Free Speech, Minus the N-Word

Sept. 7, 2007 — -- There are few principles Americans will more fiercely defend than the right to free speech, especially in the arts. If you're holding a pen, a brush, an instrument or a microphone, there's an amendment that says you can say pretty much whatever you want.

Pretty much. Just don't say the N-word.

That may be the lesson learned by black comedian Eddie Griffin, whose recent standup routine at a Black Enterprise magazine event in Miami was halted when he asked his audience, "Why are some black leaders telling us to stop using the N-word?"

According to a statement from the Rev. Al Sharpton, Griffin's mike promptly cut out. Earl Graves, the owner and publisher of Black Enterprise, took the stage and said he refused to let Griffin finish his act if "that's the way he's going to talk."

A spokesperson from the magazine later said, "We believe that ending the performance was the appropriate action."

Griffin's publicist, Jeff Abraham, said he could not provide a statement Thursday evening.

Ever since "Seinfeld" alum Michael Richards used the N-word in a tirade at the Laugh Factory in November, Americans have been talking about who's allowed to say what. The debate heated up when radio host Don Imus referred to the members of the Rutgers University women's basketball team as "nappy-headed hos" in April.

Now Griffin has become the first black entertainer to have his act canned because he used the racial slur employed by a slew of black comedians and rappers.

It seems that when it comes to who can and cannot get away with the N-word, race has nothing to do with it. Say it and odds are public castigation will follow.

By his own admission, black comedian Paul Mooney "had a love affair" with the N-word. But last year, watching the 24-hour news networks play Richards' Laugh Factory rant over and over again, Mooney had a change of heart.

Since then, Richard Pryor's right-hand man has made it his mission to eradicate the N-word from pop culture. Mooney stood behind Richards when he met with members of the black community to apologize. He supported the NAACP when it symbolically "buried the N-word" at its July convention in Detroit. He said it's time for everyone to give up on the N-word.