Friday, February 2, 2007

THE 'N' WORD BUZZ AND BLACK HISTORY MONTH



By Eric K. Williams


The jury is out over whether a symbolic ban on the ‘N’ word will have a long lasting impact on New York’s youth. The jury is also out on just how committed those who appeared at a City Hall news conference are in supporting the call. Yet, one elected official is dead serious about stemming the long-term use of the word in popular culture, to a generation largely removed from the Civil Rights era.

More than a dozen civic leaders, elected officials and those in the entertainment industry joined Leroy Comrie, a New York City Councilman, on the first day of Black History month to press the point. It was an impressive list of public faces among those standing with Comrie at his City Hall news conference. That list included Dennis Walcott, Deputy Mayor; Manhattan and Queens Borough Presidents, Scott Stringer and Helen Marshall. At least ten City Council members stood with Comrie including David Welprin, Gale Brewer, Oliver Koppel and, Robert Jackson. One noted recording artist included Rap and Hip-Hop pioneer, Curtis “Blow” Walker. The symbolism of the announcement on the first day of Black History was not lost to those present.

Black History month, as it is commonly understood, is a period where the nation takes time out to learn of the contributions of one of America’s oldest ethnic groups. This “month of education,” Comrie argues, presents the perfect time for “re-education” about a word that is “horrible” whatever the intent may be.

Comrie (D-Queens,) a mild mannered man, was emotional in an interview on the subject hours before his council chamber presentation. He said he was aghast about the growing, and general use of the ‘N’ word in everyday public life and, also, in present day American society. His dramatic decision to introduce a symbolic city council resolution calling for a ban was one attempt, as he put it, “to re-take our children.” What was particularly perplexing to Comrie was the general acceptance and use of the word among the young. He took aim at those in the music and entertainment community that is, largely, dominated by Blacks. Comrie said that many of the city’s young, particularly Black and Latino youth, are confused about the word and, fail to understand that their self esteem is diminished whenever they use it. He said by going public with the ban he has hopes that the city’s youth would eventually “eliminate the word from their vocabulary.”

In recent months the move to participate in symbolic bans on the “N” word have gathered steam in several sectors, including commentary on the topic in the popular press. The New York Daily News columnists, Errol Lewis and Stanley Crouch, respectively, had written numerous segments criticizing Hip-Hop lyrics for use of the word. Lewis, more recently, had supported the move for a symbolic ban among artists and policy makers in a late December 2006 commentary. In at least a dozen American cities, including those with smaller Black populations, symbolic bans against the ‘N’ word has taken root. Efforts in cities such as Minneapolis, Minnesota and Portland, Oregon, led by Black elected officials first gained notice last Spring.

At Comrie’s news conference Jill Merritt and Kovon Flowers, founders of the Brooklyn-based “Abolish the ‘N’ Word Project,” spoke first. Merritt said that their fight “is not just a fight against a word but, a war against a mentality.” Use of the word re-enforces a mentality to accept less, rather than more, she said, adding that much is lost in self-pride and is counter to the interest of current day Black youth. Citing other world events from the slaughter of non-Muslims in Darfar, in The Sudan, to the national battle to stem the tide of AIDS, Merritt said the call by Comrie was a “giant step in the right direction,” to reverse a sorry trend.

Kurtis “Blow” Walker, a Hip-Hop pioneer of the genre, challenged the Rap and Hip-Hop generation to not only stop using the term, but to “try to see themselves differently.” To quit using the word, he said, is a positive step toward changing the mentality of the community.

Dennis Walcott, a surprise participant for a Deputy Mayor, took off his title and spoke from the heart, saying he is more than a deputy mayor and called himself “a man of the community.” He said that many who use the word don’t know the history of it, the origin, and how it’s use “goes to the heart of the person’s value of self, value of community and a person’s value of their worth.”

Richard Basciano, owner of the comedy night club the Laugh Factory, said he was ‘bursting with pride’ to be there and to take part in the symbolic ban on the word. It was in December when Michael Richards, the former television situation comedy actor who uttered the N word during a flagging performance at the comedy club’s Hollywood setting, that may have helped to generate momentum towards such calls for the ban. Basciano said that incident was “the kick-off” to eliminate use of the word at his Laugh Factory venues.

Nearly all who stood with Comrie spoke at the news conference. Of note, it included an emotional plea by Helen Marshall, the Queens Borough President, for young people to take time out to learn more about recent Black American History. Marshall attributed her rise in politics directly to the gains of the Civil Rights movement. She is the first African American woman to hold the post of Queens borough president in the City's history.

Until now, New York’s Black elected officials were among the last of those calling for a ban of the word in the nation’s big cities. It remains a controversial call and, it also raises constitutional questions over the right of freedom of speech. Comrie said that he plans to use the rest of February to visit city schools, discuss Black history and challenge students to write essays on the matter. The best of the finished essays would be read aloud at City Hall near the end of the month. A vote on his resolution after Thursday’s introduction to his council peers will likely come up at the next Stated Meeting.


Eric K. Williams is a reporter for Pacifica Radio's WBAI-FM and Executive Director of the International Access Networks, a web-based media center. Link to www.ifilm.com/video/2818928

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Hey there!



