1832

Enough is enough. First, we have Michael Richards who felt himself at ease enough to start spouting racial epithets on stage at his show. Then, we have Don Imus calling the Rutgers Women's Basketball squad "nappy-headed ho's" and now, some foreign couch manufacturer labeling one of their couches as "Nigger-Brown". To all of this I give a huge W-T-F! I try to be fair, and give a few more inches of leeway where I can, but, with things like this I can't help but but be completely irritated and offended.

I'm not just offended by the fact that White people, among others, feel it okay to use these terms. I'm offended that Black people are equally (if not more so) as guilty of using these terms; and that as a result, others feel that it's no biggie to use the aforementioned phrases in public arenas.

I'm no stranger to the guilt either. I freely drop the word "nigga" -- less frequently these days -- but use it nonetheless. These incidents have definitely made it apparent to me that there is no worth in the repeated use of these terms; that regardless of the user, they are horrible and worthy of being condemned and forgotten. I used to think that their use took the power away from them, but in reality, frequent usage emboldens others to feel comfortable in using them. And I find that unacceptable.

I think that these incidents are providing a key opportunity to open up dialogs about these terms for light and dark skinned folks. I think there needs to be responsibility taken by light-skinned folk, and even more so by dark-skinnned folk, to ensure that we don't continue to leave a legacy of racial bias based on skin color, for our children. That is all.