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Race Unwrapped: Who gets to use all the letters of the n-word?

Mindy Fulner

“How come I don’t get to say the word n……”

That’s the sound of the forever question in American society about why white people can’t use the n-word. 

Like mosquito bites in summer that you forget about in January, there is always some public controversy or private party chatter about why THAT word is straight-up off limits. 

On this episode, I talk with University of Kentucky English and African and African American Studies Professor Regina Hamilton-Townsend. We unwrap how the actual n-word — whether it ends with a hard “er” or the soft “a”  — is not a word that should be coming out of the mouths of white people. 

Listen to the podcast:

https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/chtbl.com/track/G3791/lpm-od.streamguys1.com/raceunwrapped/20220823105143-RUs2ep6_ReginaHamiltonTownsend.mp3

Michelle Tyrene Johnson is the lead producer of LPM’s talk shows, and she is also the host and producer of LPM’s podcast Race Unwrapped. Email Michelle at mjohnson@lpm.org.