'The View' On The N-Word - Dry Your Eyes Elizabeth

1. Rev Jackson should have never have called anyone the "N word". It is way worse for a white to call any Afro Americans the "N- Word"! If you are white, and you call an Afro American the "N-Word", you are truly in trouble! In America, White People should only call other White People Neighbor!

Obama Fan at 9:29AM on Jul 18th 2008

2. They're both right. And I've never seen Whoopi this passionate. But I'm leaning more towards Elisabeth. As annoying as she can be on The View. She has a point. No matter what I just can't defend using that word for us and by us. I think the word will always be devisive. Period.

Get Togetha at 9:38AM on Jul 18th 2008

3. I am totally against the use of the "N" word; regardless, of whether the speaker is white or black. Jesse Jackson's comment about Obama was inflammatory enough before we discovered that he also integrated this derogatory word into his sentence. Jesse has been one of the most vocal political pundits rallying against the use of the "N" word. He reprimanded hip-hop artists for their random and rampant use of this term; and yet, here he is using it in a forum where he is "miked" and in front of one of the most conservative media outlets in this nation. I am vehemently opposed to this word under any and all circumstances, but as far as Elisabeth is concerned, I don't buy her tearful act one bit. She strikes me as a diehard racist. When she and Rosie got into their fisticuff, she resorted to these same crocodile tear tactics to solicit audience sympathy for poor little Lizzie. I respect and appreciate the differences that we might have in our politics and religion, but Elisabeth is a co-host on a show called “The View”; and yet, if her colleagues are not on the same page with her point-of-view, she always resorts to tearful outburst. She needs to grow up. They need to replace her with someone who can intelligently express and articulate their opinions, and respect the opinions of their colleagues.

I'm just saying... Peace and Blessings!

Bermudia at 10:18AM on Jul 18th 2008

4. Allowing any kind of double standard means that rules have to apply. If the n word is okay for blacks and not whites, then what about the Tiger Woods of the world, or the Barack Obamas? What about those that are 1/4 black or 1/8 black? How black do you need to be for it to be okay? And how white do you have to be for it to be wrong? Who decides? Until a constitution of the n word is written up, I say nix it. Period. It's hateful, derogatory and no one is hurt by it being eliminated from the vernacular altogether!

Geena at 10:28AM on Jul 18th 2008

5. Well, as long as black people believe they live in a different world, they will...

I am sure Whoopie lives in the same world with the single black mothers trying to feed their kids, while avoiding getting assaulted coming home late at night in the ghetto. I hate when rich black people try to force segregation, while balcks and whites in similar social status get along just fine.

I think Tiger Woods cares that someone white in Alabama uses the n-word just as much as Donald Trump cares that someone black in urban Atlanta says "cracker" :) Do Mexicans also live in a different world? Only that the second richest man in the world is Mexican...yeah, tell him that :)

Why do you guys (blackvoices) write about the n-word? You don't feel offended by being called "the n-word"? Why don't you write about the forced segregation by Whoopie instead? Who is she to tell all black people they live in a different world?

unknown at 10:34AM on Jul 18th 2008

6. Whoopi is right, there are two worlds.

Blacks want to tell white people not to use it in both worlds.

But whites aren't allowed to tell Blacks not to use it in either.

If we are not one world, then let each manage it's own. And don't complain...

no name at 10:56AM on Jul 18th 2008

7. Rev.Jesse Jackson knows better, public life is not new to him. I did not like what he said, but who hasn't said or did something that he wish he hadn't. I am so glad that no matter how bad we as humans think something is, God is the only one that can judge us. It's been said and critized. Let's put it to bed and move on.

H.R.Dorsey at 10:56AM on Jul 18th 2008

8. Rev. Jesse Jackson knows better, public life is not something new to him. I do not like what he said, but we all have said or did things we were sorry for. I don't care how bad we as humans think it is,only God can judge and Rev. Jackson and the rest of us need to be very glad of that. It has been said and critized,lets put it to rest and move on.

Brenda Dorsey at 11:07AM on Jul 18th 2008

9. Elizabeth Hasselbeck and others like McCain's wife made the statement that America has been good to them. They are right, they only see America one way it is not the same America for many people of color as it is for whites. We may be in the same country but we are not treated the same andshe needs to understand that and stop acting like everything is okay. What Jackson said was wrong (yes) but some of those same people who are saying back what Hasselbeck says use the N word.African Americans will handle the issue of the N word we will clean out own house.

