The N Word and Stuff

Let me state right from the start that Michael Richards', outburst at the Laugh Stop last week was indeed in poor taste, mean spirited and downright childish. BUT, and this is a big BUT here, does it deserve this much, overblown, hysterical media hype? The indignation from the black community of, "Can you believe what he said?", doesn't ring true with me...and here's why.

I am white, I live in the South, I subscribe to HBO, I have neighbors who listen to Rap music... I hear the word "nigger" on a fairly regular basis and almost always from black lips. What gives? Either the word is offensive, demeaning and cruel or it isn't... I'm sorry you can't have it both ways. If you would simply substitute the name Chris Rock or Dave Chappell in the place of Michael Richards then all of this becomes a non-story and why is that? Simple, hypocrisy from the black community and white guilt.

I am a big fan of stand up comedy and comedy clubs, I have seen literally hundreds and hundreds of live stand up performances. I have heard black performers call black people in the audience "nigger", a lot. I have heard black performers call other black performers "nigger" but it's a non issue because to use the word you have to be a member of the club, you have to be black. That does make a bit of sense to me... but not much. 

I have also heard a ton of black stand ups refer to the whites in the audience as honkys, crackers, white boy and white trash. No outrage...why? Because of white guilt... it's very much okay to take shots at the white population, especially southern whites (hicks and rednecks) if you prefer, because, "they have it coming". It's a fairly popular routine among black stand up comedians to talk about what's wrong with "white America", about the things that stupid "white people" do. Eddie Murphy created the standard "white" accent that most black performers still use on stage today. Where's the indignation from the white population? Where is the demand of apologies from "white" leaders and law suits for this outrageous behavior? It's not there and never will be... because there is no one word for whites that carries the hurt, anger and suffering that "nigger" does. It's pretty easy laugh off being called cracker or honky, basically because both words just kind of sound funny... "black" America has tried and tried to find a word to match the power of "nigger", they never have and never will.

So here's my point, how do I convey to my 15 year old son that "nigger" is an offensive word, especially to blacks, when that's exactly where he hears it from. He doesn't have first hand experience with the struggle of equality, the turmoil of the sixties or the victories of Martin Luther King. All he knows is that DMX and Ludicrous say "nigger" or "nigga" if you prefer, all the time, that black kids at school refer to each other that way and that black comedians on HBO get big laughs with the word. How in the world, black America, do I teach my son not to call you what you call yourselves?
So, yes, Michael Richards was dead wrong to call members of his audience "nigger"...BUT Chris Rock is just as guilty...stop the hypocrisy and start the healing.