killing the "n-word"

The Michael Richards' tirade has stirred up renewed debate over the infamous "n-word." For some black activists and comedians, the rage with which "Kramer" spewed nigger over and over again has urged them to wage a campaign to eradicate the word (in all of its manifestations--i.e. "nigga" too). This week's section of the Sunday Times features a photo op of Richards and the Reverend Jesse Jackson. Comedian Paul Mooney confessed to npr that after the Laugh Factory incident and a private conversation with Richards, he will ban the word from his vocabulary and his stand-up routine. And even prior to that incident, abolishthenword.com members had been spreading their message that black people need to remember the history of the dehumanizing word (I spoke to them at Ft. Greene's African street festival last summer). Dave Chappelle also recalled his discomfort at white people calling him nigger "in fun," taking this liberty because they'd heard Chappelle play with the term on his now defunct comedy skit show.

I'm certainly not against black public persons (activists, rappers, comedians, whoever) organizing themselves in an effort to lessen the use and circulation of the word. At the same time I wonder if encouraging black people not to use the term will disempower it. I'm also irritated at the way this Kramer debacle seems to be redirecting racist uses of the term back to black people, as if to say "you all use the term so why get mad when white people use it." So is Richards now a "victim" of his uncontrolled rage and anger? Or as blackademic points out, does he get to be touted as some inspirer of civil rights activism since his vitriole has inspired a few black folks to question our culpability in reinforcing the use of the n-word?

I'm not convinced that anyone can ban words of any kind, including racial, sexual and homophobic slurs. We can police them more rigidly and prohibit their circulation in media through fines and the like. We can put stickers on rap albums that use terms like "nigga" and "bitch" in every other line of every song. But what will be gained from these efforts? Eradicating dehumanizing language won't stop violence and hatred. Even without the use of violent language, Sakia Gunn and Matthew Shepard would have been killed and Abner Louima would have still been sexually violated and tortured by police officers.

And this is not to say that words don't matter. They absolutely do, especially in a global context. Richard Pryor had a wake-up call and stopped using the word nigger after a visit to Africa. Other black folks recall being stunned by being called "nigga" or "nigger" during their visits as well. I was called "nigga" three times when travelling in East Africa: once by someone who was a fan of rap music and thought nigga was a friendly term and twice by young African men who were intentionally trying to insult me. I didn't use the term before my trip, I don't use it now. There are so many more loving and affirming ways that black people can "name" ourselves and one another.

So I have no conclusions to make really. Just thinking about this issue and wondering what others have to say about it.