Anderson at 11:22AM on Jul 18th 2008

10. The N-word has been debated for a long time now. Yes, I hate to hear that word. When someone says it, sings it, shouts it, etc. It is a word that has brought pain to all of America. The truth is that blacks will call other blacks that name until they stop using it. We as humans have to become humans. Don't call me the N-word, call be by my birth name. That is who I AM!
Elizabeth should be passionate about the word, it is painful. Whoopi, yes, we don live in different worlds and one day maybe we all can live in one!

Nadine at 11:36AM on Jul 18th 2008

11. I didn't grow up hearing the N-word much in my family. When I hear it, I know the context, and honestly it doesn't offend me. I would have a problem with a white people saying that word mainly because it's not a natural part of their experience. (although that's not true for all whites. What are they trying to transmit to me? And if it's just a popculture thing, well I don't have any control over that... and I would expect respect for using a loaded word in my presence. WHAT OFFENDS ME is one out of three black men in ghettoes being involved in the jail system. WHAT OFFENDS ME is whites having 12x times the wealth largely due to a primitive accumulation driven socialism that we're never supposed to acknowledge. WHAT OFFENDS ME is that blacks and whites BOTH contribute to guaging race relations on silly possibly humiliating words instead of dealing with generational ECONOMIC humiliation.

Where are the adults?

Cultural Artifact at 11:37AM on Jul 18th 2008

12. Elizabeth get's on my last nerve. She think's she knows everything. I completly understand where Whoopi was coming from. We have taken something that was meant to be negative, and made it funny.

And I don't use the "N" word in our home. But I've been around people of color that have used it. I know that I'm not one so it doesn't bother me.

KIMBERLY ARMSTRONG at 11:50AM on Jul 18th 2008

13. "WHAT OFFENDS ME is whites having 12x times the wealth largely due to a primitive accumulation driven socialism that we're never supposed to acknowledge."

Are you kidding me? Blacks have been introduced to a monetary system and the idea of wealth less than 300 years ago. They [slaves] were taken from places where social status often meant "fat" or "food" and taken to a place where wealth was an abstract idea.

On top of this, blacks were not allowed to accumulate wealth until 100-120 years ago (and about 50 years ago without any limitations). Do you think that 50 years (two generations, tops) would be able to magically match white families which have been aquiring wealth for 600-700 years? It's like expecting Iraq's economy to be as strong as the US 50 years from now...

There are a lot of rich black people in this country, a lot of black CEOs who get paid millions of dollars every year, but it takes generations to become wealthy. It's not going to happen overnight and wiping out the n-word would do nothing to improve your social status whatsoever.

unknown at 12:04PM on Jul 18th 2008

14. You are exactly right that racial harmony in America is not going to simply depend on the usage of the n-word. But it has to begin somewhere, and that's certainly one of the many parts of the solution. When blacks use it even for non-racist purposes, the usage still stirs feelings of divisiveness and racism. In a world where we as Americans need to be teaching unity, why perpetuate the hatred associated with a word by making the usage of the word acceptable even to the people who were originally the targets of such hatred? No one said that the n-word should be banned. Words can never be banned even if there was legislation. We could all be living under Stalin, and he still would not be able to ban words. It is because we can always say the words in our minds and thoughts. So there is no banning of words. However, the issue here is the acceptability and excusability of using the n-word. No one should accept it as a harmless word, whether black, white, yellow, red, or green. And no one should excuse it. Elizabeth's pain was not about honest talk on the issue of race. It was about two black women perpetuating the hatred and denigration associated with the n-word by advocating and justifying its use by blacks.

Armanius at 12:30PM on Jul 18th 2008

15. Does anyone think that the Obama family uses the n-word? How about Colin Power or Secretary Rice? If Obama is elected President, will it be used in the White House by the Commander In Chief? I think not. The fact that Sheri and her family use it tells us why she is willing to vote for a black Presidential candidate just because he is black providing a role model for her son. People who use that term do not provide a positive role model for anyone regardless of color, where they come from or how many movies they have been in.

Kate at 12:45PM on Jul 18th 2008