[Serious] Singing the N-word

[Brian37]

If I say the N-word in public, even in singing, and there were black people around telling me to stop using that word, why on earth would I want to keep being an inconsiderate dick about it and ignore what this word really is for them? It's ok, you can survive without having to say the N-word in front of them.

Personally, I don't even say it in private because I don't have this urge to repeat lyrics from rap songs that include that word.

Should you also self-censor when doing a public reading of, say, Huckleberry Finn or To Kill A Mockingbird?  The argument can be made that by saying (or singing) the words as the artist wrote them is a nod to artistic integrity.  I don't consider myself qualified to re-write Twain or Drake or Snoop Dog.

And where does it end?  Plenty of other words are offensive to plenty of other people.  Are you going to change 'Injun Joe' to 'Native American Joe'?  Several of Shakespeare's plays contain punning references to the word 'cunt'.  Should we bowdlerize these as well?

But what the OP boils down to is, 'It was OK for him to write it, but it's not OK for you to say it.' 

Boru

Way to miss the point.

I already addressed this in a prior post.

Huckleberry Finn is a historical piece of work. I am pretty damned sure that the Black History Museum in DC like the Holocaust Museum in DC also depict slurs against entire groups. But not as an advocacy but a reminder of what not to do.

Saying the "n" word exists isn't the same as using it as a slur. 

But even in non hatful art such as a song, or comedy, it is still important to know time place and context. 

As Criss Rock rightfully pointed out, that I think the OP missed was, "Not really". 

Chris wasn't saying "never" but "it depends", and I take that as "don't assume".

I hate these "either/or" propositions. "We must have the legal right to always say it" isn't the argument. It always depends on knowing your audience and time place and context.

Just like you don't sell tobacco to or porn to kids.

"N" is the same as "kike" or "Krout' or " Jap" or "wetback".

If you are going to use a word in like a reporter like a history book, or documentary, that is one thing. But outside that, like art, music, comedy you still need to know your audience. 

My ex wife was Japanese. I once got into a play argument with her and responded, "Just remember we kicked your ass in WW2."  But she knew me personally and she got the context. However, one day I went to pick her up at work and a white southern draw security guard was at the back door. I asked him to page her and his response was, "Oh, you mean the Jap?"  The problem wasn't that he was a bigot, he may or may not have been. The problem if he was not a bigot is that he didn't know me personally enough to make a joke like that if he was being friendly.

That is what Chris means by, "Not really."