I want to like David Banner. I want to like David Banner because, on many levels, he seems like he cares. He’s got a business degree from Southern University, he gives away scholarships in his CDs, he does quite a bit of charity work. But as much as the 34-year-old strives to improve the black community at large, he’s also an apologist for all that is ignorant in the hip hop community. And that I just can’t like. A profile in the December issue of XXL highlights these “warring” sides of his personality. In my opinion, one of them is winning out.

“Peep game: Why wasn’t Congress trying to [ban] the word ‘nigger’ in the ’60s?” Banner grins in an ain’t-that-funny way. “Now that we’re making money out of it, and calling ourselves niggas, they don’t want us to use it… I’ll tell you, ‘hip-hop’ is the new word for ‘nigger.’ When people say, ‘They’re dressing hip-hop,’ they should just say they mean ‘niggers.’”

But what does it mean when you say it, David Banner?

No, I still don’t think Nas should name his new album Nigger. Obviously. Yes, I understand where he’s coming from, even if I don’t agree. He needs to get used to doing this dance every time a white person asks him about it. [RTNY]

I am not a person who believes that we can really “take back words.” Bitch is bitch, whether a woman is saying it affectionately to another woman or a man is screaming it through clenched teeth moments before his fist connects with a woman’s face. Nigger is nigger, whether a black person is using it to describe his best friend or a crowd of rabid racists is chanting it as a man swings from a noose tied to a tree. Faggot is…well, you get the picture.

I overstated the case a little there for dramatic effect. Of course I understand “intent” and how one must take this into account in the scenarios I listed above. I don’t think that all people who use bitch or nigger as affectionate words are bad — that would mean I would have to cut off half of my friends. “Intent” goes a long way toward changing the meaning of a word. But it doesn’t. Quite. Cut it.

Not for me. Not for a lot of people.

So no, I don’t think that nigger is going to turn into a “good” word. Even if you replace the “-er” with a more friendly “a.” Why? Because plenty of people still use it as a bad word. Racist slaveowners were using it to degrade us at least 200 years ago, and many of their descendants (plus some newcomers!) are still using it today. We use it too, sure. But it’s not our word. And it won’t ever be.

There’s a larger point here. I get to it after the jump.

CONTINUED »

• When will city council members across the nation realize that banning “the n-word” violates free speech, and it’s incredibly stupid and it will never work. [AHN]

• There’s racism on a college campus. The world is round. It’s November. This blog is called Stereohyped. [ST]

• Black writers only make up about 3 percent (damn) of the Writers Guild, which is currently on strike, but they are all joining their comrades in the picket lines. [LAW]

• The Toronto school board is considering opening a black-focused school next year. [Star]

• Now that Dick Parsons of Time Warner and Stan O’Neal of Merrill Lynch have retired, there are only 4 blacks left running Fortune 500 companies. Which is better than, ummm, three? []

I am fully aware that it’s sort of a blogger cop-out to just write, “Speechless!” Even when I am. And, after watching this, I really am. Maybe I’ll just pull out a quote from Duane “Dog” Chapman’s unintentionally amusing visit to Hannity & Colmes that sort of summarizes his defense.

“I’ve always taken pride to be the white guy that can talk to the black people. That can refer to them truly as a brother from a different mother.”

He takes a shuddery, tearful breath after saying this, so I’m not sure if he had more to add along those specific lines, or if that was it. But it kind of says it all, doesn’t it?

P.S. Dog? You’re not my brother from a different mother. In case you were still confused.

Dog the Bounty Hunter, who, if such a contest existed, would surely be voted “White Television Personality Most Likely To Use The Word ‘Nigger,’” is, predictably, rather fond of the word “nigger.”

The National Enquirer obtained some audio (listen here) of Dog (can I call you Dog, Mr. Bounty Hunter?) expressing concern that his son’s “nigger” girlfriend would tell a tabloid that he says “nigger” all the time. Look how that worked out.

CONTINUED »

Al Sharpton has to get more racist emails than the average black public figure, but a series of hateful messages from someone posing as a manager for Merrill Lynch probably stood out. As it turns out, the imposter was sending racist emails — full of n-words and “nappy-headed hoes” to Sharpton and several black Merrill Lynch brokers.

Since it’s not really the sort of thing to take lying down in these litigious times, Merrill Lynch is suing the email-sender for trademark infringement. Of course Al Sharpton was .

CONTINUED »

At Friday’s American Gangster premiere in Harlem, LA Reid (see above) and Common lent their support to Nas’ Nigger LP.

“I love Nas,” [Common] said with a grin. “Nas is always bringing something new, bringing something for us to think about. He’s one of the best ever. If it wasn’t for Nas, a lot of cats, including myself, wouldn’t be rhyming the way they do. So I mean, I know [the title] is something behind what he’s doing, he’s making statements. That’s something we need in hip-hop. Last Poets did it, Gil Scott-Heron did it, Marvin Gaye did it. We gotta keep making statements.”

CONTINUED »

• So much better! It turns out (surprise) Fox News had it wrong. Nas does have an album coming out, on December 11, and it will be called Nigger, not Nigga. He’s “taking back the word,” which is what they all say. Uh, yay? []

• Ah. The classic, “faulty thyroid” defense. []

• Yung Joc better watch his back. And get rid of his guns. [SOHH]

• Last Facebook post of the day. Promise. [Jossip]

• Can Leona Lewis cross over to American audiences? You be the judge. [CL]