Latest / The Breakfast Club / DONKEY: Charlamagne Gives Donkey Of The Day To Those Of Us Arguing Over The ‘N’ Word

Transcript

DONKEY: Charlamagne Gives Donkey Of The Day To Those Of Us Arguing Over The ‘N’ Word · The Breakfast Club

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: It's time for donkey of the day. There's a bunch
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: of donkeys out here. I'd have made donkey of the day.
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: Call donkey of the day. It really caught me off guard.
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: We live a life where we bite our tongue. You
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: are a donkey. That is why Charlemagne is here. Some
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: donkey of the day just saw themselves. On The Breakfast Club. Okay, Chalamet,
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: who you giving donkey of the day to today?
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: Listen, donkey of the day for Wednesday, September 9th goes
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: to all of us black and brown people who are
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: sitting around arguing about who can use the N-word.
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: Gather round, okay? I just want to talk to you
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: for a second, man.
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: This weekend, the never-ending discussion of who can use the
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: N-word and who can't use the N-word was sparked.
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: Because of Fat Joe. Again. All right. He was on
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: the Joe Budden podcast.
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: He was defending his use of the N-word by pointing
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: to his upbringing in the Bronx, growing up in black
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: housing projects and his deep roots in hip hop culture.
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: That's not even the conversation I want to have. OK,
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: all I've seen that conversation do is lead to a
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: bunch of unserious arguments.
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: All right. I like to learn. All right.
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: And all that dialogue reminded me is that even though
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: I know better, I'm not doing better. And there was
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: a time where I said publicly I wasn't using the
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: N-word anymore. And I want to challenge myself to do
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: that again. OK, see, for years, there's something we've been
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: saying that I don't think I've ever really believed. And
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: that statement is we took the power out.
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: Of the N-word. No, we didn't. No, he didn't. OK,
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: I'm going to tell you something that you all have
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: heard a million times.
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: If we took the power out of the N-word, why
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: do we get so mad when somebody else who's not
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: black says it? If there's no power in it, what's
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: the problem? OK, clearly there's still power in that word. OK,
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: what we actually did was create rules about who gets
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: to use it. And I don't think we should play
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: that game anymore.
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: OK, I also don't believe it's a term of endearment either.
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: All right.
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: I never, ever use it as a term of endearment. OK,
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: I use it the way the white man and Uncle
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: Ruckus meant it to be used. OK, folks will be like,
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: when I call my man the N-word, it means brother.
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: It means homie. That means family.
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: Well, call him brother. OK, call him homie. Call him fam.
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: I say peace, black man.
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: I say peace, king, because those are high vibrational words. OK,
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: I only use the term N-word when I'm talking about
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: low vibrational people with low vibrational actions. OK, black people,
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: we create new slang every damn day. OK, we have
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: no shortage of words.
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: So why?
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: Is the N-word one we can't let go. Okay, the
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: word that was actually created to degrade and dehumanize us,
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: we can't let it go. I don't understand it. Okay,
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: there's a book, all right? I was showing y'all this
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: book early this morning while I was showing the room. Well,
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: I was showing Jessalarius, right? There's a book that I love. Okay,
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: I'm holding it up in my hand. I grew up
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: reading this book. Okay, every now and then I pick
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: it up and read it again. It's got two volumes
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: and it's called, and I'm saying the word for title purposes,
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: From niggas to gods.
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: Okay. By Akil. All right. In this book, there's a
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: chapter called Return to Cinder. Let me see if I
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: can see. You see it right there? It's called Return
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: to Cinder. All right. You see?
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: In that chapter, it talks about all the hell black
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: people have caught in America. And because of the hell
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: we've caught, some of us have become hell raisers. And
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: it says in that chapter, we need to give this
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: hell back to whom it is that we caught it from.
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: And it says in particular.
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: To give the n-word back all right we didn't create
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: that word white supremacy did all right that was their
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: word for us so why in the hell are we
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: fighting for ownership of it okay our ancestors fought to
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: not be called the n-word now their descendants us will
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: argue you down about our right to call each other
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: the n-word how did we get here how Imagine explaining
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: that to your great grandparents. OK, well, look, I understand,
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: you know, y'all fought against being called this word because
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: it was used to degrade and dehumanize you.
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: But don't worry, we fixed it. We call each other
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: that now.
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: What?
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: No, that's OK, Grandma. We changed the E.R. to an A.
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: If that makes sense to you, fine. OK, if it
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: doesn't apply, let it fly. I'm just telling you how
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: I feel this morning. And I already know what somebody
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: is saying. We reclaimed it. Reclaimed what?
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: Okay. You reclaim something that belonged to you. That word
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: never belonged to us. Okay.
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: Our dignity belonged to us. Our humanity belonged to us.
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: Reclaim all of that. But the N word, that's them
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: crackers property. Okay.
