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“Everybody wants to be a nigger, but nobody wants to be a nigger” – Paul Mooney

Recently, there has been a buzz in the hip-hop community regarding the White Girl Mob, Kreayshawn and V-Nasty, and their use of the word “nigga.” At first, I just dismissed it as ignorance and let these women make it, but its just going viral between their continued exploitation and the responses to this topic increasing daily, I just had to say my own piece regarding this because its starting to bother me.

Yes, I do use the word “nigga” on a daily basis, and unlike most people in modern American society, I refuse to put the blame on the hip-hop culture for my usage of that word as part of my everyday vernacular. I guess I can blame my parents for teaching me the lost art of accountability, but I digress. I can’t tell you when or why the word “nigger” became offensive because from researching the term it’s actually a derivative for words associated with the color black. However, I do know that from slavery times up to recent years, the word has become offensive to Black culture. (I don’t really like to use the word African-American because I’ve never been to Africa and other races besides black people, can be African-American.) Since this word is offensive to me when spoken by a white person, any time that I hear it being used by one of those persons, I instantly become enraged. At the same time, I have a similar feeling when a black person uses the word to describe a white person. Why, you may ask? Because my use of the word as either “nigger” or “nigga” is my way of making it my own and destroying the negative connotation associated with it. I think that’s why it was originally used in the hip-hop community to make a word originally used to degrade us as a source of empowerment, but I could be fishing. And even though the word has lost its luster when spoken among other blacks, any white person that I consider a friend, would lose that status if they ever told me about “real nigga shit,” or said “nigga please,” hell they might even be greeted with a fist to the face, but that’s just me, take it how you want.

Then there’s this V-Nasty character, whom I had never heard of until she got on World Star freestyling with heavy usage of “nigga,” like most rappers. From a lyrical standpoint, the chick is trash, seriously. Her whole flow is garbage, I’m not even a rapper and I would eat her alive. So I initially though that her usage of nigga was her way of gaining notoriety, or trying to be “different,” in a world where everyone is trying to do something new. But since she had me lost, I just shook my head and wished I could have my 2 minutes or so of my life back. But I guess I was one of the less vocal viewers of the video because within a week, there were a few videos up on Youtube and World Star criticizing V-Nasty with a resounding “how dare she?” So much so, that Andy Milonakas (who in the hell remembers him), released a video stating that the freestyle was done at his home and that people need to stop prejudging V-Nasty because she’s down for the “hood” and would step up if anybody infiltrated it and used “nigga” in a derogatory manner to any of its residents. Really, Andy, really?! Let me ask you this then, if something went down in the “hood,” and the police in Oakland were called in, I seriously doubt that V-Nasty would be first among those questioned. Maybe the police was a bad example because given the fact that V-Nasty has a criminal record, so I’ll just go with the general public. This question is coming from an attorney who has dreadlocks that go down his back, the same one that has been repeatedly prejudiced in the courtroom being told that “offense reports can only be requested by attorneys” or “are you looking for your lawyer?” All this when I’m dressed to kill, smelling nice, and speaking proper English as best I can with my New Orleans accent, lol. I know what its like to be prejudged, and the Lower 9 is about as hood as it gets, so please miss me with that bullshit.

Another video I saw by someone who’s name I forget places the blame on Black America for the existence of V-Nasty and the White Girl Mob. They discussed how its stupid for Blacks to be okay with the White emulation of the hip-hop culture as far as the music and style of dress, but not the vocabulary. Another white friend of mine, who proudly maintains that she is white and chooses not to forget it posed the question of how I would feel if encountered daily with a forbidden word. I don’t have an answer to that, but I blame V-Nasty’s “friends” for not slapping her in the mouth when she first uttered that phrase. In attending a majority white high school I dreaded the idea of ever being called a “nigger” or being one of my white friend’s “nigga,” because my reaction would have gotten me expelled from school. Thankfully, I’ve never had to deal with that to my face, I don’t really care too much about what people do in their own homes. But the video went on further to discuss how white women such as V-Nasty and Kreayshawn (is that her government name, seriously?) fool many black men into thinking that they are down for the cause but will become turncoats or turn into “Beckys” when things get hot and will prolly leave that black man for the next one they can sink their claws into if he goes to jail.

Does any member of the White Girl Mob truly know what its like to be Black in America? Do they realize that we have to be exceptional just to be considered normal? And to further hinder us we got idiots like Mr. Fab stating that V-Nasty is one of us and she’s real because she “mobs” harder than most “niggas” and she has just served time for armed robbery. Let’s get this straight, so serving time makes you a “nigga” and gives you the right to use that word in everyday conversation? You sound stupid, *Ed Lover voice* “C’mon Son!” That’s about as bad as the white historian who said on BBC that the London riots were caused by white people seeking to emulate hip-hop culture. Ise Lyfe even went on to counter Mr. Fab’s statements and the White Girl Mob by making the obvious connections to a lynch mob and the KKK. But I know his words prolly fell on def ears especially in society where we name our children hoping that they won’t fall into the trap of being stereotyped as being black when their resume is reviewed but have white girls named Kreayshawn. That’s about as bad as all the –ishas –nettas and –quans put together.

I for one have always said that desegregation killed the HBCU and that it hindered us in many ways, but I do agree that it is something that needed to be done when “separate but equal” was only true in word not deed. But then again, I am the same one who has a problem with white members of the Divine 9 greek organizations because of the conditions that led a number of these organizations to be founded. I think that one has an apparent advantage being born white in America, but it seems like some don’t see it that way and want to be black. Can’t we have anything to ourselves these days? I think Nas said it best when he said. “They like to strangle niggers, blaming niggers, shooting niggers, hanging niggers, still you wanna be a nigger too?.” Yall think yall know, but you truly have NO IDEA…