Elisabeth Hasselbeck Cries After Sparring With Whoopi Over N-Word (VIDEO)

Thursday morning on "The View," during a discussion on the N-word prompted by the revelation that Jesse Jackson used the slur in his controversial Fox News tape, Whoopi Goldberg and Elisabeth Hasselbeck had a heated back-and-forth that ended with Elisabeth in tears.

Whoopi, who earlier in the broadcast had used the n-word repeatedly, sending the censors into overload, argued that the word is only as powerful as a society allows it to be and advocated for using the word to give it new meaning. Elisabeth, meanwhile, felt that she couldn't teach her children not to say the word if her black co-hosts and their children were using the word, arguing that, "we don't live in different worlds."

Whoopi then launched into a heated explanation of why black and white America still remain separate: "It isn't balanced, and we would like it to be, but you have to understand, you have to listen to the fact that we're telling you there are issues, there are huge problems that still affect us," she said.

Elisabeth replied, in tears, "When we live in a world where pop culture then uses that term, and we're trying to get to a place where we feel like we're in the same place, where we feel like we're in the same world...how are we supposed to then move forward if we keep using terms that bring back that pain?"

Watch:

From ABC, 7/17

Previously: "The View" Heats Up Over Racism, Whoopi Declares, "This Is A Racist Country"

Comments

[neurologymatters]

Elisabeth is annoying and does not like to give anyone else a chance to speak. She was famous for being on a reality show. Life is reality Elisabeth. Listen and be respectful of others and gain credibility Elisabeth.

[anne74]

I think that we are focusing on the wrong aspect of this issue. We can teach our kids (and each other) not to use certain words so as not to offend others. But is that any substitute for a real lesson? I think its virtually meaningless to say "dont say the 'n' word" if you dont explain why and the history behind the word. You cant expect a "color blind" society, if thats really a meaningful goal, by mere censorship. I don't even think being any kind of voluntary blindness is helpful, because we allow ourselves to forget where we came from. It's less important to cut a word out "blindly" out of our vocabulary than it is to try to understand the meaning behind this dialogue. I think that its telling that this exhange on the View has gotten such a varied response.

[Redoubt]

Sorry Whoopi, you DO live in the same world as everyone else. Moreover, what's bad for one of us is bad for all of us. The 'N' word is just as disgusting and violating no matter who says it under any pretenses.

Our problem with race today has moved far afield of where it once was. Today, we have two sets of rules, one for blacks and another for whites. We apply two sets of standards and apparently, some of us believe we live in two seperate worlds. This is NOT Dr. Martin Luther King's dream. In point of fact, if he were alive today, he would likely tell Ms. Goldberg to get her head unscrewed from her own prejudices.

If we are ever to see a color blind society, it will take an effort from all our many races in America, not just one. We will have to learn to live in the same world and understand that perfection, while impossible, is still worthy of our efforts.

Clean up your act, Whoopi.

[thankulord13]

Sorry Redoubt, but Whoopi is right and I dknow you White people hate to hear the truth... what is it with you folks and the truth anyway? You spew talking points all day long but the fact of the matter is that Black Americans and White Americans experience in this country is very different and you need to except that. That is what Ms. Goldberg was saying. You need to see the entire 7 minute conversation before you make a lame attempt to comment at something you no nothing about. The only way we are going to have a color blind society is if we are all physically color blind.

If Dr. King was alive today he would more than likely be sickened by what we have allowed to go on for so long in regards to civil rights and that rogue president. Ms. Goldberg was not being prejudice for speaking the truth now I think you are for not dealing with your own prejudices.

If we are ever going to become a society that is truly equal it will have to start with those in the position of power which are the White people. An effort of reconciliation will have to be made and a official apology would be a great start. I will be waiting for all of the ridiculous comments in opposition to what I wrote!

[Redoubt]

Sorry Whoopi, you DO live in the same world as everyone else. Moreover, what's bad for one of us is bad for all of us. The 'N' word is just as disgusting and violating no matter who says it under any pretenses.
Our problem with race today has moved far afield of where it once was. Today, we have two sets of rules, one for blacks and another for whites. We apply two sets of standards and apparently, some of us believe we live in two seperate worlds. This is NOT Dr. Martin Luther King's dream. In point of fact, if he were alive today, he would likely tell Ms. Goldberg to get her head unscrewed from her own prejudices.
If we are ever to see a color blind society, it will take an effort from all our many races in America, not just one. We will have to learn to live in the same world and understand that perfection, while impossible, is still worthy of our efforts.

Clean up your act, Whoopi.

.

