Hmm. That's weird. Seems like a futile exercise; doesn't a word die when people stop using and drawing attention to it? Wouldn't this be the opposite? And the thing about dead words is that they're easy to dig up.

Glad to see the NAACP continuing to focus on the real issues.

IT IS A WORD. A WORD. GOD.

They aren't holding a funeral for the term nigger guy? Or is that next year?

Now it will rise from the grave more powerful than ever to feast on the brains of the living.

They tried to bury faggot too, but nigger didn't want people thinking he was gay.

Nigga please!

So Charles are you for getting rid of the "n" word or not? I am confused since you used it in the title of your posting but then used the abreviation in the body of the posting.

It's funny how it's usually white men that think the rest of the world is just being overly sensitive.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Colored people another dead slur?

Y'all is crazy, guilt and all.

The Merry Prankster's tried that with "Hippy" in the panhandle about 40 years ago, it didn't fly.

But then, the two terms don't exactly have analogous histories.

Thank god we still have "Thugs" to toss out there....

How come you only ever want to talk about Thugs, but never Bone or Harmony?

Cato, it's not that hard to figure out. Charles used nigger in the title because he wrote it. The "n-word" in the body comes from the story he's quoting. Charles isn't a child, he understands that when you read n-word, you mind says nigger. So what's the point of typing n-word?

I'd argue that this blog talks about Boning all the time, Fnarf.

Regardless all the hate associated with it .... Can I just suggest that word maybe "sounds" catchy. Maybe that is the reason why it just won't die. Why hip hop culture keeps bringing it back, and why white people are scared to death to even mention it among themselves .... white people treat the word like it's Voldemort! I guess the whole Imus fiasco kind of makes me believe there are two factions in the black in the black community. One domminated by more educated elite like maybe Bill Cosby or Alan Keyes (who perhaps left the neighborhood a LONG time ago), and then 50 cent and Jay-Z. Which one is more marketable, and which one gets more exposure to white people, and which group just seems to keep bringing back the damn n-word? I'll just pose some rhetorical questions out there, and no there are no real concrete answers, it's only some abstract thought. Perhaps maybe there are MANY poor people in this country, white and black, yet there is one community that keeps grasping and rehashing their past to sell more rap albums, or maybe all of us whitey's are insensitive ass holes personally determined to use the n-word until it is sown into our American flag. I guess ironically, there is only one thing about social issues and racism I actually do believe in. The whole notion of white privilege and how white people don't have to think about these things, and now I will get off my soup box.

@ PdxRitchie, so we can not SAY the n-word but we can type it to our hearts content?

Whitey'll still have the R-bomb to toss around like a hot potato at each other in front of everybody.

The word nigger is so last year. Now that everybody on the face of the planet will freak out on you for using it in any way, shape, or form, most have moved on to use the term ger. Since both words are rarely used to describe a hard-working person of black skin, the target (thugga wugga 50cent fuggaz neutralize da mothafuckaz gangsta whataz) have no idea. Ger is much too subtle, so it works for now.

I don't care how small or bigger. I don't wanna be called...

@14 ha!

I just can't stop using it when I sing rap songs to myself while I sit around the house. Maybe I should feel guilty about that, bein' white. But I'll be damned if Busta Rhymes and ODB haven't made the word so tasty in the mouth. When I was a child it was a word I'd never use (like "bitch"), but now art has over-ruled all sense of restraint in my tongue.
The word has nothing to do with whatever impulses might steer me toward racism. The actions of thugged-out assholes in my neighborhood, who just about outnumber regular black people, are the sights and sounds which impel me toward villainy. Lots of people like rap, but we aren't all obsessed with "living it." I bet the girls that Imus dogged fall into the nicer category (assuming they even listen to rap).
Imus totally got what he deserved, and all the idjits who call it an over-reaction need to actually consider the phrase he said. It was just about uglier than an n-bomb. But Imus had been filthying up the radio with racist horseshit for years. Anyone remember what he said when Freddy Prinze died?
I agree with the NAACP in principle here. Just in practice... Arr.
"Shame on a n..."
-

I never agree with the NAACP. Ever. I'll find ways to disagree with the NAACP. Like Blondie.

SUCKIN ON MA TITTIES!!1!

Before the Kramer Richards, Don Imus' incidents there was "Bury that Sucka" A Scandalous Love Affair With the N-word by H. Lewis Smith. Published: August 2005 much of today's turn of events relative to the n-word was foreseen. To learn more please visit http://www.burythatsucka.com there is more to all of this than what meets the eye.