I think it's a wonderful article Eric and, it's so true that it is a
demoralizing utterance to the heart of the person. And the young ones don't understand the real meaning of the word. That's why it is bantered around by them and, I think that we should promote anything we can to make not only the African American but, the whole indigenous community of the world understand the meaning of the word. I know I would hate my kids to be called the "n" word and, I would get in that persons face, and ask them why? I want my children to be exposed to positivism in their lives and proud to be a Native American, and who they are, and most of all, proud of their culture.

I think that it is a wonderful article and needs to be spread worldwide and
you wrote it with compassion, and understanding, without making it sound
over the top. That's just my opinion


Carmel M.

Cheyenne, Wyoming







Eric,

right on! Especially as Joe Biden has put foot in mouth launching
what I trust will be a failed bid for the Democrat nomination.

Personally, I have long been puzzled why young Blacks use that word to one another. I guess they think they're street-smart, and putting down one another.

I remember my North Carolina brother-in-law using the word "nigra" in referring to blacks, but it was not pejorative. He would use the term
"nigra" as a way of describing who he was talking about, and I don't
think it dawned on him that the word in this day and age is
inherently offensive.

But the education part is what has to happen among the young.

Best wishes,


Linda H.

Eastern Long Island, NY





Well written Eric...a clean, lean article...



I would add a call for an end to the word "ho", too...



not by force of law (a First Amendment no-no)...



...just by peer pressure...



'bout time, no?



Lenny G.

Boston, Mass.





Wonderful work, Eric. I really enjoyed this article. Thanks for passing it on. Your career as a writer has begun...



Love ya-



Lana S.

Toronto, Canada







Eric,



When do you want to come on my show to discuss this issue?



Today would be good because a New York City councilman wants to ban the'n' word.



If not today, another day would be fine.



Thanks,



Gary B.
Roselle, New Jersey

paltalk.com





Eric - you write terrifically well! You know there is this newspaper upstate - in the town of Hudson New York that is looking for a full-time reporter and will pay salary + generous benefits - and that town is a LOT cheaper to live in than NYC - plus, you'd be Eliot Spitzer's neighbor and can appraise him about issues affecting the rural black communities of upstate New York - of whom NO ONE is speaking about or off or for or even knows they exist - there's niche for you - think Pulitzer

Best – Ilze B.

Albany, New York







Eric,



Here's some feedback on your article. Congratulations on the upcoming
publish!

Since you asked for feedback here is mine. Never ask again unless you
sincerely want to hear it from me. I do have strong opinions and enjoy any
opportunity to express them. Great structure and grammar.... but content?


It's rather one-sided and a bit flat without the depth I appreciate in your
questioning and approach I hear on WBAI.

I have been listening to your commentary on the N word on WBAI. On one hand
I applaud the movement to "ban" the N word. I hope the "kids" listen to
granddaddy of rap now...but he might be too much like one's parent saying
don't use that word son! I remember clearly when my daughter came home from
school and told me her classmates called here a nigger bitch. They were
black. We were both so hurt and angry! hmmmm. I hear it all the time in the
street when the Black high school kids are on their way to or from school.


Isn't it interesting that the most prevalent usage is among Blacks referring
to themselves and the young hipster rapper white kids are gingerly using it
to gain acceptance into the rap world rather than using it to alienate, they
are using it to show how cool and comfortable they are with the N word?

I believe the word has lost it's sting for a lot of the young people using
it so freely and yet it remains a surefire wound opener for the older
generations. It's kind of cool that to have turned a term around to a
friendly greeting and almost a term of endearment... hi ya niggah!... that
by using it differently and using it so much, it has lost it's original
meaning in that particular context which was meant to be degrading. Rather
like, queer or faggot or dyke. Terrible terms and yet adopted within that
culture the usage became so common among the "insiders" that it has lost
much of it's power to hurt and has become widely adopted by that "outsider"
culture or lifestyle. I hear the term "girl" in the corporate world again
now, such as "I'll get the office girl to do it". Well, in my feminist heart
I get a little red... hey they are NOT GIRLS they are WOMEN! Still, the
people using it may not have the same context of how hard we fought to have
neutral gender language instituted in the media and corporate world and
academic schoolbooks he/she he/she instead of he and him... remember, even
the Bible was attacked because of the constant male focus of the language
he, him when he is to be noble he must blah blah, when a doctor give you a
pill he must etc.

Also, why is the same attention NOT being given to the word BITCH which has
taken a huge market share along with Nigger. They are not calling it the "B"
word. And in fact, why is it called the "N" word? The word is nigger ok?
Let's address it and, if you'll excuse the off-color pun, call a spade a
spade?

Just adding a little alternate viewpoint here just for discussion's sake. I
know most people are jumping on the bandwagon to see it as B.A.D. (yet
another example of BAD being really GOOD, something ILL or WICKED is
something really special and great), but I enjoy exploring the other side of
the coin.

But in closing, I think there is far too much censorship now, and if we are
to have freedom of speech, we must allow everyone to speak freely lest we
become Big Brother or is that BIGGIE BROTHAH?

Love,
Boo

Manhattan





P.S.- To finish my rant, when Curtis "Blow" said on the radio he was a veterinarian, and, "there were a lot of sick animals out there..."(referring to the Black youth") I wonder if a White person had said that, if there would have been public outrage over the analogy!



REALLY nice piece on the blog. A pleasure to read and be informed by. Have you ever considered a career in media?



Ha!
:-)