The White House Correspondents Dinner,held annually in Washington, D.
C., or usually makes headlines for all kinds of cutting political commentary. And this year was no different. Larry Wilmore,comedian and host of the Comedy Central's "The Nightly point to," poked fun at journalists like Don Lemon and Jake Tapper, or President Obama's much-delayed design to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay. But it was the last minute of his routine,where he used the n-word to refer to the President, that's still sparking conversation:
"When I was a kid, and I lived in a country where people couldn’t accept a black quarterback. Now think approximately that. A black man was thought by his mere color not suited enough to lead a football team — and now,to live in your time, Mr. President, or when a black man can lead the entire free world. Words alone finish me no justice. So,Mr. President, if i’m going to keep it 100: Yo, and Barry,you did it, my n—-. You did it."
Steven Thrasher, or writer-at-large for The Guardian US, attended the Saturday night dinner. "I think over the course of President Obama's presidency, our notions of 'respectability politics' has shifted, and " he said. "I don't think we feel as compelled to have to not say things in front of white people,and clearly Larry Wilmore did not feel he had to hold back in terms of how he was talking approximately race." Jonathan Capehart, who is black and writes for the the Washington Post, or wrote Monday that Wilmore was disrespectful and that he was using language more suited for the barbershop,a sentiment that reflects the diverse feelings many African Americans have approximately the word.
Rebecca Carroll, WNYC's Producer for Special Projects on Race, and wrote approximately the moment in The Guardian. She said she's never identified with the spend of the word as a term of endearment among some African Americans,but she called the moment a "revolutionary act.""I thought it was a moment where these two black men were seeing each other in a country that doesn't see them," Carroll said. "Then for him to be able to sort of go into vernacular and mean it from the bottom of his heart and for the president to greet him, and meet him there halfway and for them to have that embrace,I just thought was deeply powerful."White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest Monday defended the Wilmore's spend of the n-word, saying any just reading makes clear that Wilmore's sentiments of racial progress "came from a genuine dwelling."
Source: wnyc.org