[spiderbucket]

What if a fan of rap is rapping along to a song ? Just asking. Sometimes I find myself humming a song or whatever and I'm suddenly struck by the thought that I could be saying something wrong with no ill intent at all. Just mindless singing, ya know ? Surely the rappers want us to buy the albums... Just putting that out there for discussion. I don't feel the need to be able to say the N word and don't care to argue about it but the topic should be discussed.

[Fudgefase]

Whoopee is wrong. And i hate to say that cos she's one of my fave actresses. Young white kids are (generally) not brought up to think differently of their black classmates or friends. And if they hear the word being bandied about by their mates, and in popular culture, music, films etc, then they don't appreciate that it had a former meaning, because their parents don't tell them in order not to bring an awareness of former racist abuses to their attention.
The word would only actually lose its meaning if it became a term for young colleagues / friends of either colour - the club or group being the binding factor, not the skin tone.
It's an abhorrant word to people of my age (40's) but it means very little except a rhyme, to those in their early teens.

[stepintothelight]

Are you kidding. You really beleive this. Most kids learn the word AT HOME long before they even lay eyes on their first black person. Don't blame Pop-culture for what generations of white Americans have found comfort with. How do explain the prevalence of the use of the word by whites before MTV came along or wherever you get your pop-up history from?

[yazzie]

I agree 100% with Whoopi Goldberg....and I'm white. Hasselbeck is advocating for us to 'sweep the elephant in the room, under the rug'.' She speaks from a position of ignorrance. What obstacles has she had to overcome to lead the "cushy", priviledged, "girl-next-door" life she lives? And the tears. Give me a break! She has NO idea what it's like to be black in America, and living within a socio-historical context where discrimination, inequality, and a history of slavery, are a part of your history and your identity. It would be wonderful if we lived in a utopian society where ghettos, slavery and segregation never existed, where equality was always the norm, and where the civil rights movement was never needed. Then the "N" word never would come into existence. But that's not the world we live in. A white person using that word IS and ALWAYS WILL BE different than a black person using that word. ANd if a black person wants to "reclaim" that word and use it, who am I to say "No you can't." . We really don't live in the same world - and I certainly don't live in Hasselbeck's 'ignorrance is bliss' world. The key is realizing that coming from different worlds is not the problem. The problem is a lack of understanding and social conciousness with regard to the different worlds and realities we ome from!

[frumke]

Use of the n-word encourages racism. This is true whether the word is spoken by whites or blacks, whether intended to be derogatory or a slang reference to one's own. Believe otherwise if you will, but you are fooling yourself. You can argue all you want and you can try to hide from the facts. But the facts are that when entertainers use the word, the effect is to foster racism by some whites. Not right, not fair, but true.

[KyotoProto]

The bigger issue is the eavesdropping into a private conversation that was never intended for broadcast and Fox News' role in that. Elizabeth is too intellectually challenged to handle the nuancing required to understand the content of that quote, outside of the blathering commentary of the anything-b­ut-the-new­s pundits, whose performance in the past eight years of this Bushtocracy have been less than shall we say, noble. Jackson's not-intend­ed-for-pub­lic-consum­ption gaffe was just that, but nowhere near as shameless as those of the media types who cast stones from their glass homes.

[stepintothelight]

Look where the money comes from to support these kinds of artist. Trust me ... They are not making millions off of street sellers hustling "burns". The money behind "Gangster" rap came from somewhere. I wonder who would gain the most by capitolizing on this negative aspect of faux black culture .... hmmm

Bueller Bueller????

[Meok]

Hasselbeck is media savvy. How many times has she cried on camera before? She cried to make a point and make sure it was media-worthy. Oscar-worthy performance. Applauses. Curtains.
My other theory: She probably has post-partum depression.
Bottom line, crying over how hip-hop uses a bad word doesn't seem like something she'd cry over...Remember, this woman went head-to-head with Rosie and she didn't back down.

[yngcelt]

If you subscribe to the logic that if you are white than you have no right to argue about the use of the "n-word" because only blacks understand what it means, then it makes sense to say that if you have never served in the military, you have no right to argue about the war. Or if you have never had a child then you have no right to argue about childcare or abortions.

[DeeDee1959]

yngcelt, I somewhat agree with you. My son is in the military - I have an opinion about the war but I will respect his opinion as carrying more weight than mine since he has personal experience in the war. My opinions can only reflect what the media has shown me. His opinions are from surviving Iraq and things he experienced that I didn't even see on the news. So I bow to his opinion. I am an AA woman married to a white male. My husband respects that he has not lived his life in my skin and experienced what I've experienced as an AA, so he acknowledges that he may not be able to even relate to the emotions that an AA may have regarding the "N-word" and that he won't place a greater weight on his feelings and opinions. He's willing to listen to the person with direct experience and respectfully attempt to empathize.

