Racism in America and Why Banning the "N" Word is Short-Sighted

Our body has nerves for a reason. If we didn't feel pain for example, how would we know when we injured ourselves? Masking pain may be good for a short time, but overall pain does us far more good than harm. If we know where it hurts, we can attack the root of the pain, and theoretically, having done that, the pain will soon subside. So too is the case with racism. In the past couple of years, a number of prominent people have gotten in trouble for comments they have made which were racist in nature. Mel Gibson, Michael Richards, Don Imus and Dwayne "Dog" Chapman are the most notables. The problem however is not with the language used. The problem is the underlying disease that breeds the symptoms which are merely words.

Last year, prominent leaders in the African America Community held a funeral to bury the "N word". It was their feeling that if African Americans didn't want crackers to use the "N word" that they too must remove it from their vocabulary. While fundamentally I believe in the concept that what's good for the goose is good for the gander, the reality is that masking the visible signs of racism only allows for the undercurrent of racism to be stronger. In reality it's better to know who the racists are than for us to run around in society assuming that "politically correct" is the same thing as "problem solved."