We have talked at length about the use of the N-word in Huck Finn. This article explains the apology made by John Mayer who used the word in a media interview. He gave a heart felt apology which even led some of his band members to end up in tears.
We have talked about in class, and Mayer talks about how strong and offensive the word is and that it should not be taken lightly when it is used. Early in debates about the use of the word we mentioned how many African American comedians, rappers etc. use the word freely, no apology necessary. But we came to a conclusion that if someone not of the African American race were to use the word it was clearly offensive.
Because of this, what I found more intriguing than the article were the comments about it. Which varied to both extremes, but what I thought was interesting was that many people who started with something along the lines of "I'm a black guy..." or "I'm a black girl from..." tended to say things that were more forgiving. One of which, "i'm a black chick from detroit, and seriously, john, relax, it'n not that deep. i got your point in the interview. you're not a racist dude. chill." Others made a point about how black rappers don't apologize or even acknowledge the use of the word so they wonder, why the double standard? There were over 2000 comments, and they all had different opinions. (Although some of those were just about John Mayer and not the N-word)
I wonder if there is ever going to be some sort of closure to this word? When it is used by African Americans, whites, or a person of any race. Closure being for example, a decision on if it is ever ok, or is it ok when only certain people say it?
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