Oh boy did Paula Deen get herself into trouble !!! She said “The N Word” !! As a result, her corporate sponsors and business partners have cut ties with her and cancelled contracts worth millions of dollars. The Food Network that made her famous won't renew her contract. Wal Mart, Target, JC Penny and Sears have cancelled all future orders for her branded merchandise. Even Caesars Entertainment will be pulling her name off her restuarants in their casinos. Really?
I'm not advocating the use of racial slurs or treating people of a given race unfairly based on their national origin. I'm just not so sure that people are as offended by the use of the word as these corporations think, or that people should be that offended. Let's face it. There's a lot of insulting language in the world, and there's a slur for just about every race. There's Beaners for Mexicans, Chinks for Chinese, Wops for Italians and Micks for Irish. But strangely enough, there's no such thing as “The B word” or “The C Word” or “The W Word” or “The M Word”. And why is that? Because all the other racial slurs haven't been deemed unspeakable like “The N Word.”
Isn't that a form of racism in and of itself? Isn't it a form of discrimination to imply that using a slur against African Americans is an intolerable act worthy of dismissal from your job while using the other slurs is not nearly as offensive? Would her sponsors have cut and run like they did if she would have used “The W Word”? I bet they wouldn't have.
Indeed, as a result of the O.J. trial, there is a perception by some that “The N Word” is possibly the most venemous, vile, offensive word in the English language. Case in point, in the movie “Grand Torino”, Clint Eastwood portrays an aging Veteran who drops racial slurs like nobody's business. He uses words like Mick, Wop, Zipperhead, Spics and Gooks. But he never uses “The N Word”. Even though his character has extreme racist qualities, “The N Word” is still considered off limits.
So I guess no one can say “The N Word” then , right? Wrong. Rappers still use it on a regular basis. Comedian Chris Rock has several very popular routines centered around it. And when used by these people, no one seems to be offended. And they shouldn't be.
After all, it's just a word. The word itself has no power. It's power comes from the context in which it is used, and the intent of the person using it. It can be used to hurt and degrade people, or it can be used to make people laugh. Yes, laugh.
Wouldn't it be nice if we could all relax and not be so uptight about the labels that are sometimes thrown around? Aren't there bigger concerns in the world to address than this? My Dad is Filipino and is married to a Mexican woman. Their Facebook profile is FlipnBean. They are obviously neither racist or overly sensitive to mere words. I think it's awesome that they haven't bought into this thing I call "The Culture of Hypersensitivity."
It seems odd to me that while we are so hyper sensitive to matters relating to race or gender, we are totally immune to other things that we should find far more offensive. For example, the 1946 Disney classic "Song of the South" has never been released to the public in it's entirety for fear that the G rated movie contains racial stereo types. Meanwhile, a movie like the hard R rated "Evil Dead" contains scenes of rape, self mutilation, decapitation, and all manner of blood spewing violence, and is praised by critics as being "gleefully bloody".
I think as a country and as a culture we've got this backwards. I remember growing up in the '70s and watching the Norman Lear produced sitcoms like "All in the Family", "Good Times", "The Jeffersons", and "Chico and the Man". By today's standards, all of these shows would be considered racist because of the language they used, but in reality, they were actually quite complimentary to people of color.
"The Jeffersons" showed that a black family could be as sucessful as their white neighbors and stand on equal socio-economic footing. "Good Times" depicted a family, like many, that had very little in terms of material or financial resources, but still relied on the strength of the family unit and still believed in the ethic of hard work.
Other shows like "Sanford and Son" and "The Flip Wilson Show" made comedians Redd Foxx and Flip Wilson household names, and we all tuned in and laughed. We laughed with them, and there was never an ounce of hatred towards the cast because they were black. We embraced them and we were color blind. White audiences laughed at the character of Archie Bunker because his views were so far from being reasonable that is was comical, while black audiences laughed at the antics of Fred Sanford and his grumpiness. We laughed at each other and we laughed at ourselves. But most importantly, we laughed together.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KunVw2WQE8
(caution - if you click on this link, you will hear the word "nigger" - ooops, I mean "The N Word.")
It seems odd to me that while we are so hyper sensitive to matters relating to race or gender, we are totally immune to other things that we should find far more offensive. For example, the 1946 Disney classic "Song of the South" has never been released to the public in it's entirety for fear that the G rated movie contains racial stereo types. Meanwhile, a movie like the hard R rated "Evil Dead" contains scenes of rape, self mutilation, decapitation, and all manner of blood spewing violence, and is praised by critics as being "gleefully bloody".
I think as a country and as a culture we've got this backwards. I remember growing up in the '70s and watching the Norman Lear produced sitcoms like "All in the Family", "Good Times", "The Jeffersons", and "Chico and the Man". By today's standards, all of these shows would be considered racist because of the language they used, but in reality, they were actually quite complimentary to people of color.
"The Jeffersons" showed that a black family could be as sucessful as their white neighbors and stand on equal socio-economic footing. "Good Times" depicted a family, like many, that had very little in terms of material or financial resources, but still relied on the strength of the family unit and still believed in the ethic of hard work.
Other shows like "Sanford and Son" and "The Flip Wilson Show" made comedians Redd Foxx and Flip Wilson household names, and we all tuned in and laughed. We laughed with them, and there was never an ounce of hatred towards the cast because they were black. We embraced them and we were color blind. White audiences laughed at the character of Archie Bunker because his views were so far from being reasonable that is was comical, while black audiences laughed at the antics of Fred Sanford and his grumpiness. We laughed at each other and we laughed at ourselves. But most importantly, we laughed together.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KunVw2WQE8
(caution - if you click on this link, you will hear the word "nigger" - ooops, I mean "The N Word.")
Ohhhhh, Craig! Bravo on tackling this subject with grace and tact. You make some excellent points. What about "Cracker" for a white person? That word is used a lot without repercussion.
ReplyDeleteThis was my favorite line, "We embraced them and we were color blind." Awww.... yes, yes we did.. and we still do if we are lucky enough to catch a rerun. I agree that moving forward in society means for all cultures -- if we are going to be corporately disgraced by the use of one slang term, we should be disgraced by them all.
Bravo again! I truly enjoy reading your writing.