TMZ’s Suge Knight-Inspired Poll: African American or “N-Word”De?
Yesterday, celebrity gossip site, TMZ made its own news when it posted a poll asking: African-American or N-word? The poll was inspired by a brief interaction with Death Row Records co-founder Suge Knight. In the NSFW (without headphones) clip, Knight talks about the term African-American being a bit of a misnomer and considers the context under which saying the “n-word” would be all right.
“You know,” Knight said in response to the cameraman asking if he gave anyone a pass for using the “n-word, “it depends on how you say ‘n***a’ and what you doing with it. When you really look at it, a lot of people say ‘the n-word’ and a lot of people use it as a situation they’re scared to say something about it. A lot of times people say ‘the n-word,’ right? I like that better than ‘African-American,’ we not from Africa, we Black.
“Even Africans don’t call each other ‘African.’ If they from Kenya, they say, ‘I’m Kenyan.’ “
Of course, how black people refer to themselves collectively has been a long discussed issue. There have been several terms that have come in and out of vogue: Colored, Negro, Afro-American, African-American, Black. So, Suge is essentially donating his two cents to an age-old debate.
Does the rather unfortunate poll suggest that it’s time to retire African-American for something more accurate? Does Suge Knight have a point?
Sound off below!