If Kendrick Lamar Had Brought Me Onstage, I Wouldn’t Have Said the N-word
by Boobie
When Kendrick Lamar invited a girl onstage with him in Alabama, she made a mistake that white people who like hip-hop have been making since DJ Kool Herc invented the genre: she said the n-word in the course of rapping the lyrics. Kendrick stopped the song, admonished her, and allowed her to continue the song while censoring herself, a restrained response that turned what could have been a tense and combative moment into a teaching one.
If I had been at the show and Kendrick had invited me onstage, I, personally, wouldn’t have said the n-word. That’s just me. Was there a time in my life when I would’ve used to when singing or rapping along with a song when alone or in the company of (white) friends? Yes, there was, there’s no denying this. I know better now, though. I’m acutely aware of the fact that the history of America is largely the history of the oppression of black people by whites, and, as such, a white person using the n-word in any context is itself a kind of oppression and dehumanization, whether it’s meant to be or not.
In fact, not only would I not have said the n-word if it were me up there onstage, I would’ve probably tried to start a riot if I saw this girl say it. At the very least, I would have started a chant, something like “Hey! Hey Ho! Ho! For white’s the n-word is a big hell no!” or “You can’t say that!” *clap* *clap* *clap clap clap*, maybe something cooler, I don’t know.
One of my favorite things is when white people try to concoct some wild scenario wherein they would be allowed to say the n-word. “What if there was a scoundrel holding my wife and child at gunpoint, and he also had the nuclear football and codes, and he said that unless I said the n-word he would kill my family and start a nuclear Armageddon, would I be allowed to say it then?” It’s hilarious because 1. that is such a wild reach and requires so much more brainpower than just accepting that you’re not allowed to say it and 2. no, I would absolutely let the world end before saying it. I don’t want to live in a world where I’m part of the problem and not the solution anyway, and neither should anyone else. I even feel dirty typing it into a Twitter search bar to find out if someone who disagrees with me online has ever said it.
Dr. King said, “I have a dream,” and on that point we are in lockstep: I also have a dream. I have a dream that someday Kendrick Lamar will invite me onstage at a concert, and we’ll both rap along to All The Stars from the Black Panther soundtrack, and I won’t say the n-word, and the healing will begin. I have a dream that when my future son is watching the NFL Draft and people retweet stuff from the players’ pre-woke periods, none of the white guys will have ever tweeted the n-word. I have a dream. Do you?
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