Thou shall not use the N-word in the presence of African American people if you are not African American.
And he was fired for it. Justice served, right? But the story doesn't end there.Burlington decided he was being discriminated against because at least two of his black colleagues used the derogatory term freely and were not penalized, and a U.S. District Judge believes he makes a valid argument.
At a staff meeting in 2007, Fox reporters and producers were discussing the symbolic burial of the word by the Philadelphia Youth Council of the NAACP, when journalist Robin Taylor stated that "participants at the burial had said the full word at least a hundred times or more."
Burlington, either in jest or earnest, asked the seemingly innocuous question:
"Does this mean we can finally say the word n***er?"
According to depositions, Nicole Wolfe, an African American producer on staff, immediately exclaimed: "I can't believe you just said that!"
Because of U.S. District Judge R. Barclay's ruling that the case has enough merit to warrant a trial, for the first time in history, a federal jury will be asked to decide whether it is acceptable for an African American person but not a white person, to use the N-word in a workplace.
The trial is scheduled to begin Jan. 18.
While Burlington claims that he only used the word once, several of his colleagues contend that he used it at least a dozen times. He also says that he approached his coworkers after the meeting to explain that while using the word wasn't necessary to the story, he believed it gave it more credence.
Surrick, denying Fox's request to have the suit dismissed, said that federal courts had not determined whether a double standard, if true in this case, would violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964:
"... the word is considered by many to be the most offensive in the English language" and "has been used by whites as a tool to belittle, oppress or dehumanize African Americans. When viewed in its historical context, one can see how people in general, and African Americans in particular, might react differently when a white person uses the word than if an African American uses it.
"Nevertheless, we are unable to conclude that this is a justifiable reason for permitting the station to draw race-based distinctions between employees."
I cannot be the only person who finds the N-word argument hypocritical. I also find it extremely tiresome that the N-word cannot even be uttered, even in historical context, as proved by the censorship of Mark Twain's 'Huckleberry Finn.'
As long as we accept, encourage and promote the word in our own vernacular and "artistic expressions," this pseudo-outrage doesn't carry much weight.
There are those who argue that we shouldn't be prisoners of our past, and when we use the word, we diminish its power. There are others who also argue that African Americans don't say "ni**er" but "ni**a," so it carries a completely different connotation.
I find that to be an astonishingly ignorant argument.
"Brotha" is short for "brother."
"Sista" is short for "sister."
"Ni**a" is short for "ni**er."
The emotions that bubble to the surface as soon as the "-er" is added by a white person shows how much self-hatred has been internalized, yet we still support artists who use the word as if it's harmless and as if our ancestors didn't die to be treated and referred to with respect.
Some of us claim to call each other ni**as out of love and friendship, which leads me to believe they don't comprehend the definition of either. Allegedly, it stems from our shared past of pain in this country, so we can call each other that, because we know how far we've come.
Yet we continue to allow the word to hold power over us out of the mouths of white people while ignoring the subliminal and pervasive damage it creates in our own communities.
Really, it shows how little we care about history or about the seeds we plant in the psyches of our young people.
Racists throughout America, take a break. We're demeaning ourselves for you.
The day that I see equal outrage when we refer to each other in such demeaning terms, I might be able to muster a little anger for this man and the rest of the Don Imuses of the world.
Until then, I hope he is absolved of any wrongdoing and immediately reinstated to his position, or his African American colleagues who said the word should be penalized as well.
Maybe then we will realize that this "do as I say, not as I do" mentality is ultimately only hurting us and allowing those who would mock and disrespect us ample ammunition to follow in our own misguided footsteps.
We claim we want equality, right? Well, in America, until we, as former kings and queens of Africa, eradicate this plantation language from our communities, this is what it will look like.
http://www.bvblackspin.com/2011/01/06/fox-...
Posted By: DAVID JOHNSON
Thursday, January 6th 2011 at 6:37PM
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