The Only Place Where the N-Word Is Allowed
Why isn’t there greater sensitivity to the use of racist language in music?
The Paul Mooney Tribute Show, Hollywood, May 27.
Photographer: Rich Fury/Getty Images North AmericaThis article is for subscribers only.
The comedian Paul Mooney, who died earlier this month at the age of 79, was a trenchant, provocative observer of race. He wrote the notorious “Word Association” sketch, prominently featuring the n-word, for Richard Pryor’s famous 1975 guest-hosting gig on “Saturday Night Live.”
In his own standup, Mooney used the word as a master surgeon would wield a scalpel: “I say [n-word] 100 times every morning,” went one joke. “Makes my teeth white.” In Mooney’s hands, this taboo word forced an uncomfortable reckoning for audience members of all races — including Black ones like me — every time it came out of his mouth.