By Darren Anderson
As you may have heard, there’s been a lot of discussion this week about the acceptability of the “n-word” after Bill Maher said it on air on Friday night. So I just want to clarify my position here: I’m not racist, I just think I should be able to say the n-word and have been ceaselessly arguing that point with anyone who suggests otherwise nonstop since last Friday night. That’s all!
Let me be clear, I think racial slurs are horrible. It’s not that I WANT to say the n-word, of course I don’t. I’ve simply spent the better part of a week online explaining to as many as 3 or 4 black people at a time that I should be allowed to in case I DO ever want to use it. Or NEED to use it, who knows?!
I want to stress again that this really is not a race thing – because I don’t see things in those terms – but if black people can say the n-word to each other whenever they want and completely get a pass for it then I don’t see why I shouldn’t be able to say it (the full original n-word with a hard R) at least in certain situations. After all, it’s about context!
What if I’m quoting somebody, like a rapper in a karaoke setting, or Quentin Tarantino? What if I hurt myself or get angry or miss a bus and it’s just the first thing out of my mouth? What if somebody calls me “cracker” and I need a comeback (nobody has ever called me that but I assume it’s only a matter of time, the word is apparently everywhere)?
The point is, there are literally hundreds of contexts where I feel I’d be justified in using that word in a sentence, and I’ve been tweeting those “example sentences” to black people – just as examples! – day and night with very few breaks for 6 days. Do you think I like it, that it’s somehow fun or exciting for me? It’s not, because I’m not racist.
What I am is strongly against the vague overall concept of deciding a word is bad, so much so that I’m willing to use racist language, constantly, on a trial and error basis for as long as it takes until we find an agreeable loophole. It’s a matter of principle. And THAT’s what’s fun for me about it, I think.