[Meok]

I understand your point and I take it into account. But I think it is like this: When a woman calls another the B word, it doesn't look the same as when a male does it. The huge difference here is the purported intention, and the point is so subtle that if you blink, you'd miss it.

[undeluded]

Whoopi needs to grow up. Like so many ‘responsible’ black celebrities and leaders, they coddle the wrong cultural identities, I think because they believe it helps to keep them close to and in touch with, “the black youth”. Instead of spending some of her celebrity capital to help educate black youth as to why the word should fall into disuse, without doubt among blacks first and foremost, she wants to explain the rationale for its use. As members of the Nation of Islam use to say (and maybe still do), blacks call themselves that word because they’re still asleep to who they are and what the originators of the word sought to strip them of through the use of the word. Now blacks have determined it to be okay to strip themselves of dignity and self-worth by calling themselves this word and their women ‘b-----s’ and ‘w----s’ (for you who aren’t familiar, female dogs and something that sounds like a gardening implement) in much of the rap music that’s been produced for almost two decades now. It’s a shame that “Black and Beautiful” has been denigrated back to something that looks a lot like ‘colored and ugly’.

[Chad53916]

Agreed. No more coddling.

[bty]

I don't understand why Americans would use this word period, black or white for that matter. Here in South Africa we had an equally bad word that white people would call black people I cant imagine referring to anyone I know as a Kaffir. Its worse than the baddest insult imaginable. So why would a community usea word meant for stripping their dignity and their worth in any context. No matter how much you want to change its meanning it will always be what it was originally no amout of time or 'healing' will ever change that

[nolalily]

Elizabeth - perhaps you mean well, but really, Whoppi is asking very little of you. She wants you to dispel your opinion for a moment and acknowledge her reality. Then, what comes out of your mouth might be a little different than what we've heard from you before. Use your imagination and walk a few miles in Whoppi's shoes. That is what you refused to do here. Just shut up and imagine, if for only a moment.

[Zentomato]

nolalily, amen you've said it best!

[BardEric]

The trouble with Whoppi's (and others of her generation's )"reality" is that the experiences they have had that are influenced by race in their own lifetimes are very different than the younger generations.Why do we want to cling to a word with such negative meanings, and imprint it on every new generation? It is not a badge of honor to use the word (in any context) that gererations of whites used to disrespect our people. I am baffled..

[thankulord13]

Because the younger generation that you speak clings to the word when they buy and repeat songs that they hear! As for the younger generation having a different reality well maybe that had to do with the fact that their parents and grandparents had to fight for them to have this different experience but at the end of the day the experience will still be different then their white counter parts!

[heal57]

oh please nolalily, Whoopi is dead wrong here. It's ridiculous. I don't usually agree with Eliz, but this is just stupid. Eliz is correct. Come down from your high falootin ways, Whoopi. Eliz did nothing to you; she does not owe you anything nor you, her.

[Nan2008]

I've had my issues with Eliszabeth, but she does have a point here. There really is work that needs to be done that is for sure. Attitude, attitude...
Found this article which I though was interesting.

The 'N' word

HISTORY should tell a people WHO THEY ARE, WHERE THEY CAME FROM and WHAT THEIR POTENTIAL IS AS A PEOPLE. The name that a people call themselves must provide them with an understanding of their history by connecting them to a land mass, a language, a culture, a religion, a philosophy and so on.......
http://www.daveyd.com/nword.html

[Alvin4NY]

I'm on the side of Maya Angelou on this one: Words matter. We have to be careful about what we say to and about each other, because the effects can be ever-lasting, leaving tattooed imprints on a persons soul. Thoughtful responses, and a positve reaction to a negative action-are the only way the world will change. I don't like the "n" word (or other words that brand or label) because it groups people into one lump-as though they were all alike in each and every way. We all have our individuality and uniqueness that a single word could never spell out.

[twb]

What if:

Whoopie had been the one who said that blacks should never use the word (and provided the same case that many other black leaders have as to why it should not be used)...given that Whoopie's opinion carries a certain weight, would Sherrie have agreed with her...and would the opinion of many on this board be different...I think yes.

In respect to the idea that we live in "different worlds" - if you want to talk about different worlds, let's talk about Sunni's killing Shia. Or woman in Rwanda being raped and children being killed. Or rampant child prostitution in Asia and the sex slave industry all over the world...shall I go on...these truly are different worlds. Is there a case that whites live in a different world than blacks, and blacks live in a different world from Hispanics, etc...sure...but come on now. Many on this board bring up events that have taken place years ago. Are there remnants of stupidity held by some...sure. But let's face it, this country provides a very good foundation for all to succeed. Life isn't fair...never will be...but we should all look forward...not back. If someone is stupid enough to use a slur against my ethnic background, I'd simply laugh at their stupidity.

