arkiemom asked:


Concerning the NAACP’s symbolic funeral for the n word, do you think it will have any impact on musicians and other performers that use it so often? While I know that some African Americans feel it is alright for them to use it within their own race - I have always been appalled at the way the lyrics to so many rap songs denigrate people - women especially. Do you think the NAACP’s stand will make any impression on the younger generation? Personally I applaud their decision, but will anything change?

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5 Responses to “Will musicians let the N word Rest In Peace?”

1. spadezgurl22 on December 12th, 2007 2:38 am

   i really hope so. im so sick of the double standard of that. its ok for black peopel to degrade and refer tothemselves in that derogitory slang but if anyone else does its rascist! just stop with the controversy and find another slang word!

2. GoodEvil on December 14th, 2007 11:29 pm

   more then likely no, but it is a step in the right direction for the country and musicians as a whole. In order to try and get rid of the word all together there has to be some sort of effort put into it. I’m a Double A….haha African American and i chose not to say the word because t sounds really ignorant. But if people see that others are trying to put the word to rest then maybe it will fuel the minds of others who see the word as not a problem to see it as a nuisance and a weed to society

3. Bonny on December 16th, 2007 12:17 pm

   Blacks have taken over the N-word to the point where it is unlikely it will stop being used as a slang term for man, homie, friend.

   I personally don’t use the word but hear it often. I used to cringe but now I just write it off as slang, much like redneck or hillbilly or trailer trash.

   Kind of like women calling eachother bitchez lightheartedly but will pass kidney stones if a man says it.

   Don’t worry about it too much. Be accountable for you. Don’t YOU say the word, and neither will I. That’s all we can worry about.

4. Aleph Null on December 18th, 2007 1:23 am

   By definition, it can only be singers or rappers who use that word in its all its variations. Musicians play instruments. Unless a musician uses a sampling keyboard, it is impossible for a musician to use words.

   Please do not confuse musicians with rock stars or rappers. Musicians must, by definition, have at least some talent.

   No, the NAACP’s action will have little effect. So long as people pay to hear it, others will keep using it. The only way to stop a commercial enterprise is to stop buying its products.

   When there is no economic incentive to use that word (or other inflammatory, shock-value, hate-mongering vocabulary) then the use of that word will diminish, at least in that particular genre.

   Its use will likely continue in other milieu’s so long as there is bigotry. Bigotry will never cease until humans are all educated enough to know that we are all much more alike than we are different.

   You can understand the phnomenon in three parts because there are three motives for such language:
   Money,
   The imaginary power of Cool.
   Sexual propagation.

   So… if you truly feel compelled to help end this phenomenon, here is what we have to do:
   Stop buying sonic products that use that language,
   Eschew its use in your presence,
   Refuse to have *** with anyone who uses or condones its use,.

   These three steps are peaceful and politically benign. They guarantee that if enough people practice them, the abhorrent behavior will die out. Simply remove any possible incentive, and the behavior will become extinct.

5. lexi0911 on December 18th, 2007 4:03 am

   Personally, and as a black woman, I doubt that it will have any effect whatsoever. That word has been engrained in everyone’s brain (regardless of race) but in blacks especially. I do not consider myself ‘hood’ or a part of the ‘thug’ mentality (I’m actually very uppity, if you will :}), and I admit to using it when casually talking with my friends - sad but true.

   I think hip-hop culture reinvented a word that was so notorious for **** and was to demean us as an entire community, and made it our own, only to be used by us. If anyone else used it, especially a white person, it was like reliving generations and generations of **** and degradation. I guess, no matter the context, a word with such power should probably not be used at all, but I doubt this symbolic burial will have any effect on rap music - especially on younger generation artists/rappers. SADLY (and I can’t stress that sad part of this fact enough) It is just so synonymous with our culture, it is like taking away even more distinct parts of our culture, after having so much taken away before.