Who Can Say What, and When?

May 18, 2007 — -- These days it seems no one can say the right thing. From Don Imus to Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., to Isaiah Washington … everyone has stuck their foot in their mouth. But why this sudden rash of taboo language? Where is that invisible line and what happens when someone crosses it? Who can say what in this country? And have we all just gotten too politically correct?

Onstage, provocative language about race has made comedians like Chris Rock famous. But now, even the comedy club is no longer a safe haven. Michael Richards of "Seinfeld" fame learned that during a very unfunny rant onstage at the Laugh Factory, a place where black comics have been saying the n-word for decades. The video of Richards' tirade is now infamous. Captured by a cell phone, Richards calls a group of hecklers the n-word over and over again, until some patrons leave the club in disgust.

Fellow comic D.L. Hughley said the n-word is "the atom bomb of words." He also points out that, sadly, its terrible history is homegrown. "It is an American invention. That word is as American as apple pie. It's baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and the n-word."

Michael Eric Dyson, author of "Debating Race" and a University of Pennsylvania professor, said that Richards' use of the word is deplorable. "The word when used by hateful white people was connected to a history of horrible behavior … lynching, stabbing, murder. So that word is always more than a word. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will always kill us."

But is there a double standard? The n-word is heard publicly mostly in the music and other cultural aspects of African-American life. For more than a century, the word was owned almost exclusively by white people to inflict harm. But today, many African-Americans have tried to redefine the word and make it something positive inside their community. Is it fair for one group to be able to use the word, while others cannot? Dyson said yes. "Whether you agree with that strategy or not, that's a legitimate attempt to try to take the poison from a term, empty it out, and then circulate it as a term of endearment. You had it, you did your thing with it, let us do ours."