Jul 09
Laid to Rest?
The procession was led by two horses pulling a pine box topped with a boquet of fake black roses. Funeral-goers weren’t crying.
They were cheering.
That was the scene in Detroit today as the N-word was laid to rest. Ceremoniously, that is.
The NAACP, as part of its 98th Annual Convention, conducted the funeral for the racial slur in the hopes of discouraging its use in the future.
Detroit’s mayor said it’s time to send the N-word, and others, packing for good:
“Today we’re not just burying the N-word, we’re taking it out of our spirit. We gather burying all the things that go with the N-word. We have to bury the pimps and the hos that go with it.”
The word has been used as a racial slur against blacks for more than a century. It is also used by blacks as a “term of endearment.” Such use, users say, removes the “sting” from the word. However, every time a non-black utters the word publicly, as comedian Michael Richards said in a particularly unfunny tirade, reaction proves that the word is just as painful as it ever was.
I think it was a nice gesture, and one I hope people of all races will use as an opportunity to stop using a word that always causes more harm than good.
What do you think? Leave a comment here and drop by the Patrick’s Place Poll page and cast your vote.
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July 10th, 2007 at 5:17 am
Like Dixie, I fear the “N-word” will rise again.
Maybe a stake through the heart next time…
July 10th, 2007 at 11:15 pm
From the beginning, some things have remained with us simply because we have belly buttons.
It was a grand gesture, I think. The one thing that has not yet been “buried” is personal choice, which is where this particular corpse lies. I’d love it if that particular word (disregarding all others like as unto it) were to never be heard again. But, that will only happen when the thought that foments it disappears.
Short of mass Lobotomies, I just don’t see that happening.