New York councilman who sponsored the resolution, which passed unanimously.

One town, however, tried to legally ban the n-word. In January 2007, the mayor of Brazoria, Texas--a town in the greater Houston area with about 2,800 people--attempted to pass an ordinance that would have outlawed intentionally offensive use of the n-word. Violators would have been subjected to a $500 fine. According to Brazoria mayor Kenneth Corley, who is white, "When whites use [the n-word], they use it to hurt. When the black community uses it, they disrespect themselves." Corley added that polling showed that Brazoria residents--10% of whom are black--overwhelmingly supported the proposed law. However, the ordinance fizzled after legal scholars informed Corley that it would have been unconstitutional.

In April 2007, another public figure became embroiled in a racially charged incident. Talk show host Don Imus spent a portion of his show Imus in the Morning discussing the recent NCAA women's basketball championship game, in which the University of Tennessee in Knoxville prevailed over Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J. Imus said that the women on Rutgers's team looked "rough," adding, "That's some nappy-headed hos there." Within a week, Imus was subjected to immense criticism, from both the public and various civil rights organizations, such as the NAACP. After several major sponsors pulled out of his show, CBS Radio and the cable television network MSNBC both announced they would cancel Imus in the Morning. (In December 2007, Imus was hired by WABC talk radio for its 6:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m. time slot.)

Imus's defenders maintained there was something hypocritical about the outrage surrounding the "nappy-headed hos" comment. They noted the word "hos"--a diminutive form of "whores" and a disparaging term for women--is prominent in many forms of entertainment, especially rap songs. Defenders of Imus said that anyone who called for Imus's firing had an equal responsibility to boycott other forms of entertainment using similar language.

Although the n-word did not play a direct role in the Imus controversy, it nevertheless loomed large in the debates that followed. Shortly after Imus's firing, Russell Simmons, the co-founder of the rap label Def Jam Records, called for an industry-wide ban on the use of the words "ho" and "bitch," as well as the n-word, from the radio-edit versions of rap songs. The NAACP backed Simmons, noting that it had been criticizing offensive language in rap music for years. The following year, the rapper Nas, who records for Def Jam, made headlines when he attempted to name his next album Nigger. Eventually, however, Nas bowed to pressure from Def Jam executives, and the album was released untitled.

In July 2008, the n-word again re-entered the national conversation. While taping a segment for Fox News, Jesse Jackson uttered the n-word into a microphone that he believed was turned off. Jackson was chatting with a fellow African American, criticizing then Sen. Barack Obama for "talking down to black people...telling niggers how to behave." Jackson later apologized for his comment, but many proponents of the n-word said that Jackson was being especially hypocritical, because he had so vocally campaigned against the n-word in the past.

Sources

Bonisteel, Sara. "Texas Mayor Singles Out N-Word for Ban." FOXNews.com, January 24, 2007, www.foxnews.com.

Coates, Ta-Nehisi. "Leave the N-Word Alone." Time, March 5, 2007, www.time.com.

Cooke, Jeremy. "Racial Slur Banned in New York." BBC News, March 1, 2007, www.bbc.co.uk.

"End of the N-Word in Entertainment?" CBSNews.com, November 27, 2006, www.cbsnews.com.

"Fox: Jackson Used N-Word in Remarks." MSNBC.com, July 16, 2008, www.msnbc.msn.com.