When Oprah Winfrey recently interviewed rapper Jay-Z, she made a point to play up their similarities. Like Jay-Z, Winfrey grew up poor and in a fractured family, only to achieve success she'd never counted on. In addition, both moguls say very little about their love lives to the public. But their thoughts on the N-word are where the talk-show host and the rapper part ways.
Winfrey is staunchly against the use of the racial epithet. "When I hear the N-word, I still think about every black man who was lynched--and the N-word was the last thing he heard. So we'll just have to disagree about this," she told Jay-Z.
The rapper, on the other hand, acknowledged that use of the N-word in rap lyrics wasn't necessary but argued that the slur no longer stings as it once did.
"Nothing is necessary," he explained to Winfrey. "It's just become part of the way we communicate. My generation hasn't had the same experience with that word that generations of people before us had. We weren't so close to the pain. So in our way, we disarmed the word. We took the fire pin out of the grenade."
But can the fire ever be removed from a word used to inflict so much emotional trauma? Jay-Z believes that a speaker's intention gives a word power, and, if people stopped saying the N-word, a word meaning the same thing would take its place. What do you think? Is a word just a word, or does the historical context of language matter?
It seems to me that the N-word will always sting, no matter the intention of the speaker, because we're all familiar with its ugly roots. Moreover, I'm not sure that I buy Jay-Z's argument that there's a generational divide around the N-word. I know people Winfrey's age who use the N-word freely, and people young enough to be Winfrey's children who refuse to say it. I myself am several years younger than Jay-Z and would never casually refer to another black person as the N-word. Don't assume this is because I'm not a hip-hop fan. I am. I just believe too much race-related pain exists in the black community to use words that were systematically used to dehumanize African Americans.
During her interview with Jay-Z, Winfrey brought up another reason why use of the N-word is problematic. If blacks use the word casually, so will whites.
"I was once at a Jay-Z concert, and there was a moment when everybody--including white people--was screaming the N-word," she recalled. "I gotta tell you, it didn't make me feel good."
When Winfrey noted that Jay-Z seemed undisturbed by this phenomenon, he pointed out how much good hip-hop has done for race relations.
"It's difficult to teach racism in the home when your kid loves Jay-Z," he said. "It's hard to say, 'That guy is beneath you' when your kid idolizes that guy."
To this, Winfrey said, "I'll give you that."
Comments
I agree with you and Oprah and age is not necessarily a factor. Have you seen ten year old Jonathan E. McCoy’s speech about the “N” word? Check it out http://dioncommunications.com/blog/?p=502
http://www.24-7pressrelease.com/press-release/answer-this-call-rap-artist-jayz-is-challenged-to-a-public-debate-116442.php
N-word is N-word regardless the way it is presented and derogative enough as an insult to any black race. We do not need such comments from Jay -Z be part of the change, change we can believe in and our youths can emulate, this is 21st century. I totally agree with the writer and Ophrah.
There should never be ONE word that all humans can’t speak. That being said, I never hear 1st generation Africans use the word; nor Asian, Latino, or any other nationality/minority that calls America HOME. For too long racism has been a black and white issue. The only people that use the word are racist whites, and racist black. Being white and having friends of every creed, I myself find the word offensive. Unfortanely, until racism dies on both sides, the ugliest word in our language will continue to live on…….
I think the use of the word is ignorant. I don’t care who says it. Do you ever hear Mexicans or Asians refer to themselves or one another in derogatory terms in order to lessen the effect of the word? We’re the only people simple enough to come up with such a lame excuse. It’s embarrassing.
African people think we are weak and silly, because we were raised in one of the greatest countries in the world without all the violence and poverty of places like Rawanda and the Congo, and yet we have so little pride in ourselves and our ancestry that we go around using the N-word like we’re honored to refer to ourselves that way. White people look at this debate and think that we are ignorant. As Spike Lee put it, “Wake Up!!!!”
B7n8uB http://www.cRk2bdPqQls602mIa4bgo.com
jay z (lower case j lower case z) IS AN IDIOT. I WILL NEVER SUPPORT ANYTHING HE DOES. HE’S ANGERED BY A FUED OVER ALCOHOL BUT NOT OVER SOMEONE CALLING HIM A N***ER. STUPID @SS
Angela Dion
Thank you so much for sharing the video of Jonathan E. McCoy. I was so touched and blessed while listening to that little boy. I am a 32 year white woman. I teach my children to respect all people of all colors, sizes, and shapes. My children have been taught that the “n” word is a bad word and is never to be used. My daughter asked me the other day why black people are allowed to say it to each other. I was at a loss for words. It angers me to hear the word from anyone anywhere. My daughter is now learning in school all of the evil that took place during the early to mid 1900s. She and her class were watching Ruby Bridges. It pained me for her to see how evil people were to that little girl.