Just when you thought that human civility had found its way into mainstream America, think again. Say hello to the “N” word. You know, the one that European soccer fans use at games?
But wait, I am talking about black Americans who use it in normal jest and white Americans who use it at the dinner table. Either way, it is a word that has been described as deplorable when used by the other. If it’s not Richie Incognito‘s freedom of usage, which appears to be condoned by his confused African-American teammates, or the defiant response by the likes of the most confused Charles Barkley and the always eloquent Michael Wilbon, who have made it perfectly clear they will continue to use the word.
While most of us have used the word for a variety of reasons, nothing justifies its usage by anyone. Yes, we are all guilty as charged. Guilty for picking and choosing when the word conveniently fits our needs. Guilty for frowning upon someone else for using it in front of the “wrong” people, only to use it ourselves when they leave the room. Guilty in encouraging our young people to use the word in lyrics and in so-called “art” without their understanding how demeaning the word is and the price people have paid over the years so that a race of people would not have to hear it said without punishment to those who say it.
And yet, where are we going with this subject? Simple answer, nowhere.
People selectively get mad at its use, and it’s easy for those who use it in a disparaging manner to say that “your own people use it.” The best retort is, “Yeah, but you are not one of my people.” That’s telling them.
In sports, its use is as common as fair or foul or off-sides or a dunk. It is used by players and fans alike, and yet when it comes out of the wrong mouth many cover theirs in disbelief.
It took the late Richard Pryor a trip to Africa to understand the meaning of the “N” word to the point he vowed never to use it in his act ever again. Pryor had to travel that far to feel the hurt it caused. We have people in the sports world who happen to be black who may need to take a trip to Africa to hopefully understand the big picture. One problem. They should take their white counterparts with them.
There is no gray area on this matter. The word, no matter who says it, is hurtful. What it has stood for all these years is as low as you can go, and yet athletes use it with little penalty. The Philadelphia Eagles’ Riley Cooper was caught on YouTube dropping the “N” word, and the worst he got was a few days off from training camp.
Incognito had the stupidity actually to believe that the word is an accepted word by both blacks and whites in the locker room these days. Sad thing is no one in his locker room was smart enough to call a time out and remind him what the word means to black people, at least when white people say it. That’s a sad collection of black people in the Miami locker room, to say the least. They are not alone.
For the likes of Barkley, Wilbon and Matt Barnes who say they will continue using this offensive word, shame on you. Spare me with “I am not a role model” speech, as you are in the business to be watched or read so it comes with the territory to set a sane, educated example.
I had come to have great respect for what they all have done in their fields. Barkley is a Hall of Famer who has made his NBA on TNT work must-watch TV. Wilbon is the gold standard for African Americans, if not all people, who aspire to venture into this industry as he has not taken the bait of being in the buffoon club in order to stay on the air.
Barnes is a tough guy in the NBA who has no problem defending his teammates, which is almost a lost art. While he is of the younger set, he should know better about the word and its impact.
I am wondering how those who keep the “N” word fire burning would explain the “N” word and its impact to Isaac Phillips and his family? Phillips woke up recently to see the word painted on his house. Phillips is a high school football player in Worcester, Massachusetts, who comes from a bi-racial family and has been the subject of various hate crimes that are now being investigated by the FBI. He was the lone black player on the team.
