Answering some N-word questions

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January 13, 2007

By Steve Gillespie / assisatant editor The Meridian Star Sat Jan 13, 2007, 11:59 PM CST

Since November the N-word has probably had more exposure than it ever has.

From comedian Michael Richards’ tirade at the Laugh Factory in West Hollywood on Nov. 17, to our District 5 Lauderdale County Supervisor Ray Boswell’s use of the word in a year-old police video we reported on in December, and this past week as a group in the Enterprise community came together, upset because Coach Tommy Perkins allegedly used the word toward one of his players.

We’ve had some interesting questions raised about these incidents. Questions like: “Well what was said to them (those who used the N-word) in the first place?” “Why didn’t the story on Perkins mention if he was black or white?” “Why is it OK for black people to use it (the N-word) and not OK for white people to say it?” and my favorite, “Why is this news?”

So what started it all?

According to the Richards video a group that came in on his show late were being loud and it made him angry. His anger escalated to the point he decided to call one of the party the N-word. Richards said he lost his temper.

According to the Boswell video he was being picked on by this person he referred to as an N-word and an M.F. and other objectionable words. That person wasn’t there, it’s just the choice of words he picked to explain what was going on to policemen who had come in response to a complaint the Boswell was threatening to kill someone.

Belinda Johnson, whose son Dion said he was called the N-word by Coach Tommy Perkins, said school administrators told her Perkins claims Dion told him to get out of his face on the court prior to the locker-room incident where the N-word was allegedly introduced. Mrs. Johnson said her son, a 10th-grader, said what the coach is referring to was something Dion said to another player. An unsigned e-mail sent to me over the weekend said Perkins was using the term back to Dion, in an attempt to correct him and to teach him that he shouldn’t use that word. Coach Perkins told us he didn’t want to talk about it. And Mrs. Johnson said the school superintendent and high school principal told her Perkins admitted using not just the N-word but put the word “damn” in front of it. It’s unfortunate we don’t have Coach Perkins’ explanation, but it’s like I tell people all the time, just because you don’t want to talk about it doesn’t mean the story goes away. It means you just don’t get to tell your side of it.

Now to answer the second question. Why didn’t we mention that Tommy Perkins was white in our story about the Enterprise incident? For the same reason we didn’t mention that Dion is black. It doesn’t matter. I understand we had photographs of folks in the story, which made it obvious what their race is, and one person in the story identified herself as a black person in a quote. But the race of the people involved really isn’t the issue, folks.

This brings us to our third question. Why is it OK for black people to use the N-word and it’s not OK for white people to use it. Anyone can use it anyway they want. The word is heard as a means of artistic expression quite a bit by black people and white people. We hear it in movies, on stage and in music all the time, we read it in literature and we hear it between people, often African-Americans, who aren’t trying to offend each other. Whether you are black or white, again, isn’t the issue. The issue is are you using the word to be hurtful, or hateful. That’s when offense is taken, when it is intended.

The last question — why was all of this news — is easy to answer. News is anything out of the ordinary and it’s stuff we (the news media) feel the public should know about. Sometimes it’s good news, sometimes it’s bad news.

Here’s some questions we asked ourselves regarding these issues and the answers that made us determine these to be news stories:

When is it OK for a professional performer to verbally attack and insult an audience member? I say never, whether we’re talking about the N-word or not.

When is it OK for an elected or public official to use degrading racist terms? I say never, whether we’re talking about the N-word, or not. Remember when Jesse Jackson caught so much heat when he referred to New York as Hymietown? This is not a double standard.

And, When is it OK for an adult high school educator, on the job, to call one of his students, or players in this instance, an ugly name, whether it is the N-word or not? Never, not even if it is to correct him. Instead of reacting the way Perkins allegedly did, the coach could have taken Dion out of the game for his use of language and had a conference with his parents. There were lots of other options. Coaches should have cooler heads, especially when they’re being paid public money to educate, lead and set examples for our kids.

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