Hi World,

I was watching The View yesterday, and the ladies were discussing Jesse Jackson’s use of the N-word on Fox News, and all of a sudden, a big debate begun amongst the ladies as to when the word is and isn’t appropriate. Elisabeth Hasselbeck thinks that no one, regardless of color, should be using the word, while Sherri Shepard and Whoopi Goldberg thought that the word is ok to be used only among black people.

As for my opinion, I agree with Elisabeth ( There was never a time when I thought that I would say those words, lol). I usually disagree with many of Elisabeth’s opinions, so I was surprised with how much I agreed with her and not with either Sherri or Whoopi, even though I am black. I don’t see how it is ok to use the n-word in any situation. I was actually kind of sickened when Sherri was trying to explain her logic as to why some black people use the word. I was annoyed when Barbara Walters kept on repeating that if she used the n-word she would get in trouble. Every time she said this, I kept thinking, “Why would you want to say it anyway?” It’s like she is dying to say it or something. I was also surprised when Barbara asked Sherri what she would do if she started saying the word, and Sherri said, “”I don’t want to hear it come out of your mouth.” I remember being shocked by that because Sherri said those words to Barbara, her boss by the way, in a serious tone that implied that she really would hurt Barbara if she said the n-word to her.

What I didn’t like about the debate was that Whoopi was on Elisabeth’s case for being against the usage of the n-word. I felt that Whoopi did that because it was Elisabeth and also because she didn’t want Elisabeth to get the last word on it. I was really surprised when Elisabeth started crying because it came out of nowhere. I would like to think that her crying was sincere, because if it wasn’t, then she wouldn’t be crying. I just kept thinking, “Why is this white woman crying about something that doesn’t have anything to do with her?” On further analysis, though, I’m realizing that more people should think like Elisabeth in the matter of the n-word. People-whether they are black, white, or green-should feel offended by the word and get angry and cry over its use. I hate how some people, particularly black people, justify its use, and by the way, neither Whoopi nor Sherri differentiated between using the n word with an -er or an -a ending, thank God, because to me, it really doesn’t matter how it is used. It shouldn’t be used at all.

What are your thoughts on the issue?