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I yearn for the day when White people saying the N-word is no longer a thing. But sadly, I doubt we’ll see that day any time soon. The way White supremacy is set up, the idea that a person outside of the Black community would not be allowed to use the racial epithet is beyond comprehension.
And over and over again, we see White people maliciously and nonchalantly use the word only to feign ignorance once they’ve been called out.
The latest public figure to stumble over this enticing trap is former “Bachelorette” contestant Hannah Brown.
According to CNN, Brown who participated in Season 15 of the series was rapping along to the words of DaBaby’s “Rockstar” when she let the word fly on her Instagram Live video this past Saturday.
“Have you ever seen a real n*gga…Rockstar.”
Someone immediately called her out for the use of the word and she feigned shock and surprise. “[Gasps] I did? I’m so sorry. I was singing…I’m so sorry. I don’t think…maybe I did…maybe it was Patrick…Anyway…”
The following day she issued a more flushed out apology.
“I owe you all a major apology. There is no excuse and I will not justify what I said. I have read your messages and seen the hurt I have caused. I own it all. I am terribly sorry and know that whether in public or private, this language is unacceptable. I promise to do better.”
If this were simply a story about a White woman saying the N word, I would have left it where I found it because there’s nothing surprising about that…at all.
But when the news of Brown’s error spread, another former Bachelorette Rachel Lindsay came forward to share her thoughts on the matter.
In an Instagram Live video of her own, Lindsay said this.
“Let me give you a little history on that word. That word has so much weight and history behind it. If you don’t know, please do yourself a favor because it’s probably not in your history book at school. Please do yourself a favor and educate yourself on that word. That word was used as hate. [It was used] to injure people, to make people feel inferior and it is still being used in certain communities to spew hate. That is the history of that word. It was used to make Black people feel less than. It was used to make them feel inferior. And every time you use that word and you aren’t Black, you give that word power and that is why that is wrong. I don’t care if you’re singing along to it in a song. You hear the argument that rappers and other people use it in songs because they are taking power back over a word that was used against them…It is not an excuse for you to now take the word when it has so much hate and history behind it and say it, especially on a public platform and empower other people to feel comfortable enough to use the word.
Non Black people should not feel okay saying that word. I repeat Non Black people should not feel okay about saying the word n*gga. It’s wrong. You wouldn’t say it on tv. You wouldn’t say it on the radio. You wouldn’t say it in front of your Black friend. And if the reason you wouldn’t say that is because you feel uncomfortable, maybe you shouldn’t say it in private around your other friends either.”
You can see what other people had to say about all of this on the following pages.
