Elizabeth is such an inflammatory ignoramus, if she were simply un-educated about race issues (for one) it could be opportunity for American to learn along with her, but she's so deeply (yet unknowingly) racist and unwilling to listen (on any subject), to trust someone else's experience, or to learn. I don't know how Whoopi puts up with her.

the reason Elizabeth is so upset is not because of racism or "hate", but because she's jealous that Black people "get to use it." It calls out her inherent white supremacy b/c its one of the few things that she can't have, while still feeling good about herself. it's also one of the few times white bodies ever have their speech policed, with repercussions attached.

Wrong! Elizabeth had it right....the use of the N word by anyone is wrong! I know! When Whhpie, Jessie and the rest use the word they are doing nothing but incite more hatred instead of trying to bridge a gap that was too long in time....my....you should be ashamed!

Any pervious opinion I have heard Elizabeth give in regards to politics has slanted me opposite of her. In this instance, I couldn't agree with her more in the stance of choosing not to use the word entirely. It's a small tip on a very large iceberg when it comes to racism but it does perpetuate a derogatory shackle that is in no way a term to bond with me, even when used by other people of color.

she need to be fired

O geez. It makes me want to scream NO don't watch it! It's like watching a train wreck in slow motion:

1) beautiful white woman of privilege wants to live in the same world as people of color - be equals and live happily ever after
2) she has personal relationships with people of color and feels love for people of color so clearly this is possible.
3) she needs to be educated about systemic oppression
4)the person of color in the conversation holds it together, schools the white woman of privilege and helps her through her difficult emotions around it.

Oh my. This is not good enough. So painful because it is so predictable. I would love to do a replay of this and model what this conversation could look like. Somthing with the possibility of racial healing and social transformation. A possible youtube phenomena? I offer to play the youngish blond woman of some privilege.

I think Whoopi's take was correct. By taking the word and making it your own, you get rid of it's power. We are currently doing the same thing. We are running a comedy in NYC, "feminazi" (the n-word for women). We have an uber-German feminist looking for sexist pigs. By taking this word and holding it up to the light for what it really is, we are breaking it down and making it powerless.

I find it very interesting and very disturbing that white people want so badly to be able to use the n-word freely. It make me wonder if they forget how they used it in the past to degrade a group of people and how to a certain extent, it make it seem as though they just don't want to let go of the ability to hurt and degrade (yet again) a group of people. That word is directly associate with racism. If a white person, uses that word around me, I at once become afraid, uncomfortable, and ashamed. If a black person uses the n-word around me, I feel much more annoyed than anything, but at least I don't feel the threat of being around someone who possibly hates me simply because of my skin color. I don't think Elizabeth realizes this; actually, it's obvious she doesn't.

All I see is someone who's privileged is being challenged and that's why she's upset to the point of tears because if she is so blinded to be able to make the remark that we all live in the same world, she has to be upset for reasons she probably can't even begin to put her finger on.

As an ameircan black male , I totally diagree with her. That word was never used as love in my family . My grandparents seen it all and they never acccepted that word! Elizabeth was spot on on this issue! I love her courage . These bullies on the view and in the hood keep this stuff going for their own selfish purpuse!! Bill was right . The woopie types have lost their minds and are the true sell outs! Thanks Elizabeth !!!!!

Let me get this straight. By using the word as our own you get rid of its power. Have you lost your mind? Where is the logic in that type of thinking. I'll tell you where the logic is. There is none. This is a word of degragation, plain and simple and it is a word educated Black people should not use as a term of endearment.

There is a place for this word, but it is not one I would want used on a family member or love one, whom I cared about. If this is the type of thinking we are to rely upon, then I guess we should empower the words ho and bitch as these words are being thrown about without care or concern. Maybe the person who said we should take these words as our own would not mind her mother or sister or grandmother being called a bitch or ho. After long enough I guess they will not mean anything negative toward her loved ones. Even the true King of Comedy said there are no more niggers and stopped using the term. You can't move forward if you continue to walk backwards.

I personally do not care who uses the "N" word. It makes whomever the person using it look terrible. I am sick to death of hearing the same song and dance about it. I do not care to use it nor do I care to hear it period. Dead issue. Black society will not let go of the history of slavery in America and whites will not let go of their guilt. I did not live at that time therefore, I feel no guilt from it. Yes it is still an issue in other countries and that is terribly unfortunate but we all need to step up and face the current issues here in America. Simple truth is that each culture has bigger issues to address and this is NOT one of them. Get over it!

CS - first off, I think you have this story incorrect. Elizabeth never said she wanted to use the word freely. She was saying that NO ONE should be using the word, and you know what.. she was right. As MOST people out there, I am a person of mixed race and I find it HIGHLY inappropriate that anyone should use such a derogatory word to describe ANYONE, ESPECIALLY someone that they "love".
Elizabeth was Spot On in this debate, Whoopi looks like an uneducated moron when she says things like she said.

NOT to mention, CS, the part where you say that you "wonder if they forget how they used it in the past to degrade a group of people"...
Uhm.. I have a feeling that Elizabeth has never used that word to degrade anyone, and I have not either.

White people are no more responsible for what their ancestors did than anyone else. And for black people to go on and on about being "opressed" like they are still slaves, that is just ridiculous. Everyone has opportunity, and to start segregating ourselves again like Whoopi has by saying that "only black people can do this"... it is just promoting racism in this country over and over again...

Whoopi needs to apologize and realize her mistake.

>

This matter can be simplified even further. Think of the relationship you have or had growing up within your immediate family or perhaps with your extended family like cousins, aunts, uncles, etc, or even among your circle of friends.

