Sticks and stones: The View discusses the "N-word"

Say what you want, but I actually do enjoy watching "The View." Once you're done judging, we can talk about how on October 3rd's episode the women of The View discussed the use of the "N-word."  

The topic sparked on "The View's" "Hot Topics" segment after Rick Perry (current governor of Texas and running for the Republican endorsement for the 2012 presidential election) belonged to a Texas hunting club on a property that was named after the N-word.  You will not see the word in this blog, but it was actually used by Whoopi when discussing this issue.  


Whoopi said "It's so hard to know what to say now, so I just use the word." Barbara, then said it was interesting that Whoopi would use the word because Herman Kane said it as well and then Barbara then used the word as well. 


Sheri's reaction was to say "he said, what?" as if she had no idea what this conversation was about.  She also said there is a difference between the way Whoopi and Barbara said it.


 Sheri then said that it was okay when Whoopi used it, but she did not like the way that Barbara said it.  She tried explaining that when Whoopi said it she used a different dialect than Barbara did.  Sheri also mention that this word is one she uses around family and friends.


Barbra tried to explain that she gave herself chills when using it, and Whoopi gave her chills as well when she said it, Sheri was still upset with her.  


So if it's okay for Whoopi to say it why can't Barbara?  Because Barbara is white? According to Sheri, yes.  "When white people say it, it brings up feelings in me," she said.  She also said "you're Barbara Walters you can do whatever you want."  Kind of an argumentative thing to say to your boss, don't you think?


Whoopi, however says, she doesn't care if Barbara says it as long as she's not calling a black person the N-word.  She is reporting, which happens to be her job.  When Sheri then said "Well you still say it differently than Barbara" Whoopi's reply was "Well I say it differently because I have a good time when I say it because I know I'm not supposed to." --To which the audience and Sheri laughed.  I think there would have been a very different reaction had Joy, who is also a comedian, said that.  


Sheri says regardless of Barbara reporting or not, she can't say it.  It's just different.

The use of language is a tricky one.  Certain words mean bad things, certain words connote bad things, and more and more we are having to be careful of what we say so as to stay politically correct.

I was actually once told that now it is not PC to say "Brainstorming" when coming up with a list of ideas.  It is more PC to say "thought-showering" because people who suffer from epilepsy actually have brain-storms.  -- It really is getting hard to keep up.

Living in America we are given certain rights, and under the first amendment we are protected for the freedom of speech.  This has been brought to the Supreme Court a number of times regarding hate speech and every time the banning of hate speech has been denied.  Not because our country wants people to be hurt by words, but because as the Supreme Court has decided, we can't protect the rights of some and not others based on personal views.

I found it interesting that throughout the show the n-word was edited out but when they said what they referred to as the "Italian equivalent" it was able to be said on television.  So if it is the equivalent why is nobody getting chills and getting as offended?  Joy is Italian and didn't flip out on Sheri the way Sheri flipped out on Barbara.  

Since I am a female, and I allowed to use the "c-word" but get offended if a male uses it in the same way?  In the Vagina Monologues there is a whole monologue called "Reclaiming (C-word)." It talks about how black people have reclaimed the n-word and how now females should reclaim the c-word. Same goes for gays reclaiming the "f-word."  The word "queer" has been deemed to have been successfully changed by the gay community, so an argument that stands for the n-word and the c-word is to change the meaning.  Make it mean nothing.  Is that ever going to be possible? Who knows..


The women of "The View" also talked about the use of the n-word in Tom Sawyer, but I think they really were referring to Huckleberry Finn.  I remember reading Huck Finn in high school and when we were reading it out loud in class we were advised to say the word "slave" every time the "n-word" appeared.  I found that in some ways worse.  Making the word slave a synonym to the n-word just validates every negative connotation the word has ever taken on.  


With every generation that goes by the words we say keep changing.  African American or Black have both been determined at one point or another to be the politically correct.  Erasing the word from our memories and history is just empowering the word.  Furthermore, I think the never-ending conversations surrounding the word are also empowering it.  


The conversations are tiresome and always end up in a battle of racism. "It's because I'm black" or "It's because I'm white." I think we stop giving these words the power over our emotions.  Why use the words at all? Even if you are a women, or if you are black, or if you're gay why reclaim them at all?  I think just as clear points can be made without the words.  I never think to use them in my daily vernacular, so why should anyone else?  We don't have to forget they exist or forget the history they have behind them, but we can take power over them by letting them have no part in our conversations. 


The links to view the conversation of these hot-topics on the view are below:

The View | Video | Hot Topics: Using the "N-Word," Part 1The View | Video | Hot Topics: 

Using the "N-Word," Part 2