I defy anyone to watch Sherri Shepherd, Barbara Walters, and Whoopi Goldberg discuss the N-word on The View and not feel ... uncomfortable, regardless of what race you happen to be.
Addressing the objectionable name of a hunting camp frequently used by GOP presidential candidate Rick Perry, Goldberg looked straight into the camera and said the N-word (using the whole word, flat out, no euphemism), which the producers bleeped out. "It's so hard to know what to say now," Goldberg said. "So I just use the word."
Walters, who knows a hot topic when she hears one, leaned in. "I find that so interesting that you did," the veteran newswoman said. Then, apparently taking her cue from Goldberg, she mentioned GOP candidate Herman Cain's own use of the term (not the euphemism) and used it herself. (Perry is white; Cain is black.)
Walters was also bleeped. But bleep or no bleep, Walters' use of the word upset View tablemate Shepherd.
"OK, that's the difference between the way you and Whoopi say it," Shepherd said.
"When I heard you say it, it was fine," Shepherd said, referring to Goldberg. "When I heard you [Walters] say it, I didn't like the way you said it." And then Shepherd said it herself -- and was bleeped.
Ultimately, Shepherd acknowledged that, though she occasionally used the word with family and friends, when she heard a white person say it -- no matter the context, no matter the intent -- there was "something that goes through my body."
And while Shepherd's logic is confusing, she couldn't have been clearer about the way the N-word made her feel -- terribly uncomfortable and angry -- when it was uttered by a white person, even one who had been sitting companionably across the table from her for years.
Goldberg was similarly clear about her relish in using the word, saying she enjoyed saying it specifically because she knew she wasn't supposed to.
As defensible as I think Walters' use of the word was here -- she was saying the word only to be clear in reporting, and it can be complicated to convey the use of a word without using the word yourself -- it is also regrettable in that it caused her colleague (and presumably others) discomfort. Perhaps that alone is reason to avoid it in all instances, especially if you are white.
On the other hand, Goldberg's point raises interesting questions: The N-word is ugly, its history terrible. But should it be expunged or explored? Does our refusal to utter it help it retain its power, or if we use it dispassionately (as in reporting) or even casually (as heard on the street and in music), do we deprive it of its power?
I don't know the answer. But I do know that even talking about it right now makes me shift in my seat. I find it brave of The View women to have waded right into one of the stickiest subjects around.
What do you think? Do you think it's ever OK to utter the N-word? And does your race make a difference?
Image via ABC
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Comments 28
I think the issue is that it's always used (especially by white people) as a negative term. My redneck family whom I don't really identify with, uses it constantly and it's always as a derogitory word. I know when I hear it I flinch. I also don't know why, if it is viewed as a bad word, why it's used at all by other races. I don't think it should matter - it should not be said.
If black people didn't throw the "N word" around like it was nothing, then neither would anyone else. White people don't call themselves "cracker" in songs, then tell you not to say it too.
A race can't own words. If you all don't like hearing it, then stop saying it.
Ni**a please.
If black people didn't throw the "N word" around like it was nothing, then neither would anyone else. White people don't call themselves "cracker" in songs, then tell you not to say it too.
Brilliance and truth in two sentences. I have nothing to add.
I especially love how a few years back when Jennifer Lopez used the word in a song and everyone was in an uproar about it. Then P.Diddy (or whatever he called himself at the time) publically pardoned her saying it was ok. I was thinking ok just because youre famous doesnt mean you speak for every black person. I tend to agree with Lucretia if you don't like it don't say it. I think people tend to choose to ake a big deal about it. I know that every black person I ave as a friend or a family member has always said that it doesnt bother them because they can choose what to get upset about or not. They choose not to be offended by it because that just gives the person saying it more power over them than they deserve. Of course I am white so what the hell do I know.
I don't. Don't make blanket statements
I have heard in mixed company white people call each other by racial slurs and that makes me uncomfortable. So don't just say foolish things whem you have no proof to back up your words. Ever heard of a singer named uncle cracker?
I think it's rude, offensive, and inappropriate. I feel uncomfortable saying it, and I would never say it in the presence of a black person, or any person really. I have no use for that word. But....I agree with everyone else. You can't expect to run around shouting that word wherever you please, whether it be in songs, movies, real life, whatever, but then get pissed off because a white person says it. Come on, really? If a black person doesn't want that word to be used towards them or around them, or takes offense to it, then set an example and don't assume you have a free pass to use it yourself. Hypocritical, to say the least.