Now that Jackson's been busted, let's mum the N-word

          

    Yesterday’s news that Jesse Jackson was caught on tape whispering the N-word is no news at all.  In the black community, among African Americans, the N-word is deeply embedded and all too common. You hear it everywhere. You hear it in the grocery store from a black mother disciplining her child. You hear it on the streets from one teenager addressing another. You hear it even if you don’t live in or visit the black community. You hear it on the radio in hip-hop tunes. You hear it on cable TV while watching black comedians tell jokes.
    So Jesse said nothing out of the ordinary, he just said it under in a not-so-ordinary place in an extraordinary circumstance: On a Fox TV station in an open mic.
    Jackson’s led protests about the use of the Word and has apologized for using it. I’m sure it’s embarrassing to him and I don’t doubt the sincerity of his apology. He looks like a hypocrite. He got caught in a “do as I say, not as I do” moment.
    I say we all should make an effort not to ban the Word but to should it less casually and much more judiciously; that we should be extremely cautious in using it publicly and much more thoughtful when using it in private.
    The N-word carries weight. It’s steeped in a historical and political tradition that should not be ignored. But it’s also a bad habit with roots going all the way back to slavery. It has been handed down from one generation to the next, I think, out of self-hatred or no self-control or self-respect.  So why would we want to take ownership of a word burdened with so much hatred and violence?
    I think we should use other American ethnic groups as an example. When is the last time you heard Adam Sandler or Jackie Mason use kike in any of their comedy routines? Did Frank Sinatra sing about wops? How often have we heard the word spic used in hip-hop songs by Daddy Yankee or Jennifer Lopez?
      We really need a verbal revolution. I thought that it was good that Rev. Jackson held a news conference in Los Angeles 18 months ago, leading the way in what he scolded Obama about, by “telling n-----s how to behave,” by asking black entertainers to ban the N-word.
    I think we should still go from old school to new. Let’s consider the observation made by the Last Poets four decades ago, that Niggers Are Scared of Revolution, then change how we use the N-word.
    That is, if you’re not too scared to do it.