[thankulord13]

Yes we bring up events that happened years ago but we are still dealing with the aftermath of those events. You White people always expect African Americans to get over almost 300 years of racist acts over night. We have never had a national discussion of America's sins against it's own people.

By the way Katrina was just a few years ago! Yes we African American's see things differently then Whites and Hispanics and Asians and Native Americans. We all have different experinces in this country and it has not always been equal for African Americans and other minorities. As for Rawanda they are victims of European Imperialism and they are dealing with the aftermath.

[popmanifesto]

The problem is that we can't even have a discussion of race because everyone has come to fear it so much. It's one of the third rails of American society and politics. Let's be very frank here - only black people can change black people's lives. The government can help, but it's not the solution, even when it's doing all the right things (which it certainly hasn't lately). There, I've said it. I'm not naive or ignorant of the history and the depths of the problem, but I'm also not naive enough to think that avoiding the issue and walking around on eggshells is going to make anyone's life better.

We liberals have got to stop launching into our automatic, knee jerk attacks at any white person who brings up the issue and suspecting them of "racism" for merely wanting to offer their thoughts from their point of view. It's embarrassing and it's getting us nowhere. And it's getting us nowhere when black people with a national platform, like Bill Cosby and Barack Obama, get slammed for "airing dirty laundry" and "talking down to black people" when they have the nerve to suggest that a change in behavior and an acceptance of personal responsibility is in order. Let's stop this nonsense and grow up.

[LollieDotCom]

Did you really just say that? "But let's face it, this country provides a very good foundation for all to succeed."

I choked when I read it. I cannot believe you said that. I don't care how white or how black you are, you're waaaay too damn white. You need to take your next five week vacation in the parts of the city you NEVER spend time in. Hang out in those schools, walk down those streets.

I'm astonished at how sincerely and completely blind to reality you are.

How disheartening. May God bless you with light. And I hope he slaps you with it hard enough to knock you down. But that would be strictly for my enjoyment. :)

[Lalita]

Hmmm, LollieDotCom, God as playground bully? Nice. TWB just has a different point of view than you do.

How about you spend time in parts of the world where Black people are excelling? Where crime is low and attainment is high. Better yet, Africa, where the people there are sickened and amazed by the lack of progress some make here where there are opportunitie to send your children (all of them) to school without concern that they be attacked by animals on the way there; where women aren't being raped and hacked to death or men rounded up, shot and dumped in mass graves, where starvation--real, bone-gnawing starvation--is killing generations.

Maybe your "lord" can slap you and help balance your skewed world view. Me? I'd rather be poor and Black in America than "rich" and Black in Darfur.

[twb]

I believe you misunderstood my comment. Did I say that the foundation provided by this country is perfect...no. Did I say the foundation was a "guarantee" that all would succeed...no. It's simply a foundation....there are tools available.

But perhaps I was wrong to use the term succeed which means different things to different people. Perhaps what I should have said is that there are opportunities to do better than ones current situation, no matter what that situation may be....and in many instances a person may exceed their own expectations by a wide margin. And I don't know of any other country that provides such tools. If you do, please provide them. I did not say that there have been and continue to be problems that exist and need to be addressed and we need to move forward with hope.

I'm sorry that you took such offense at something Barack Obama also believes...but again...that was probably my fault for not being clearer. In any case, I hope that you don't take offense at me stating my opinion.

[prochange]

I agree with you. Unfortunately we are sleep schooled to only see our own navel. slavery is going on in the U.S. and all over the world today. Sometimes the form changes, but for the one enslaved, the experience is always life changing.
We, the human race, have not improved . We still hit each other over the head with clubs like in the stone ages. The difference is that we developed technical aids which allow us to maim and kill and wound people in huge numbers and from a safe distance.

When we are forced to fight eye to eye like in Iraq and Afghanistan it results in mental illnesses.
Now medicine recognizes that our psyche is not able to handle such cruelty. But we all descend from ancestors who had to fight eye to eye and pretend that it is the manly thing to do and that it did not affect them. My father was drafted into war when he was 17, until he died ( at 86) he was not able to speak about this experience.

Life is unfair and nobody knows how to walk in the shoes of another person. We all should try to be more compassionate and make our world a safe and equal place to live for everybody.
There is only one human race and science has proven that we are all alike. Otherwise we would have separate blood banks and organs could only be transplanted within the same race.

[AzRealProgressive]

That is a mouthful, but you said it.