There's of white people who aggressively oppose counter-racist groups and loudly state that they aren't racist. Then they go on to cite statistics or give personal stories that indicate blacks are inherently more criminal, and do other weird shit like that. Notably in the SLOG forums, ecce homo busts that kind of move.
I can understand the drive to loudly yell "NAACP and the Negro College Fund etc etc are unnecessary! racism is dead!," because as a white guy you get tired of being blamed for problems you didn't cause.
But the issue of race isn't going to go away simply because we want it to. A lot of black people out there are still having problems and we should do what we can to help. All your crying and complaining just makes you look ugly. But hey, believe what you want. The NAACP ain't going anywhere.
-

So in this ersatz funeral, who is Nigger's grieving widow?

Christopher, you are making an unwarranted leap when you suggest that the NAACP has anything constructive to say about racism. They're irrelevant. They are the spokespeople for people and ideas that don't matter. Not African-American people -- just African-Americans who don't matter. The real action is elsewhere.

The NAACP cannot possibly ban the word nigger, Christopher. It's a total joke for them to consider they're doing anything. At all. Anything. Like, at all. Nothing. Nada. Nothin'. Like Blondie.

SUCKIN' ON MA TITTIES!!1!

Fnarf- I don't know. Can't say I've done any homework on the NAACP (Maybe they are irrelevant) and this funeral does seem like like Cosbyesque old fogy action that will be ignored by the masses. But the general point stands. A lot of organizations and laws out there are trying to bring socio-economic equality to blacks and a lot of otherwise sane whites are still crying foul.

Fnarf--why don't you enlighten us mere mortals and tell us where the real action is.

Poe--they aren't "banning" it...it's a symbolic funeral. Maybe you're sleepy from masterabating to photos of Scooter Libby all day.

The photos of Scooter Libby aren't nearly as hot as his sexy sex stories. Oh yes, masturbate away:
http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2005/11/07/051107ta_talk_collins

they buried "niggER".

but "niggA", that's got legs.

@ 17, maybe white people treat it like Voldemort because you can get the crap beat out of you for saying it, or at the least, destroy your career. i don't even say it when singing along to PE. i say "beeep" instead.

A white man here is my thought.. nigger nigger nigger nigger nigger nigger nigger nigger nigger!!!

Is Mr. Poe a shemale?

I stopped masturbating to Libby when I scored some hot pics of Jeremy Iron's sand-bleached butthole. So yes, me sleepy.

Burying a word. Putting it to rest. Holding a funeral for a fucking word. I love how they mention Imus's remarks. He never used the word nigger. Are we putting the word nappy to rest, too? I sure feel less inclined to use the word nigger now that it's been put to rest. You know, I never use/type/speak that word until these events pop up, leading to discussion which involves the word. Nice job, morons.

The entire thing is ridiculous. I'm not saying they're wrong for doing this. I'm saying they're stupid for doing this. I'm trying to picture myself in a suit come 10 or so years, standing at a funeral, burying the word faggot. What about whore? What about gook, chink, jap, nip, dune coon, dothead, et al?! What about those?! Symbolic funerals for all!

And may God strike down upon those who mock how jerky turkey we're all behaving!! RACIST!!

"...which featured a pine box adorned with a bouquet of fake black roses."

Uh...okay.

Jeremy Irons has a bleached butthole? Wonder if complications from the procedure were the reason he was shitfaced for the entire production of that "Dungeons & Dragons" movie? What kind of bleach is preferred for butthole whitening? Is it safe? Now the real issues of this discussion come out....

@33

Whenever quoting rap lyrics, Dave Chapelle, etc. I always go with "Ni-ah", because it sounds close enough phonetically, yet deprives it of all meaning.

Hey Mr. Poe...who cares about what you think is stupid? Nice Myspace page you cunting whore. Jeremy Irons and Scooter? Jesus, you like an old crusty white man. Hurrying up and toss another off and go back to sleep.

are you going to share those pics, Poe?

;)

No! Whoever you are! I promised Mr. Iron's I would not share them with anybody, right after he gauged my ass into a coffee cup holder. Word.

Mr. Gannon! I'd help you adjust your rusty vagina, but with a little touch of witchcraft, I hear you can get a perfectly new one on your face!

Does this mean the HRC will be holding a funeral for the word FAGGOT next? With maybe fake pink roses?

