Did Those Crackers Use The N Word?

There are allegations surfacing that George Allen and James Webb used the word "nigger" more than 30 years ago. This seems to be getting a great deal of attention and I can not figure it out. Allen has denied it though several more people have come forward and said they heard him say it and Webb sidestepped the issue by saying that he does not think there is anyone who grew up in the South that has not had that word come across their lips. He also said that he never used the word to hurl a racial slur at anyone.

I find both items hard to believe because many people both black and white have used that word. I have used it in my past and though it is not a good word to use, the fact is, just like the F word, I've said it. The point with these two is, have they said it recently? Who cares if they said it more than 30 years ago? People can crawl out of the woodwork and tell us they heard one or the other say it a long time ago but how many people have heard it recently? I am absolutely positive that Robert Byrd has used that word and he never gets the scrutiny that these two are getting. While this might be an issue to some, it seems to me there are bigger fish to fry.

This quote appeared in an article about Webb:

"The Voting Rights Act transformed that word. It eradicated it," said Jack Bass, a professor of humanities and social science at the College of Charleston. "The crowd that [used it in the 1970s] either quit using it or they were gone. Blacks were voters by then." Washington Post

Maybe Jack Bass is on another planet or does not listen to rap music. A large majority of the gangsters in the gangsta rap crown use that word and they use it a lot.

• Driving a Saab that connects with the mob Bank job, plenty niggers I rob (Wanted Dead or Alive)


• Shame on a nigga who try to run game on a nigga (Shame)


• Nigga it's the Big southern rap pimp resario (Big Pimpin)


• “Hey what’s up my nigga.” This is said among millions of times among inner city blacks and has actually reached the mainstream, when in the movie Rush Hour, Jackie Chan said the exact phrase to Chris Tucker. (streetgangs.com)

Maybe it is just me but our society is full of young people, Black, white (and in the case of Chan, Asian) who are using the word "nigger" or a variant "nigga." Perhaps these folks will never run for office or do not vote but it seems to me that with everything going on in the world people can find more to discuss than whether or not two older guys running for office had the audacity to use the word over 30 years ago.

I have not heard anyone ask black or Hispanic politicians if they ever used the word "cracker" or "honky." We know Jesse Jackson used the word Hymie and we know that people associated with Cynthia McKinney used the word crackers and made anti-Semitic remarks (actions she did not comment on), and Don Perata of California used the word crackers as well. When they are running for office, does anyone ask them about this? Of course not and they are actively using those words NOW so it is disingenuous to hold two white guys hostage to words they said decades ago.

Let's stop fixating on who is Jewish or who used the word "nigger" and get down to discussing the issues that actually matter today. Unless someone can show that these two politicians are using the word NOW, then I see no need to waste time. If people want to hear that word used they can listen to rap music or watch a gangsta film like Get Rich or Die Trying.

Other source:
Yahoo News

Cross Posted at Blogcritics and Big Dog's Weblog