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Councilman's Resolution Calls For "N" Word Moratorium
"Given the recent events surrounding the Michael Richards incident and the current campaign in many quarters to abolish the use of this hateful term, I thought it would be appropriate to encourage my fellow New Yorkers to join this movement," stated the Councilmember at a City Hall press conference before he introduced the resolution. "It is my hope that this resolution will spark a dialogue in all communities and begin to move our society, especially in our entertainment culture, toward a place where the use of the 'N' word is simply unacceptable in any context. "I've proposed this call for a moratorium during Black History Month this year in an effort to begin a dialogue that will reexamine this issue. On any given day you can traverse this city and encounter young people of all races casually using the word in public with no regard or knowledge of the terrible history behind it. I can't imagine a place where people simply went around casually spewing derogatory names about Jews, Asians, Latinos, Irish, Italians or any other ethnic group without being challenged or shamed. This moratorium simply represents my line in the sand." Comrie also announced that this resolution will be introduced at the state and federal levels by his colleagues in government. Democratic State Senate Leader Malcolm Smith has introduced the resolution in the New York State Senate, while Assemblyman William Scarborough has introduced the resolution in the New York State Assembly. Congressman Charles Rangel will introduce the resolution in the U.S. House of Represen-tatives shortly. While unable to attend the press conference, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz declared his support in a statement, "Powerful language is responsible for urging on so many of the great advances of history, but words also have the ability to convey the vilest messages of degradation and inhumanity. I urge the New York City Council to adopt this resolution, and call upon all Brooklynites and New Yorkers to put an end to the use of the word." In addition to Fidler and Nelson, the resolution is being co-sponsored by Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum, as well as 14 Council members. Comrie has also received support for this resolution from hip hop pioneer Kurtis Blow. As the first commercially successful rap artist, Kurtis Blow is a towering figure in hip hop history. "The N-Word carries much of the hatred and repulsion historically and presently directed towards African Americans," stated Blow. "I support Councilmember Comrie and his associates in their efforts to abolish the N-word. As one of the founding fathers' and creators' of Hip Hop, I believe, if you change your mind, you will change your environment. The N-word is used to debilitate, stagnate and destroy growth within the African American community today. The N-word is still in effect and having an affect. Its hateful intent, the N-word cannot be used today as a term of endearment or interpreted for anything other then its original intent. Understand and abolish the N-word." Today the African American community still differs in its use of the 'N' word, as some use a neo-revisionist attitude in an attempt to redefine the word, still others do not use the word in their vocabulary at all. In 2003, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) successfully influenced Merriam-Webster Lexico-graphers to change the definition of the 'N' word in the dictionary so that it would no longer mean African Americans. Additionally, the term "N word" began being used in popular culture and in media reports in an effort to avoid using the full spelling or pronunciation of the word publicly.
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