C'mon guys! SSSSERRIOUSSSLY!!1! We need to hold symbolic funerals for all the words that make us hurt! And we need to hold a funeral for Jeff Gannon, who gently passed away a couple of minutes ago for being such a massive tool. Like Blondie.

SUCKIN' ON MA TITTIES!!1!

Isn't a funeral typically a sad occasion commemorating and mourning a loss? I suppose an Irish wake is a celebration of a life well-lived, but I really don't see how mourning the loss of or celebrating the life of the word nigger makes sense.

"I remember when I used to see and hear nigger every day. Makes me feel young again!"

If the NAACP had been thinking about this seriously, they would have staged a mock "entombing the body in the foundation of Giants Stadium." Or something.

Can we have a fake birth when we come up with new words. For some reason having a woman put a word up her vag and then 'birth' it, just seems like it would make for great tv. Maybe you put the word on the tip of a cock and then have the guy 'inseminate' the word. Loads of fun and kind of biblical.

I heard "spic" and "kike" are on their deathbeds...

@33 ...

Is this for real? Obsessing about this word is like picking a scab ... and at this point, even if the wound of racism is going to heal, the n-word is going to leave a nasty scar. I think a lot of great things have happened with respect to eradicating racism. I'm not saying get rid of affirmative action etc. etc. we still need that, but we do need to TRY to hold ourselves accountabile for own destinies, try not give up hope and create regrets for ourselves. People in general, regardless of race, should TRY to hold themselves more accountable for their lot in life. There are plenty of whitey's leaching off the welfare state too (maybe more). W.E.B. DuBois predicted that the next struggle is going to be a stuggle about class, let's work on that. Sometimes I wonder if the black community stresses its suffering for financial/artistic/legal gain, why not .... art is suffering ... right? Gay and Lesbians do it too. Keats truth is beauty stuff ...

I guess, I wonder ... and I'm really really confused on this, when can we stop talking like we are trying to get extra credit points in a sociology class, and start talking about things we can actually DO to make the world better instead of being a bunch of winey liberals, and this is just not in reference to race too ... we do it with everything we thing is important, constantly point fingers and say this and that is a problem, yet we never come up with constructive solutions other than hold a big live earth concert.

It's one thing to have great ideas, but you still have to sell them ... You care about the environment, become a chemical engineer, or an engineer in general. You care about race relations, become a lawyer, maybe not a social worker or a good one ... or something. THAT is what we need. People with passion to do something, and know how to make it happen and pay the bills.

No, we do not need affirmative action. I've seen it decimate offices and ruin MSN Instant Messenger.

Mr. Poe....massive tool? Why yes dear I've got one, and I'm sorry it's not old and crusty like you like it. I guess you've just got conservative daddy issues poor boy, how utterly common.

Black people use the damn word toward each other more than ANY white person so I don't know what the problem is.. It's ok when someone says NiggA.. it makes no sense... A Nigger is a person of any race or origin regarded as contemptible, inferior, ignorant, etc. I know white Niggers... I know Mexican Niggers... people that bitch about it are Niggers in my opinion...

Do you know any black Niggers? LOL

Sorry , had to ask. I agree with you 100% It is sad that those in power spend so much time, money and effort accomplishing absolutely nothing. Bunch of niggers if you ask me.

NIGGER IS DEAD!!!..LONG LIVE CENSORSHIP

Reason there are 52 comments on this page: a big old excuse to anonymously use the word in question. And yes, if you're enjoying it, you are a racist.

Racist racist racist racist racist racist!!!

On another note: that Scooter Libby thing is just fucking shocking. But not remotely hot. Republican kink does not turn me on. Though Tim Eyman hogtied in a ball gag might amuse me for a little while.

Like Blondie.

SUCKIN' ON MA TITTIES!!1!

I would like to say that nigger is not dead and i will use it whenever i talk about one because the only people ofended by the word are the people that are niggers.

I herd thay wuz berryin a nigger n I got all xsiitd then my cuzin sez thayz berryin a word n i got konfuzd

Stop!!!Get real, we are honoring the word too much. The Black race uses the word as it's a cool thing, but soon as another race uses the word, look out! Don't give the word ownership. Our ancestors have been degraded as human beings with negative meaningless words. If thats the case, we need a funeral everyday. Remember our roots and the ones that died before us. Jesus was the ultimate death for our sinful and wicked ways. Lets go back to praying, helping and loving each other. It would make more sense to tame the tongue. James 3:6

black people piss me off