Comedian Paul Mooney Gives Up "N Word," Encourages Fans To Follow

Following Michael Richards' appearance on Rev. Jesse Jackson's "Keep Hope Alive" radio show, comedian Paul Mooney is calling for the ban of the N word.

This past Sunday (November 26), the former "Seinfeld" star stopped by Jackson's show to apologize following his racist outburst at West Hollywood, CA's Laugh Factory. Mooney was present during the broadcast. The comedian has long used the word in his writing, as a stand-up comedian and more recently on "Chappelle's Show." Now the comedy vet wants to leave the word behind and is hoping that others will follow suit.

"We're gonna stop using the N word," Mooney declared during a recent broadcast on CNN. "I'm gonna stop using it. I'm not gonna use it again and I'm not gonna use the B word. And we're gonna put an end to the N word. Just say no to the N word. We want all human beings throughout the world to stop using the N word."

"We gotta take our power back," he added. "It's not an equal opportunity word and it's not a very nice word."

When asked how he plans on convincing rappers and the average African American to cease using the word, Mooney replied, "Anybody's frame of mind can change. I can't change the past. I can change the present and the future. It's for me. If my fans love me, they'll follow me. I'm not gonna say the word."

Mooney went as far as crediting Richards' racist tirade for giving him a new outlook on the word.

"Michael cured me of the word," Mooney revealed. "I'm not easily shocked. The tape shocked me. I finally got the gist of the word. It's too powerful and it's too much hatred and I don't wanna use it anymore."

"I was having an affair with that word," Mooney continued. "I was married to that word. Now I'm having a divorce. I'm divorcing the word."

During Mooney's long, influential career in the entertainment industry he has written for such shows as "Sanford & Son," "Saturday Night Live," "Good Times" and "In Living Color," and worked closely with Richard Pryor, Dave Chappelle, and Spike Lee.

http://sohh.com/articles/article.php/10336

i kind of disagree with that.

the more forbidden it gets, the more harsh it will be, and the more enticing and powerful it will be for those who want to use it with aggression.

I think it's wonderful that Mooney (of all people) is going cold turkey, but that's hardly going to deter another closet bigot from dropping the N-bomb in the future.

Sorry...

The euphemization of the term by Black folk is not the root of that problem.

MILES wrote:

"We're gonna stop using the N word," Mooney declared during a recent broadcast on CNN. "I'm gonna stop using it. I'm not gonna use it again and I'm not gonna use the B word. And we're gonna put an end to the N word. Just say no to the N word. We want all human beings throughout the world to stop using the N word."

I'm not gonna lie... I feel where he is coming from, but the chances of that happening are pretty slim. I mean, I'm all for the "banning" of it's usage, but it's gonna be pretty hard (even for me!) To stop using it.

I don't think it would be all that difficult for me to stop using the term simply because I only use it in a small circle of individuals already.

I just don't buy in to this notion that it will somehow cure all and deter racists (who could care less if we employ the term) from using it.

what we need to give up is calling asian people "oriental"... nobody seems to have gotten that memo though.

phism wrote:

what we need to give up is calling asian people "oriental"... nobody seems to have gotten that memo though.

How did that term "Oriental" start in the first place?

from wikipedia:
The term "Oriental" is derived from the Latin word oriens, which is the present participle of "orior": to rise. The implication is that it refers to the rising sun, hence the use of Orient to describe the "land of the rising sun", i.e. the Far East, and is exactly analogous with the Chinese term for Japan. Comparable terms are the French-derived "Levant" and "Anatolia" from the Greek anatole, two further locations for the direction in which the sun rises. The opposite term "Occident" - derived from the Latin word occidens, from the verb "occido": I fall - was once used to describe the western world, i.e. the "land of the falling (setting) sun", but is slowly falling into disuse.

The creation of a polarity oriens/occidens originated in Roman imperial administration from the time of Diocletian and was taken up in Christian Latin literature, but the term Orient did not enter Western European languages until the time of the Crusades[1]


it's the countries that 'orient' themselves around europe. oriental vs. occidental. more than anything, it's outdated. like calling a black person "colored." but it also kind of takes the connotation of suggesting europe is the epicenter of the world, and that the "Far East" is some mystical distant land, in relation to europe and "the West"... it just doesn't conjure up the best mental images of asia, especially not modern asia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oriental

haha, I was just about to post that....

thanks goodness for wikipedia haha

Hmmm....

**strokes stubble**

Very Intriguing! I did not know that...

phism wrote:

what we need to give up is calling asian people "oriental"... nobody seems to have gotten that memo though.

I don't think I've ever heard anyone use that term.

That definition presents more of a beautiful mystique than a derogotory connotation. I don't think I've even called an asian person an "oriental", but it sure makes me want to buy one of their model boats.

Lucid and Reach .. dont be fooled...

I just heard a story about my lady having to correct a co-worker who used it in reference to a lady last month.

my boss said it yesterday. my mom says it all the time and she was married to a quarter-chinese guy (my dad)...

I believe people have and do use the term from time-to-time.
I just haven't even been exposed to it.