"...I start to flinch as I try not to say it but my lips is like an oowop as I start to spray it..."

- I now realize that my presence at Mavs games has an undue effect on both the outcome and Dirk's game. I was in attendance last year during the Mavs/Rockets double overtime game when T-Mac went off for 48 points and a triple double. But Dirk trumped him with a career high 53 points and the win.

Then we get to tonight's game against the Golden State Warriors. Again, I'm in attendance. And Dirk goes for a season high 51 points. But this time they lose on a last second three by Jason Effing Richardson.



Good thing that the Longhorns won (on a last second three, ironically enough) and are in the Elite Eight or else I may have had to kill someone tonight.


- I recently had "The Talk" with one of my co-workers.

You know...THAT "Talk."

Yep, he wanted to know why it was ok for me to use what is colloquially referred to as "the n word" but not him.

(Now, before I go any further, let me say that yes, I do use the word on occasion. Not very often, but I do. I'm not trying to paint myself in a better light by saying that I don't use it frequently because if you have a problem with me saying it, it's not going to matter if I use it 100 times a day or once a year. I'm just trying to give you an idea of the point of view from which this is coming. Some of my friends grew up in...ah, let's call it an "extreme urban setting." And when we're engaged in fellowship with one another, like Tip says, "we use it as a term of endearment.")

My coworker shares the same point of view that I've heard from many others in his demographic (that is, white males) and that is he doesn't think that it makes sense that one select group of a population can use words that another group cannot. At first I thought that there was something to this logic, although I couldn't shake the feeling that it was flawed somehow. When we were talking about it, I brought up the fact that growing up black (or perceived as such) and growing up white (again, or perceived as such) are two different experiences. And he retaliated with the argument that he as a person shouldn't be penalized for iniquities that were done years ago by people who happened to look like him. Which I only partially agree with. And I'll return to that later.

The original question is: "Why is it that black people can use 'the n word' but no one else can?" Here's my answer (and I'm not asking people to agree or anything, this is just my point of view; Omaguslosophy, if you will): if a word can be used against you in a derogatory manner, then you have the right to determine if you want to use the word yourself. No one could really degrade my coworker by using that term against him, but they could against me. I use the same logic in referencing "the b word." Don't like it, don't use it (although, yes, I have run across some women who cause me to strongly consider it...). The connotation that that word has taken on in modern American society is as a disrespectful description of women. I'm not thrilled if a woman resorts to using that term to describe another woman, but hey, that's between them. I get upset if I hear a man calling a woman the word. And I will get get downright medieval if I hear a man say it about any female whom I personally know.

However, the original question has an unfair slant to it. The question shouldn't include "why can't white people use the word" because white dudes use the word ALL THE TIME. I've been in too many situations where my presence was evidently overlooked and the word came tumbling out with an all too familiar ease. I've heard it used by white males as both an insult (as in the "-er" version) and as an apparent badge of honor (the "-a" version). And then they would remember that I was present and either: a) hope that I didn't hear them and act like it was never said or b) apologize profusely and say something along the lines of "I don't know where that came from. I never use that word!" Which, of course, is a load of horse doo doo.

Now I'd like to get back to the point that white people today shouldn't be held accountable for the actions of those their descended from. I think that it's wrong to try and use a single person as the scapegoat for the ills committed by a large group of people. I also think that it's unfair for people today to be vilified for their ancestors atrocities.

But I have one question.

When the hell did life become about being fair? That memo wasn't forwarded into my inbox.

Is it fair that a woman can do the same job as a man and earn two-thirds as much?

Is it fair that the United States doesn't provide the same type of aid to developing nations in Africa as it does to developing nations in eastern Europe?

Is it fair that a woman can have six kids by six different men and abuse the welfare system?

Is it fair that a black kid can't listen to punk rock without being ostracized?

Yo, Shaheed, take us the [blank] outta here!

"You're not any less of a man if you don't pull the trigger. You're not necessarily a man if you do."


TITLE TAKEN
A Tribe Called Quest (Q-Tip); "Sucka Nigga"