The NAACP's Detroit chapter held a symbolic funeral for the N-word yesterday.  Participants in the mock funeral, including chapter president Reverend Wendell Anthony, Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm, and Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick marched through downtown Detroit in an attempt to "put [the word] to rest."

Organizers of the funeral stated that the goal of the funeral was to raise awareness among communities about the use of destructive and hurtful language of all kinds.  As Derek Blackman of the Detroit Fellowship Church said, "It's about self-respect. We need to throw all of this language in the garbage can -- all of this racist, sexist and misogynistic language."

 

Others questioned the effectiveness of the demonstration, asserting that the funeral would do nothing to actually stop the use of the word, among Black Americans and those outside the community alike:  "You can eliminate the use of this word, but that's not going to stop the problem of the word. The problem comes from a racist mind-set, and you can't stop a racist mind-set,” said Detroit rapper Trick Trick. 

References to Don Imus and Michael Richards are of course inevitable, as prominent examples of how offensive the n-word and other racial slurs can be.  But is the funeral meant to bury the word in the way that Kanye uses it?  Is the n-word used within the Black community, especially as it signifies a certain type of masculinity, akin to the reclaiming of the word “queer” by the LGBT community, or even the word “fat” by full-figured people?

Even as some towns consider outlawing the n-word, it is of course unlikely that the word will disappear from the lexicon anytime soon.  As political consultant Sam Riddle asserted, "If the N-word is being buried today, it's being buried alive.”  But connecting this latest incident to a burgeoning movement to raise consciousness of misogyny, homophobia and corporate control within hip-hop, some might say it indicates a shift in communities and popular culture towards paying more attention to the language we use and the ideas our words convey.