The Facts: This week journalists covering Gov. Rick Perry's campaign reported that his family hunting camp is known as "Niggerhead," setting off a political firestorm about Perry's involvement and whether this is the smoking gun of racial insensitivity, or worse, on his part. On Monday, the flames landed on the set of The View when Barbara Walters used the name of the retreat on the air and was blasted by co-host Sherri Shepherd.
The Faux Pas: Both Whoopi Goldberg and Shepherd referred to Perry's hunting camp as "Niggerhead," with Goldberg emotionally noting, "It's very hard for me to say. The fact that I just said it now gives me chills." Moments later Walters joined in the conversation, also referring to the camp by its actual name, which drew a strong rebuke from Shepherd, who said, "I didn't like the way you said it. ... I don't know if it's a semantics thing, but it's something that goes through my body." As for Goldberg's use, Shepherd said, "When I heard you say it, it was fine. You said it in a different way."
The Fix: Newspapers and media outlets have been referring to the Perry camp as "Niggerhead" ever since the story broke, and Walters' use of it is no different. Walters is given an added pass because both of her co-hosts had already used the name on a national broadcast, no doubt leading her to think that it was an acceptable term on the program, although a heartfelt disclaimer similar to Goldberg's would likely have gone a long way in tempering Shepherd's fire and ire. Next time, Whoopi and Sherri, please don't use these phrases in mixed company if you don't want to send a mixed message. And don't do it on national TV.
The Walters example, however, is the exception to the rule. We all need to take responsibility for the language we deploy, especially if we're in a minority group. For example, speaking as a gay man, it's one thing for us to use "faggot" or "dyke" among our own. Often these terms (actually of endearment) are delivered with a knowing wink, a certain warmth, almost in a family sort of way. Even so, they're still dicey in our community and make some uncomfortable. Out of the wrong mouths, there's no question: these phrases are powerful epithets. Intention and context matter.
The Finding: For Barbara Walters.
Agree? Disagree? Let 'er rip.
Steven Petrow is a nationally recognized manners columnist and the author of Steven Petrow's Complete Gay & Lesbian Manners. You can find him online here.
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Glenn W. Smith: Rick Perry, Racism and America's Soul
Secondly, there is no word that can actually cause damage. It's the people who hear words and make decisions that do it. Putting certain words on a shelf just makes them a taboo and therefore more attractive in certain ways to certain people, often the exact groups that shouldn't be using them in the first place. They're just words. They represent ideas. Now I know what you'll say "those words hurt feelings". Well that's because of the taboo and the association with the past. I know it sounds cold, but we all have to move past it or it is just fetishized for the next generation to torment the marginalized members of their society when it's their turn.
However, in telling a friend about this incident, I said the name painted on the rock of Perry's ranch. Does that constitute "using" the n-word? I don't think so. I wasn't using the word to refer to someone. I was reporting the offensive use of the name. Somehow, I think that is different. On-air, Barbara probably should have made some kind of disclaimer, but I don't think it is fair to say she "used" the N-word. She was reporting what was written. Ultimately, however, I think it is up to the African American community to decide if she was right or wrong. It is certainly a word that makes my skin crawl whenever I hear it. Even in films.
I've been wracking my brains trying to come up with a word or words that would be comparable for non-African Americans to even remotely relate (full disclosure: I'm white) and the truth is, I can't; I can get close (maybe the c-word for women?), but it's not the same. The n-word was a perjorative used collectively by whites to denigrate an entire race of people for generations simply for being another race. A person could have been brutally impoverished or even a convicted criminal but if they were white, they still considered themselves above the people they called the n-word and society actually reinforced their beliefs--for hundreds of years. It's not just a word, it's a symbol of oppression.
As for the "But black people use it" argument, that's a two-year-old's logic. Failure to recognize the historical context above is either A) ignorant; or B) insensitive and demonstrates a lack of empathy and emotional intelligence. There is no pass for non-AAs to use the word without the need for a direct quotation--and the qualifier indicating as such at the time.
Literature is strewn with examples of how innocuous the word was and oft it is interchangeable with Negro see Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn (the novel is wholesomely against racial segregation and yet people can't see past the n-word) and Agatha Christie's Ten Little N***ers (renamed as "And then there were none"). Even Martin Luther King in his world famous speech "I have a Dream" uses the now inappropriate terms Negro and Blacks to describe African Americans.
I think that African Americans need to re-appropriate the term and endorse it, just as the Feminist movement endorsed the mocking term suffragette (coined by a Tabloid), or the UK's conservative party endorsed "Tory" (meaning thief/bandit in Gaelic Irish) and modern science endorsed the term Big Bang (1st used sarcastically during a radio show by Fred Hoyle who proposed an alternative).
I sometimes wonder if we use those terms to 'take them back,' or if there's a tinge of self-loathing that also comes into play there. I have to admit that I was a little shocked to hear Bill Maher use the term on his show last night. I think it was because it was only used once, and I don't hear it spoken that often.
Barbara Walters had a good reason for saying the word. I don't think it was racist for her to do so. But I think Sherri's reaction was par for that particular course. Note, please, that Sherri didn't call BW a racist, just said she was really uncomfortable with hearing her use the word. Which, judging from my experience, is perfectly normal.
BW would have done well to include a disclaimer like Whoopi's (along the lines of "I am really uncomfortable reporting this story because I don't like using this word..."). But her training as a journalist would have taught her to keep her reactions out of it.
I say no fault on either side. Both Barb and Sherri could have been more sensitive, but neither was actually bad.
So when I call my most beloved nephew a little queer it's never taken as a derrogatory statement. Obviously when I'm with his circle of friends I refrain since they do not know me. Actually I wouldn't use it even if they knew me since it's meaning is loving and for my nephew only.
At my age and with my large family I'm sure this next generation of mine is bound to produce a number of gays, I'm pleased they will have a family that sees them as normal humans with different preferences.
I recall as a child a mystery being held in secret by the women in my life. When it became clear this mystery incorporate all the stuff relating to 'women', it often was too late to make healthy adjustments. Too, too ridiculous all this nonsense that is just part of nature.
One set of rules for everyone, no exceptions ! Or, stop whining about the consequences.
Maybe sometimes you can jar someone to hear how terrible those things are and that is what they were actually saying about Parry.
In this case Sheri (not the most intelectual of the bunch) used her argument in the wrong place at the wrong time, against Barbara.
I also think that sometimes the lady's of The View just argue for the sake of aguing.