Salon.com > Eric Deggans

Is it ever OK for white people to say the N-word?

Thu, 21 Feb 2013 16:39:00 +0000

To begin with, I’d like to apologize.

My mea culpa goes out to anyone who had to behold the shameless spectacle that involved button-pushing comic Lisa Lampanelli using the word “nigga” in a tweet, then arguing against a torrent of condemnation from the Twitterverse that it was socially acceptable.

You see, I have argued in print for years that people are too precious about avoiding the word “nigger” when the subject is at hand. When the NAACP held a funeral for the word, I wrote a column praising its intentions but opposing its actions.

A word should never be banned out of context, I argued. Especially a word with such conflicted and confusing history for those of us who are darker than blue.

When Spike Lee and other well-known cultural commentators began to pile on Quentin Tarantino for his liberal use of the N-word in his blaxploitation western masterpiece "Django Unchained," I wrote a story for this very outlet insisting that Tarantino had tapped a proud history in creating modern Hollywood’s first black superhero.

Tarantino is the baddest black filmmaker working today

Thu, 27 Dec 2012 17:44:00 +0000

There are some folks who won’t like to read these words: White guy superstar director Quentin Tarantino may be the baddest black filmmaker working in big-time Hollywood movies today.

That is a possibility which angers some, frightens others and disgusts a few more, saying as much or more about the sorry state of movie audiences today and the still-closed world of big-time filmmaking than any tart provocation Tarantino has managed to splash on the screen.

The reason we’re having this conversation — again — is thanks to the latest addictive confection of revenge film, spaghetti Western, Blaxploitation movie and anti-slavery fantasy Q.T. dropped on us all to close out 2012: "Django Unchained."

Beyond the fact that it is gleefully bloody, luxuriating in crimson-splattered shootouts at a time when America is deeply conflicted over how much it loves this stuff, "Django Unchained" uncorks the perfect revenge fantasy for black people descended from slaves and living in a still-white-dominated society.

Blue Glow TV Awards: Eric Deggans

Fri, 21 Dec 2012 14:29:00 +0000

Eric Deggans is the TV and media critic at the Tampa Bay Times. He is the author of "Race Baiter: How the Media Wields Dangerous Words to Divide a Nation."

Eric's top 5:

1. "Homeland" (Showtime)
2. "The Walking Dead" (AMC)
3. "Breaking Bad" (AMC)
4. "Sherlock: Masterpiece" (PBS)
5. "Louie" (FX)

Special Categories:

1. What was the show of the year? AMC's "Walking Dead." This is a show that once and for all burst the bubble of the broadcast networks, which have complained to any critic who will listen that they can't be as adventurous or challenging as cable because they have to draw bigger audiences. Harsh, explicit and uncompromising in its third season, AMC's zombie adventure still drew more 18-to-49 viewers than any other show this fall. What's broadcast's excuse now for giving us such lame crap?