Jun 5, 2017
On Why Bill Maher doesn’t get to say N**** just because he’s a comedian
It’s simpler than you think
A few days ago Bill Maher unceremoniously threw out the term “House Nigger” as a punchline in casual conversation with fellow white dude, Sen Ben Sasse; who, by the way was totally unfazed at the comment and smirking Maher face that followed. A day later, I started a petition to get Bill Maher off of HBO. Because, some things actually are THAT simple. ←(SIGN THE PETITION BTW).
And that’s when I learned that more than any other group, the most vocal defenders of Maher’s “right” to say the N-word, were fellow POCs; in fact, super-educated and affluent friends of mine. There was a good amount of talk about context, and not giving the word power, and how Black people should stop using the word too. There was a lot of talk of how we can’t afford to lose this progressive platform as we resist Agent Orange and his ragtag band of buffoons. One buddy said that this was an “absolute zero” on the scale of worthwhile use of time/energy. I’m talking really thoughtful (in most cases), passionately articulated arguments from people I respect about why he *deserves* to be able to use the word and why they are nonplussed.
But here’s the thing: my call to impeach Maher from the office of HBO is not about an isolated display of white entitled guy-ness. He’s been a questionable progressive for a while and the receipts are here. Much more than any “one” “mistake,” this is about reckoning both with the fact that he’s been spewing horrible crap (Islamophobia, sexism, etc) and punching down with his humor for years. That’s not about political correctness. And it most certainly is NOT about pretending like the word “nigger” is easy to discuss in all of its convoluted and metastasized manifestations. The fact is that there ARE lines that cannot be crossed especially IF you say you have the best interests of marginalized groups in mind.
What it IS about is making simple but CLEARLY positive choices as an ally. In a world in which fighting for justice requires complex navigation of interwoven and sometime conflicting intersectional needs, “simple” feels more rare than it should. Complexity abounds. Who wins? Who loses? At what cost? Am I marginalizing one group when I support another?
There’s so much in the battle for justice for all that is both complex to execute and of dubious benefit.
So when faced with the opportunity, we should ALWAYS do the thing that is easy to do if it is CLEARLY positive. And if you’re a white ally (especially a white male) that means not using a word like nigger in just about any context, ever. Nope, not even reciting lyrics. Nope, not to make a joke to make someone whiter and less down-er than you feel uncomfortable. And definitely not to flex your Black Card. You don’t have one.
How can you be so reductive?
In my day to day life as a person who makes products and businesses, I spend time prioritizing what’s worth building; which means I help teams make trade offs. I often employ a forcing function of some kind, usually represented by a set of axes on which I’ll map choices. Those axes are supposed to be the best framing of the types of choices we are making in that moment. So in this instance we might say that as an ally we’re faced with getting behind things that
- have some net positive impact (i.e. are good for the groups I want to help AND don’t hurt me), AND
- are able to be understood and able to be sustainably implemented
Using this rubric, white people paying reparations in America, while definitely worth pursuing IMO, is hard af and might make you feel a certain way as a white person. On the other hand, dropping a word from your vocabulary that you just don’t actually NEED for anything? Well shit, that seems pretty easy. Literally nobody is hurt by White guys not using the n-word in punchlines.
From my perspective, when a very aware white male ally with a huge platform like Maher makes the choice to be flippant with the n-word, he does so out of entitlement. He thinks because he gives $1mm to black causes I and all of us should be ok with his use of the word nigger. But we KNOW that in this moment, fighting normalization of hurtful behaviors matters maybe more than ever. And we know also know that choosing not to use that word costs him nothing.
As my brilliant friend Amy Hartzler said of this moment and his words:
[they don’t] help us think more deeply or offer insights that help us navigate this fragile time as a country. It was one in a long series of statements where deep bias was exposed, where he normalizes the idea that we are somehow different.
NEW RULES: white allies never get to say nigger. Period. (thanks for the framework Bill)
We deserve a better class of progressive hero than one who risks harming the movement for a laugh and a bit of street cred.(Help HBO understand that in a sea of talented progressive and incendiary thinkers, they and we can do better)
Please comment and share this. It’s a conversation we have to have.
