This is one oh those rare times I will get on my soap box and vent. Last night I was reminded of how far I have come from; yet this morning how I, and we as a society still have yet a long way to go. Hanging out on one of the rare occasions I have, I and two other colleagues were drinking our beers when we heard the word "Nigga." I'm thinking to myself, I'm in an upscale part of the city where I could escape the foolishness associated with pop culture. I look across the patio toward the direction from which the word came, and sure enough, it was from two overly-served white girls. I probably would have let it go, were it not for the fact that in their state of drunkenness, they were unapologetic about it; almost like a taunt.
"I said it, it happens, what's up?" This was my social cue to exit, at the same time I couldn't help notice that our server, who also was their server, appeared to have had a conversation with them. I launched my subtle protest. I informed her that my guest and I felt a bit verbally abused by the drunks at the other table, particularly by their use of the N- word. My friend Earnest was like "Let's not make a big deal out of it. They're drunk. It's a part of their culture. They hear it on the radio. They said Nigga, not Nigger, they were not even speaking to us."
Needless to say, this was one of those "F- it, I'm 40something moments." I said what I needed to say which was simple.
"Just because you listen to HipHop music, and they say the N- word, does not give you a license to use that word freely in public. She's a news reporter, I'm a Ph.D, he's a business owner. Had we been different Black folk who were slow to reason and too quick to action, you could be in the concrete right now."
"Well sir."
"The only thing I would even consider hearing from you at this point is, I'm sorry, we're drunk, we fucked up. Other than that, there is nothing I wish to hear from you."
On my drive home I was pissed. How did this happen? I was reminded in the most subtle way of my invisibility, in the Ellisonian sense. Even worse, I can't hold their inebriated behinds but so accountable. I'm going up against market driven HipHop that says its okay to say N I double G A, and white America, here is the American Express Black card, yours to use, free of impunity. Really folks? Luckily, a good and respected opinion from Twitter reminded me that this issue, that of white folks using Nigga/Nigger, is infantile in the grand scheme of challenges which deserve more immediate response within the public sphere; specifically the disease of poverty, disparate educational systems, the overall dysfunctional social structures that enable these "Mary Shelly like" systems to run unchecked. These are the real problems which I should find grossly offensive, as opposed to two drunk-ass "girls gone wild" who, in the grand scheme of things, are as significant, as two grains of sand, on the beach called life.
"I said it, it happens, what's up?" This was my social cue to exit, at the same time I couldn't help notice that our server, who also was their server, appeared to have had a conversation with them. I launched my subtle protest. I informed her that my guest and I felt a bit verbally abused by the drunks at the other table, particularly by their use of the N- word. My friend Earnest was like "Let's not make a big deal out of it. They're drunk. It's a part of their culture. They hear it on the radio. They said Nigga, not Nigger, they were not even speaking to us."
Needless to say, this was one of those "F- it, I'm 40something moments." I said what I needed to say which was simple.
"Just because you listen to HipHop music, and they say the N- word, does not give you a license to use that word freely in public. She's a news reporter, I'm a Ph.D, he's a business owner. Had we been different Black folk who were slow to reason and too quick to action, you could be in the concrete right now."
"Well sir."
"The only thing I would even consider hearing from you at this point is, I'm sorry, we're drunk, we fucked up. Other than that, there is nothing I wish to hear from you."
On my drive home I was pissed. How did this happen? I was reminded in the most subtle way of my invisibility, in the Ellisonian sense. Even worse, I can't hold their inebriated behinds but so accountable. I'm going up against market driven HipHop that says its okay to say N I double G A, and white America, here is the American Express Black card, yours to use, free of impunity. Really folks? Luckily, a good and respected opinion from Twitter reminded me that this issue, that of white folks using Nigga/Nigger, is infantile in the grand scheme of challenges which deserve more immediate response within the public sphere; specifically the disease of poverty, disparate educational systems, the overall dysfunctional social structures that enable these "Mary Shelly like" systems to run unchecked. These are the real problems which I should find grossly offensive, as opposed to two drunk-ass "girls gone wild" who, in the grand scheme of things, are as significant, as two grains of sand, on the beach called life.