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: Return to send it. All right. And I think we've
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: confused something. We have confused defiance with liberation.
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: Hmm.
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: I'll say that again. We have confused defiance with liberation.
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: OK, there's a difference between saying I'm going to use
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: your insult so you can't hurt me with it.
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: All right. That's the Eminem and 8 Mile move.
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: And then there is the your insult doesn't have anything
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: to do with me anymore move.
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: OK, for me, the second one sounds a whole lot freer.
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: All right.
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: I don't need to prove you can't hurt me with
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: a knife by stabbing myself with it.
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: OK, I could just put the damn knife down. That's
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: how I feel about the N-word, okay?
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: I call it low vibrational because I don't believe there's
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: anything uplifting about speaking a word over ourselves that was
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: created from hatred towards us. And I'm not talking about
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: some scientific measurement of vibrations.
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: I'm talking spiritually.
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: OK, I'm talking about what I choose to speak over
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: myself and other black and brown people. Words mean something
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: to me. That's why I don't ever use the N
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: word in an affectionate way. OK, if I love you,
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: why would one of my terms of affection for you
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: be somebody else's term of degradation for both of us?
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: All right.
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: That's what I mean when I say this has to
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: be hilarious to a white supremacist. OK, a word they
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: created to dehumanize us, a word we used to fight
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: them for using.
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: We are now fighting each other to use.
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: It don't make no damn sense to me. And I'm
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: not even going to get into the music.
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: All right. That complicates this even more and makes it
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: even more ridiculous.
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: We hand everybody the N word and then get mad
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: when somebody mishandles it. OK, here's an idea. Let's just
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: stop handing it out, okay? And by the way, you
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: don't gotta listen to me. I'm not trying to police
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: no grown person's mouth, okay? Say whatever you want. I'm
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: telling you what I believe and what I think will
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: work for me, okay? I don't think anybody should use it, okay?
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: Black people included.
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: I don't think black.
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: Liberation requires us to preserve the language of black degradation.
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: OK, that's where I'm at with it. All right.
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: Some things our ancestors gave us because they wanted us
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: to keep them. And some things were done to our
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: ancestors that we inherited anyway. OK, those aren't the same thing.
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: The N-word is not some precious piece of black culture
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: that needs to be protected.
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: Right. It was put on us and we can take
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: it off. All right.
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: We don't need to change the spelling. We don't need
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: to change the pronunciation. We don't need to debate who's
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: allowed to say it. We don't need to take the
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: power out of it, okay? Just give the damn thing back.
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: Return the sender, as this beautiful book from Niggas to
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: God says, okay?
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: I don't want the package.
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: Never ordered it. Don't know who signed for it. And
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: I'm damn sure not paying the shipping, okay? Our ancestors
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: fought to make sure.
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: The world knew they weren't that word.
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: I'm not going to honor them by fighting for my
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: right to call myself what they fought not to be called.
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: Please give those of us arguing over who can use
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: the N-word the biggest hee-haw. And if you can, go
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: order this amazing book from Niggas to Gods by Akil. Okay,
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: I believe it's available on Amazon. I ordered this book
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: in the 90s. You see how it looks? Yeah.
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: It's even got water damage.
• 7:30
  Speaker 3: All right.
• 7:30
  Speaker 4: Mm-hmm.
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I've had this book for a long time. I
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: just ordered it from Amazon. Oh, it's still on Amazon? Mm-hmm.
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: $ 17. 95. Oh, okay. Yeah, and it's a volume two as well.
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: It's definitely a volume two. Yes, it is. Yep.
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: All right.
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: Well, thank you for that donkey today. Yes, indeed. Now,
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: let's open up the phone lines. 800-585-1051.
• 7:50
  Speaker 4: Sherri Shepherd stopped through earlier today, and she said something
• 7:53
  Speaker 4: about what one of her friends said to her about
• 7:56
  Speaker 4: her ex at the time.
• 7:58
  Speaker 3: So, don't I got a good one, Simone? You talk
• 8:02
  Speaker 3: about taking it slow, but I got it going so
• 8:04
  Speaker 3: bad that we broke up and Kim Whitley called me
• 8:07
  Speaker 3: and she said, can I have him? All my friends.
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: I'm telling you. She was like, screw that girl, Cole. Look,
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: he's a good man.
• 8:16
  Speaker 3: When we broke up, everybody was sad when we got
• 8:18
  Speaker 3: back together. I'm telling you, the driver that I have
• 8:20
  Speaker 3: almost crashed into a tree.
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: They love him.
• 8:23
  Speaker 3: Because I see how much he loves me and how
• 8:27
  Speaker 3: good he treats me.
• 8:28
  Speaker 4: So the question is 800-585-1051. Have you ever dated one
• 8:33
  Speaker 4: of your friend's ex?
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: Why did the driver almost crash into a tree? Because
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: he was such a good man?
• 8:38
  Speaker 4: No, she was saying that when the driver found out
• 8:40
  Speaker 4: that he broke up, he was so upset that he
• 8:42
  Speaker 4: almost crashed into a tree because.
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: He was such a good dude. Yo, it's crazy.
• 8:46
  Speaker 4: But 800-585-1051, especially ladies. Ladies, have you ever dated one
• 8:50
  Speaker 4: of your friend's exes?
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: Let's discuss. It's the Breakfast Club. Good morning. Donkey of the.
• 8:54
  Speaker 2: Day is sponsored by renowned personal injury attorney Michael the
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: Bull Laminsoff. Don't be a donkey when you need a
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: fighter on your side. If you're ever injured, go to MichaelTheBull.com.
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: That's MichaelTheBull.com. And when you mess with the bull, you
• 9:05
  Speaker 2: get the horns.