The N-word is no longer welcome in Ebony and Jet magazines.
In the February issue of Ebony, which hit stands yesterday, Bryan Monroe, vice president and editorial director of Johnson Publishing Co., explains why these venerable African-American publications will no longer use the controversial noun "nigger."
Walt Walker, a football player at the University of South Florida inspired by a column on ESPN.com by LZ Granderson, has asked his teammates both black and white to consider not using the word.
Sioux City School Board is backing the local NAACP's campaign asking everyone to stop using the word. The board agreed to put up posters that read: "I will demonstrate dignity and respect towards myself and others by not using the 'N' word."
City council members in Charleston, S.C., approved an ordinance last week that would allow the silencing or removal of residents who use inappropriate language at meetings. It was prompted by an African-American community activist's use of the word at a council meeting last month.
Queens City Councilman Leroy Comrie announced last week that he plans to introduce a resolution banning the 'N' word. "It is my hope that this resolution will spark a dialogue in communities and begin to move society, especially in our entertainment culture, toward a place where the use of the 'N' word is simply unacceptable in any context," Mr. Comrie said.
United Voices for a Common Cause, which pledges not to use the N-word and encourages others not to use it, has developed a Benedict Arnold Hall of Shame that includes, among others, comedian Daman Wayans for insistence on using the word. theunitedvoices.com
"N-word has been swung like a clumsy nightstick by whites for years, trying to demean, dehumanize and destroy the dignity of black America," Mr. Monroe writes. "We have a generation who have been desensitized to -- or never were taught -- the real origins and impact of such a hateful term. But whether it ends in 'er' or 'ah' or 'a,' the word -- and the pain -- is still the same."
The word is derived from the Latin "niger" or the French "negre," both of which mean "black," according to "Enough! Why Blacks and Whites Should Never Use the 'N-Word' Again," Ebony's package of articles and essays on the word and its history.
It is believed Southern slave owners began using the word to refer with contempt to their black slaves but mispronounced it, resulting in the pronunciation we have today.
Johnson Publishing is part of a small, scattered but increasingly vocal movement to ban the use of a word described by Harvard Law Professor Randall Kennedy in his book, "Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word," as "arguably the most consequential social insult in American History."
Former "Seinfeld" star Michael Richards likely would agree with that description. It was his racist rant at a Los Angeles comedy club last November that reignited the debate over whether the word should or should not be acceptable under any circumstances.
The comedian's tirade prompted several African-American leaders, including the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., to call for a ban on the use of the word by everyday people as well as comedians, rappers and other entertainers.
Paul Mooney, a protege of Richard Pryor who's written for numerous television sitcoms and sketch comedy shows, made a living for decades incorporating the word into his act. He even joked that he recited the word as much as he could every day because it made his teeth white.
Since viewing the Richards' video, however, Mr. Mooney, a staunch, self-described "race man," has sworn off uttering the word.
"I've used it and abused it, and I never thought I'd say this," Mooney explained, "[but] Richards is my Dr. Phil. He's cured me."
There are many more entertainers who, unlike Mr. Mooney, don't think they're ill.
Actor/singer/comedian Jamie Foxx, who is on tour, was asked recently about the N-word by a reporter for the Rocky Mountain News.
"Oh, man, they trippin'," Mr. Foxx responded. "That's my word. I don't know what they talking about. I need that word in certain situations."
Those behind the movement to stop use of the word disagree.
"The dependency of this word as a greeting, to complete sentences and start conversations, is a total disregard for every movement that gave us the many freedoms we enjoy today," reads the introductory statement on www.abolishthenword.com.
The site was established by a small group of Brooklyn residents who want to put an end to the word being used personally and in entertainment.
"I think there are better things we can do with our time," said Dr. Boyce Watkins, a Syracuse University professor who writes about issues concerning young African-Americans.
Dr. Watkins believes the ban the N-word movement is aimed mostly at young black males and others who copy them.
"The civil rights movement has already lost a ton of social capital with young black males to begin with," he said. "The question they have to ask themselves is, 'Is this the battle we want to pick?' "
He believes the resources and effort being used in this new movement could be better utilized addressing the social and economic issues.
"I would love to see the civil rights leaders get equally as passionate about the millions of black men incarcerated in the penitentiaries and the millions of children thrown away by the educational system," Dr. Watkins said.
Taylor Allderdice sophomore Eric Thorne believes there are times when the word is acceptable and times when it's not.
"Like in certain songs they put [the N-word] in there for a reason, so it should be in there," said the 15-year-old, who says he doesn't use the word.
For example, if the word is referring to a friend, that's acceptable, according to Eric. If the word is being directed at someone in a negative way, however, that's not acceptable.
Richard G. Portis, coordinator of the Veterans Business Outreach Center at Robert Morris University, supports doing away with the word.
Discussing the issue on Martin Luther King Jr. Day yesterday, he said, "It certainly is fitting that we move our great culture to a new level and to divorce those things that are negative and degrading and to adopt a dignity that Dr. Martin Luther King certainly brought to African-Americans in this nation."
First Published: January 16, 2007, 5:00 a.m.
