I am utterly shocked as I turn on my television and laptop to find the current headlines flooded with crap about Paula Deen admitting to using the “N” word. And more shocked at the outrage from it. My first thought, unashamedly, was, ‘who gives a fuck?!’ But that’s usually my first thought to most events before I allow to societal editorials to come into play and am better able to form a more appropriate thought. Here’s the thing about this situation: I’m a black person. And after I weighed in all the different perspectives, I still didn’t give a damn. The thing is, what Paula Deen said will not, nor has it ever impacted anything substantial in my life. Sure I might use a recipe here and there, but I’d even tweak that. Point being, what one person says shouldn’t affect our stride to the point where we can’t separate and use our common sense. Paula Deen is a white lady from a southern state. What is the shock in her using the “n” word? I’d be shocked if she didn’t. I’m a black woman from a southern state. I know I’ve used the word “cracker” before. Does it mean that I hate all white people and am a hopeless racist? Not to me, the user. But if it is perceived that way, ‘oh well, I’m sorry.’ Basically what she said.  But then again I don’t have a multimillion dollar empire to worry about as to whether I come off as politically correct or not.

As if we black people don’t have enough to worry about. The words of some southern cook don’t change where we stand as a people and her words are not what put us there. But debaters would say that it’s attitudes like hers that limit our progress. What I say is, we are just looking for someone to blame and distract away from the real issue. There’s still inner-city poverty. I didn’t have books in high school ten years ago, and I’m sure it’s worse now. Minority kids are dropping out of schools and filling our prisons at astounding rates. Our government is running out of money, but the need for government-funded programs continues to increase. But we worry about what Paula Deen has said.

But I honestly think that people tend to give words way too much power. In my opinion, as a writer, words can mean everything and they can mean nothing. Most of the times words are given their power by the reaction of the listener. I don’t feel the words of some random southern white lady are as important as the words of those close to me. Now if my mother called me a “nigger” I’d have to sit back and think about it. And she’d probably have had a valid reason based on some irresponsible or reckless act that usually characterizes niggerish behavior. As a matter of fact, most of us have probably had at least one niggerish moment in our life. Regardless of color. We can refer to them as ‘trailer park treasures’ for white people. But they are those moments when you decide to abandon your good sense and just say ‘fuck it! I’m going to live a little and have some fun.’ Because if it’s one thing a nigger knows how to do, it’s have fun. Buy that outfit or take that trip even though your rent is due the next week. Go to work drunk and/or high just for the hell of it or don’t go to work because you’re too drunk or high. So even if my mother, someone whose words would matter to me, did call me a ‘nigger’ I might just look at her and say, “You darn right and I had fun!”