The N-Word Debate—Is There a Double Standard?

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The fallout from the tempest Don Imus created when the words "nappy-headed hos" spewed from his mouth continued yesterday when hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons called for the recording industry to eliminate the words bitch, ho and the N-word from future recordings.

"There should not be any government regulation or public policy that should ever violate the First Amendment. With freedom of expression, however, comes responsibility," reads a statement released by Simmons' Hip-Hop Summit Action Network (HSAN). "With that said, HSAN is concerned about the growing public outrage concerning the use of the words 'bitch' 'ho,' and 'nigger.' We recommend that the recording and broadcast industries voluntarily remove/bleep/delete the misogynistic words 'bitch' and 'ho' and the racially offensive word 'nigger.'"

This is the second attempt in the last few months to eliminate the N-word from the public lexicon. In New York, a recent resolution passed that made the word unofficially off-limits. (See also: Banning the N-word: At least Ann Coulter Is Upfront About Bigotry) The result was a strictly symbolic resolution that carries no penalties.

But the fact that it's Simmons this time calling for a ban may carry some weight. Revered in the music industry, Simmons is the cofounder of Def Jam Records and brother to Joseph "DJ" Simmons, who partnered with Darryl "DMC" McDaniels and the late Jason "Jam-Master Jay" Kizell in the early '80s to form the pioneering rap trio Run DMC. That group, along with trailblazers like Kurtis Blow, Grandmaster Flash and Africa Bambaataa, is largely responsible for the evolution of rap/hip hop as a music genre.

I'm not an apologist for the rap community. Too many of the lyrics are misogynist and/or violent in nature. Perhaps even worse, too many of today's rappers are simply uncreative and uninspired, blaring out repetitive lines over uninventive beats (or perhaps that's my nostalgia for old-school hip-hop rearing its head). But I was amused and dismayed at the number of Imus supporters who came out of the woodwork as the former radio host's ship went aground. Why should Imus take the fall, many argued, when rappers daily say similarly vile things about black women?

One prominent black columnist, Jason Whitlock of the Kansas City Star, went as far as to paint Imus as a victim, caught up in a racial storm not of his own making.

"We are our own worst enemies," wrote Whitlock. "We have allowed our youths to buy into a culture (hip hop) that has been perverted, corrupted and overtaken by prison culture. The music, attitude and behavior expressed in this culture is anti-black, anti-education, demeaning, self-destructive, pro-drug dealing and violent."

I can agree with Whitlock to a point. Yes, rappers must take responsibility for the lyrics they write and the lines they perform on recordings—just as the women that often are portrayed as the objects of desire for these rappers must take accountability for the images they project when appearing barely clothed in the latest rump-shaker video.

But rap music as the real culprit? I think not.

Imus as victim? Please.

Keith Clinkscales, general manager of ESPN the Magazine, had it right when he slammed Whitlock in his own commentary on sports.aol.com, saying the columnist was misdirecting attention from the real offender.

"Instead of taking this watershed moment in media and culture and honing in on the true cause of the Imus situation, we are now discussing 50 Cent, Snoop Dogg and Young Jeezy," Clinkscales wrote. "Your misdirection has given the mainstream media a pair of dancing shoes. For one of the first times in history, black people mattered. Not to the media, but to the advertisers - the true invisible hand of the media marketplace - who spoke loudly and clearly. Procter and Gamble said 'no.' Then Staples said 'no.' Then several others followed their lead."

Imus was canned because he became radioactive to sponsors of his show on MSNBC and CBS Radio. He was tossed overboard not because he was a good guy who said a stupid thing, which was the oft-offered "apology" he and his defenders presented. Rather, he was fired because he had a history of contemptible language targeted at blacks, GLBTs and other groups that spread out over decades.

But if Imus' ultimate legacy is that he unintentionally drew attention to the demeaning language in rap music and it's the first step toward cleaning up the genre then maybe I owe him a thank you. Although my first instinct when anyone talks about banning words is to get on my First Amendment high horse, I find myself applauding Simmons' effort. Because truly, what value does a hate-filled word like the N-word have except to denigrate and degrade? Is there any value at all in calling a woman, black or white, a bitch or ho?

I hope we've heard the last of Imus and the resulting fallout. I'm sick of him, as well as his various supporters who were quick to accept apologies for insults not levied against them. Besides, Imus seems so small today, just a week after real-life tragic events touched so many lives.

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