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Reader response from DiversityInc's coverage of the N-word double-standard issue continues to pour in as a debate rages over whether there should ever be accepted use of inappropriate, demeaning language. DiversityInc Partner and Cofounder Luke Visconti wrote yesterday in his Ask the White Guy column that the market for racist content won't soon disappear because humans are not perfect. But he believes the market will be increasingly marginalized because sponsors won't put up with it. "It's not good business," he wrote.

Here's what our readers had to say:

The rappers and hip-hop performers are hypocrites. You don't call Donald Trump "my nigger" on national television, as Russell Simmons did, and then attempt to take the high road in trying to ban the word in recordings. Where was Simmons on this issue when he and the other performers were getting rich using that word and other words demeaning their own people?

—Bob (last name not given)

All this talk about a double standard aggravates me. It IS different when a white person says the N-word than when a black person does. That difference is based on history, emotional significance, etc.

—Ryan R. Crowder

Aren't we talking about two different venues? One is a comedy show and the other political shows with completely different missions. A comedy show, no matter the race or ethnicity of the comedian, is allowed to make fun of our society and its preoccupation with race. However, the comedian, two of whom you name, may not attack the individual in a mean-spirited manner. That is exactly what Imus and Limbaugh did on a daily basis on a show that is essentially political. What is most difficult to quantify is mean-spiritedness. But believe me, you know it when you hear it—that is, if you want to hear it.

I reject the notion of leaving something as important as this to the marketplace. Our values are not for sale. Perhaps that really is the problem.

—Wiley Huff

What scares me most about some of the discussions about art and media post-Imus is that people are lumping large swaths of artists and products into the same piles. For example, some people alleging a double standard have taken aim at hip hop, lumping artists with positive messages such as Common and The Roots together with gangsta rap stars such as 50 Cent and Snoop.

In this discussion, Dave Chapelle and Carlos Mencia are being compared to Don Imus, with no regard for the specifics of their actual work. Chappelle in particular often employed edgy languages and racial stereotypes to SATIRE America's twisted and often absurd attitudes about race. Mencia is, I think, much more inclined to pretend he's reaching for larger truths when he's really just using stereotypes for a cheap laugh. And Imus was just cracking a demeaning joke that wasn't trying to do anything but trade in an awful stereotype for a flash of humor.

To lump all these performers together does a disservice to each one of them and makes it easy for people who don't know anything about their work to make snap judgments. Those of us who criticized Imus knew his work for years. I just hope people who decide to point the finger at other performers take the same care in learning their subject.

—Eric Deggans

It was so unfortunate that the genesis of the idea of respecting our African-American women did not come from our community, but it may be just the spark that it will take for us to say ENOUGH! The outrage by the American public was a good thing. The pain that so many of us felt when Don Imus disrespected those high-achieving young ladies on the Rutgers basketball team is the same agony felt by so many of us each time that we sing, dance and demonstrate the lyrics of "self-hate". This tool was the vicious weapon used by the former slave owners! Should we continue to degrade ourselves? I think not! We are smart enough to make "mo' money" without employing the "master's" techniques of self hate. This "change" is an idea whose time has come ... STOP IT NOW! Stop using abusive language and all weapons of self-hate against each other THIS DAY.

—Booker Daniels

The business case for diversity is always a powerful argument. However, I am hoping for a time when all media programming is scrutinized in order to eliminate any comments that fuel the continuation of racist mindsets. Any comment that serves to marginalize a person, whether done in the name of humor or otherwise, should be edited out.

—Karl A. Strindberg

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