Gwyneth Paltrow, “Niggas,” and the Black Folks Who Cried Wolf
While hanging out with two self-proclaimed “Niggas in Paris,” A-List actress Gwyneth Paltrow — who for some reason can often be found shaking what her mama gave her somewhere in the vicinity of Jay-Z – decided to tweet that she was with “Ni**as in Paris for real.”
And the Civil Rights police turned on their loud sirens and went to work.
If you’ll notice by that first sentence, there’s a lot of “nigga” throwing going on, yet there was no outcry until the white woman said it. One has to question why exactly it’s perfectly acceptable for two, adult black men (Jay-Z and Kanye West) to make a song about a couple of “niggas” ballin’ in the City of Lights, but when their white friend tweets the name of the song, she’s all of a sudden racist.
[Side note: This criticism is directed towards those black people who say the word "nigga" freely or have no issue with it unless it comes from the mouth of a non-black person. If you do not condone the use of the word by anyone, regardless of race or ethnicity, then the "hypocrite" label does not apply to you.]
It’s this kind of backwards thinking that always amazes me. Many in our communities have co-opted a word created specifically by white Americans to degrade black Americans; yet when we say it it’s supposed to be an inclusive thing. It’s the unofficial logo on the “Black card,” accepted anywhere that you can find a group of “niggas.”
I’ve never understood the semantics hoops some black people go through to justify the word’s usage. No matter which way you slice it or dice it, brotha is short for brother; sista is short for sister; and nigga is short for nigger. The word is no different when used predominantly by black people in financial bondage or living in prison slave quarters, than when used by a white plantation owner. It amounts to nothing more than bastardized slang and they know it.
Re-enter Gwyneth Paltrow.
She had no idea that her words would cause such a maelstrom of controversy. Why? Because it’s the title of a song written by black men and since when is it a white woman’s job to show more respect for Jay-Z and Kanye West than they show for themselves? (And as Kanye told a recent Parisian crowd, he’ll grant them permission to say it, you know, to sing along). For anyone to find her words in any way disrespectful or culturally insensitive — while simultaneously Diddy-boppin’ along to lyrics — would require such a giant leap into insanity that I would suggest they seek professional help. To be honest, I even get the fellas point of using the word in this song. If we’re to sift through the negative historical and societal associations with the word, it’s easy to see that what they are saying is, “Look, society calls us niggas, but now these niggas are in Paris and white people are paying thousands to come see us.” It’s a rags-to-riches tale of two homegrown “niggas” making it from the hood all the way to Paree. It’s exhilarating, cathartic, validation and confirmation that they’ve made it to the big leagues. Instead of shucking and jiving in the United States, they can now do it in Europe – and doesn’t it feel grand?
If anyone should offer an apology to the insulted masses of black folk, it’s those two for crafting such an ignorant song.
Still…just as I heavily criticized the censorship of the word “nigger” in Huckleberry Finn, I defend Gwyneth’s regurgitation of the word “niggas” here. She has an appreciation of the commercialized Hip-Hop that she has been spoon-fed. She respects Jay-Z and his art. She’s proud of him for being a “nigga in Paris,” just as he’s proud of himself.
Maybe it’s time that those who are screaming “off with her head” all over the internet redirect that anger to the real source. You know, her “friends,” Jay-Z and Kanye who have yet to come to her defense, even as “The Dream” and Russell Simmons jump in to protect her from criticism (The Dream now claims he sent the tweet from Paltrow’s phone). If “nigga” is the terminology of oppression for the black folks who cried wolf, then they must also realize that degradation will always be degradation – even if the oppressors have black faces.
“If anyone should offer an apology to the insulted masses of black folk, it’s those two for crafting such an ignorant song.”
Yes! Don’t get mad at Gwyneth for saying the name of a title, get mad at the low class ignorant people that use that word on daily bases on the streets and in their “music”.
I think we lost domain usage of the word. Black people have been selling the word for decades whether we were using it as a source of empowerment (which I think is bunk) or derision, we put it in the public domain as cool and hip, now, anyone can use it…we can’t have it both ways.
I’m just tired of people saying it’s “our” fault, non-black people use the N word so casually. Jay-Z, Kanye, Beyonce and other artists like them are not representatives of blacks. Just because they choose to use that word in their songs doesn’t mean that it’s acceptable. I cringe when I hear that word in songs. I can’t stand it.
but who has done more to keep that word in the public sphere than us?
it’s no longer a backwoods word; something that only those on the fringes would say. it’s a word that exists in our popular lexicon. it is pervasive now because of black people.
we have come up with all manner of explanations and justifications for using the word. we’ve popularized it, made it cool and then we want others to not use it?
entire languages die when no one speaks them. it’s the same with individual words. how many words were said 100 years ago that no longer have a use? many.
this word has the life that it has because we’ve kept it alive and in the mainstream.
@Erin – Yes. And that it was black people with sense should say when a non- black person complains about you being offended. I hope many black people will have the good sense to be offended. We will probably never be that post racial. Keep dreaming. Hip hop is the cause for the widespread use of the word. Hip hop chose low class idiots and told them that their opinion was law. Many ignorant non-black people think that what low class rappers think is what ALL black people think.
There are a lot of black people who understand how hard our ancestors worked in this country. They have self respect. Just because these idiots are too ignorant or disrespectful doesn’t mean that the majority of black people are. I know lots of black people who hate the word. When non-black people complain, you tell them that a small group of ignorant black people decided that the word was okay. A larger group of black people let it happen. That does not mean that ALL black people are okay with it. I don’t know another group of human beings besides African Americans that come up with such ignorance. We keep spitting on everything our ancestors did.
Jay-Z didn’t experience slavery, sharecropping, Jim Crow era racism, KKK terrorism, or extreme institutionalized racism. When you don’t work for something, you appreciate it less. He didn’t fight for the freedom he enjoys. He probably doesn’t know much about history either. That’s why it’s so easy to for him to engage in ignorance and not feel bad. Anybody who fought as hard as our ancestors or understands their struggles would not throw that stupid term around.
+1000000 @Erin
Beyonce and Jay-Z are not the black communities appointed representatives. We did not elect them our Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. They do not speak for us. People need to stop seeing black people as a monolith and as individuals. Just because share the same features doesn’t mean we share the same views.
Whatever.
Given the context, I wasn’t particularly offended, HOWEVER I just don’t understand this one thing and want to ask liberal white people who seem to want to use the “n word” so badly: there are millions of words that you can use to express yourself. Why can’t you be okay with not using this ONE WORD? You would think that use of the “n word” pays $10,000 each time you say it and they don’t want to miss out on such a great deal. In my opinion, enough people don’t like you using the word and there’s a reasonable historical context for this view, so…why can’t you just not use this ONE word? (Or any racial slurs, though I don’t see whites as obsessed with sneaking in other racial slurs as they are getting away with using the “n word”…maybe b/c I’m not a part of those groups. Who knows. But it’s annoying.)
“Why can’t you be okay with not using this ONE WORD?” Because they actually think we are niggers. Any good, self-respecting, knowledgeable white person would be too embarrassed to even want to use such a word – such a white person would never want to associate him/herself with such an embarrassing horrific part of white history. Only an undercover racist white person would want to be able to say nigger. Plain and simple.