Michael Eric Dyson & Carl Singley and the 'N-word' at race forum
By Bobbi Booker
(originally published in The Philadelphia Tribune on 1.16.04)
When a discussion of the city’s racial divide was held this week, lawyer Carl Singley and author Michael Eric Dyson made one point clear: If you’re Black, use of the N-word is socially acceptable, and expected.
Singley took the stage of Huntsman Hall at the Wharton School of Business this week, grabbed a copy of Dyson’s new book, “The Michael Eric Dyson Reader,” and declared, “This nigger is brilliant!” to a standing-room only audience of more than 350 people.
Singley joined with Penn professor and noted author Dyson during the Philadelphia magazine-sponsored event held on the Penn campus. The panel was moderated by the magazine’s Editor in Chief Larry Platt, and Kenneth Shropshire, head of the legal studies department at Wharton.
“Racism, in and of itself, is an analytical thing that is useful to all people. Otherwise, how do you explain it?” asked Singley during the “Tale of Cities: Race inPhiladelphia” dialogue. “Covert racism is the present challenge.”
“(African-Americans) don’t have equal power,” concurred Dyson, who described himself as a “paid pest” who must tell the truth about race. “The racial epitaph of ‘nigger’ is attached to white dominance,” said Dyson. Language, Dyson explained, is “tied to a history of dominant racial aggression” that leaves Blacks “in a relatively powerless position.”
Panelists stuck to a national agenda loaded with pop-culture references and shared the stage with several dozen copies of Dyson’s new eponymous-titled book, and an earlier release, “Open Mike.”
“Race in Philadelphia wasn’t really discussed,” noted Shropshire, who noticed the difference between this discussion session and more traditional ones. “It did seem like people seemed ready to go at it again to figure where we should go and probably some better ways to deal with this issue.”
Even though Singley, who worked as an adviser for the recent Sam Katz mayoral election team and has been in a well-publicized spat with Mayor John F. Street for years, several members of Street’s family were at the event. Mayor Street’s son Sharif viewed the dialogue on closed-circuit television in the overflow room, while mayoral nephew Shawn Fordham mingled with audience members afterward.
The main recurring topic included the use of the N-word, something that both delighted and puzzled the audience.
“I can use it, but I can’t tell you why you can’t,” said Singley, who had explained earlier during his “rules of race dialogue” that the Civil Rights Movement had devolved into a “battle over words that hurt someone.”
Dyson, who joked that his use of the N-word is “promiscuous,” explained, “The context of white supremacy is so pervasive in the minds of minorities that it is internalized.”
In addition to his duties as an author, professor and Baptist reverend, Dyson is also a writer at large for Philadelphia magazine and will contribute to their yearlong series on race.
“That (use of the N-word) certainly was unscripted,” said Shropshire. “It is a word that gets your attention and gets you to think about the race issue. It is probably the most controversial word in the English language.”
“I was surprised too that one of the focal points (of the discussion) was that word,” said Platt, who spearheaded this event. “One of Singley’s points was that the Civil Rights Movement has morphed into an argument about language. I found myself thinking, ‘Is that word just a word, or is it the equivalent of a punch in the face?’”
“Racism has not disappeared from society, it’s gone underground,” said Singley. “We’re looking for it; we’re on a seek-and-destroy mission.”
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Philadelphia Music producer, Docta Shock immediately published the above story on his website Urban Beat Movement with the following preface:
I'm truly irritated at this activity from these two so-called "learned men", the only thing they've seemed to learn is how to perform as traitors in the eye of the media. Two successful black "teachers" on stage calling each other nigger is the equivalent of wearing a big red nose and dancing for the master. Thank God for Bobbie Booker as she seems like the only person with enough guts to call these two men to task - When will we ever learn, No matter what anybody ELSE thinks of us -WE ARE NOT NIGGERS! - Docta Shock
Note: Since this public forum, Dyson has publically declared he will not use the term 'nigger' in a public discussion where it cannot be explained away. "I have decided to refrainfrom public use of the 'N'-word where I cannot explain the context of the word and its association with traditions of racial response to degradation," wrote Dyson. "When I can explain it, I will feel free to engage in its use, although I realize those opportunities may be rarer than I'd like. In the end, the folk who know how I feel about the black oppressed, and all those who suffer regardless of race, creed, class, color or nationality, understand that I'm still riding for those whose backs are against the wall. But if those who otherwise feel me are offended by my use of the term, it makes little sense to continue its use. I have no problem with its use by hip-hoppers who continue to use it with verve, color, imagination, love and affection."
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