In her debate with Whoopi Goldberg on the July 17, 2008 episode of ABC’s The View, Elisabeth and Whoopi discussed the “n-word”—not “nuts,” but the other “n-word” that Jesse Jackson had to apologize for using during his personal confession on a hot mic at the Fox News station.
Here’s my disclaimer for the remainder of this article. I will now replace the “n-word” with the word nigger because as a writer, I don’t have to censor myself. And quite frankly I feel like saying the “n-word” takes away from the impact of the topic which is the word nigger.
The discussion on The View started with Whoopi sarcastically asking if anyone was surprised by Jesse Jackson’s comments and ended with the word nigger literally on the table after Whoopi uttered the word a half a dozen times to get her point across. Unfortunately, the question of who can use the word still stands. And after the co-hosts went back and forth on this issue, Hasselbeck was reduced to tears. But what is it about this particular conversation that would bring Elisabeth to tears?
Here is my theory. For hundreds of years white people have had literal control over black people—socially, economically, sexually, politically, institutionally, and emotionally. The word nigger has created this power struggle between blacks and whites because white people feel entitled to everything because they’ve always had everything. Now white people have a group of people who they historically have had control over telling them there is something in this world they can’t have. I imagine that’s hard for someone who is historically “privileged” to digest; the thought of losing that privilege and power might even make me shed a tear.
Black people are using the word to have something that white people don’t. It’s just a power struggle and all over a word that was used to keep discrimination and racism alive and kicking in this country. This issue is about so much more than a word. It’s not the word that black people are trying to hold on to—it’s the power. If the word nigger is “buried” forever, than white people have won again, and all of the power is back in their hands. It’s a way of bowing down “to the man” once again. That’s hard for a lot of black people to swallow. I think if black people alone—without white people saying, “If we can’t use it, neither can you”—made the decision to “bury” the word, then maybe black people would have no problem putting an end to the use of the word.
