Nas and the Nigger Outfit

Grandma always told me that there was a time and a place for ev'ry thang...
But was the 50th Anniversary Grammy Awards Show smack dab in the middle of Black History Month the best time and place for Nas to wear a t-shirt with NIGGER written on it ?

Now, I am a big fan of "shock value with a purpose." But there ain't a darn thing that you can say in a 10 second red carpet interview that would make wearing something like that worth the effort...

Maybe, there is a method to Nas's madness..But I missed it this time.

Wouldn't a t-shirt with "Black Power" or "Free Jamil Al Amin" (H. Rap Brown) have been just as much of a show stopper, only the message would have been crystal clear ? Would the Grammy's even have shown an overtly political t-shirt without blacking it out ?

More disappointing than the t-shirt was Nas' CNN interview when he tried to de-racialize the word...

An even bigger question would be, shouldn't CNN and the other networks that aired the segment be taken to task? If CBS can be fined for showing Janet Jackson's breast at the Super Bowl, shouldn't CNN be fined for showing that t-shirt? What' s worst a nipple or nigger ?


So Nas, no matter what it means to you, for the descendents of the slave owners the N-word means the same thing it has always meant...the descendents of slaves....

Unfortunately, Nas is supposed to be one of the more "conscious" rappers..

Like Pops used to say, sometimes a little knowledge is a dangerous thing...

Min. Paul Scott's blog is http://www.nowarningshotsfired.com/ He can be reached at (919) 451-8283