There are words, terms, and nicknames you can use with each other and call each other by that a person who is not in your family or outside your circle of friends cannot. So there are words people in your family and circle of friends can use that maybe perhaps if a co-worker or person off the street said to you, you would be offended. Offended because they do not share a common history or bond with you, or know what you've been through, or know you like that, so they have no authority to use certain words with you.

This is the same duplicity that exists with the "N" word. What angers African Americans the most is the callousness of other races to delineate how the word is to be used among African Americans, when those other races have not had the meaning of the word involuntarily forced upon them. It's like someone who is not black saying they know what it's like to be black simply because they are themselves a human being. As if because we are human we all go through the same thing. While it is true that being human we all share some commonality, each and every race has struggles and trials specific to them. (Even the White race, contrary to what most believe being White isn’t always all it’s cracked up to be, struggles exist too) It would be like a man saying he knows what its like to be a woman because he has two ears, eyes, nose and a mouth. Having things in common is not the same has knowing what it's like to walk in the other person's shoes. Sensitivity, respect, acceptance, and empathy, go much further than apathy, arrogance, and indignance.

~Begin &End with Love~

I agree with Whoopie, I see no constructive purpose in using the word as a white person so I don't. I leave the usage within the African American Community to the African American Community. I'm comfortable with that.

I think Elizabeth was correct, I understand Whoopi or anyone for that matter can have control over the word, but when it comes down to it, if you are walking down the street and you hear someone say the 'n word' to another person, it doesnt sound right on any factors, regardless of how it is being said, or whom it is being said to. Do I think certain words carry different meanings? Yes, but with this word in perticular, everyone can sugar coat it and say that it isn't wrong for anyone to say but there are a lot of people take offense to it. Using this word daily and changing its meaning may be a good idea to some people, but everyone knows that its never going to completley lose its meaning from the past, wether people want to realize it or not! I am behind Elizabeth 100% She knows what she is talking about and she is FULLY educated on a lot of the issues, honestly I don't think she speaks her opinion enough.

Elizabeth is right about the N-word...it should not be used by Blacks or White!

It is really very nice article.I was searching on internet from long time.
Thanks for posting such a nice article.
Wide Circles

I'm watching "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" with Spencer Tracy, Sidney Poitier, Katharine Hepburn a movie that is so powerful to this day. The actor Sidney tells his father in the movie, "You think of yourself as a colored man, I see myself as a man."
Maybe everyone should watch the movie if you havn't already. Why does there have to be color involved? Why can't we see each other as man and woman. Yes alot has happened throughout the years, but hate will never dissapear as long as people don't move on.

As for the word nigger, it brings the good and bad in people. If it's a word some see as okay for some to use and others not, that's sad!!!! I feel people think they are strong by trying to educate why certain people can use the word and others not. In my opinion, that's a bit of a struggle of being stuck on the white and black issue. Move on.......as the phrase goes...."You think of yourself as a colored man, I see myself as a man." Think of yourself as a man or a woman with a rich, colorful background. If the word can be used by one, it should be used for all. I see myself as a woman, strong, rich, with a colorful history in the past and a future where the n word is used by all or not at all.

Always a complex topic. I believe it's too complex for any one person to be the model for all, however I will give my humble, however informed, opinion.

The origins of the word go beyond the origins of the English language even. The negative and oppressive aspects of the word "nigger" are multi-layered, as is our society-in past and present. If you don't understand how connected we are with the past, then it would be nearly impossible to understand our present. Regardless of our lack of participation in the past, we should realize what are relationship to that legacy is. The descendants of those (systematically or not) exploiting or benefiting from the exploitation of others might not have been directly involved, but they are directly benefiting from that history. Where did the economic and social wealth acquired/created from that past go? How is it being used today? Even if one's ancestors never owned slaves or been wealthy, doesn't it still matter today what ethnicity they appear to be? If we as individuals ignore the histories of societies and simply "move on", aren't we ignoring the actual problems of systemic racial/ethnic, gender and class discrimination, exploitation and oppression that can be witnessed all over this world? If you think I just went wing nut with the previous sentence, think back to the pyramid chart used by your teachers or professors to describe the hierarchies of ancient societies. Do you think our present societies have abandoned hierarchies? Race, class, gender external/internal oppression analysis are crucial to understanding our world-'The View', like most programs and people, would be more useful if they used them more.

Yes, we all live in this same physical world, but even the laws of physics state that no two things can exist in the same place at the same time. To think that we are all exactly the same and therefore have no significant differences is to deny the uniqueness of all living things, or all things (period).

I am a (light skinned) son of immigrants(one dark skinned one light skinned) from the ethnically mixed and highly prevalent and violent white-supremacist (a false ideology based on race-another false concept) Dominican Republic. I grew up in a Brooklyn community where my peers had very similar backgrounds and experiences (obviously many are shared experiences). I don't remember the exact date, but sometime within the past twenty years, in our cultural language we severely decreased referring to each other as "bro" and instead began to refer to each other as "nigga" (the references used amongst and towards females can be distinct in regards to words and beyond my scope and experience). Was there any significant, or even noticeable change(s) in our lives or the physical world due to this change in language? I challenge the entire world to discover it; because I haven't noticed one. Will there be any similar change if we stopped saying "nigga"? Keep in mind the experience of African American communities is unique, and not the same as mine (or my community) however much similarities and experiences we do share.

Let's move forward and begin building a world most of us would like to see; a world without hierarchies, oppression and mass ignorance. Let's move forward and build a world of total democracy-in politics, economy and society. Let's build a free world; a world that strives to be liberatory, just, egalitarian, peaceful and loving. I would think history would be a great tool in understanding our present and building our future. After all, history is experience and experience is what makes people experts.