Re-examining the Use of N-word and B-word

Shortly after the Michael Richards "n-word" uproar, I read a column in the News-Press (a Fort Myers, Florida daily) by Leonard Pitts, a Miami Herald columnist of African descent, entitled: "Richards wakes black people to N-word hate." In the column Pitts asserts that if you are "black" and you use the word "nigger" or "nigga" that means you hate yourself and, of course, every other person of African descent. In addition, in reference to the word "nigger," he writes, "...this word still hates us." Can a word hate? In any event, he was responding to the incident where Michael Richards, former stand-up comic wannabe, laced his response to hecklers with the word "nigger." I had intended to script a short, comical, tongue in cheek response to this entire episode, but reading this column prompted me to take it just a tad further

In this response, I'll address three elements of Mr. Pitts's column that I find questionable: 1) His contention that if you are of African descent and use the terms "nigger" or "nigga," then you hate yourself and the entire group of people who are of African descent; 2) the use of his access to the public forum to demean those who hold a perspective different from his, in a manner similar to those who use the term "nigger" in attempts to demean people of African descent; and 3) his use of the socially acceptable and disingenuous "N-word" substitute for the term "nigger."