Can White People Say Nigger?

Today’s lecture about the racial politics of comedy got me thinking about Chris Rock’s 2008 HBO special “Kill the Messenger” and in particular this segment;

For those of you who don’t know Chris Rock is a very successful Black American Comedian. In this portion of his show he asks of the audience; “Can white people say the word Nigger” to which he answers; “Not Really.” The joke revolves around the rules that apply to interracial groups of friends when a rap song featuring the word ‘nigger’ comes on. He concludes that it is alright for white people to say the word nigger when singing along to the song. I must preface my analysis by saying that I am a big fan of Chris Rock and this is one of my favourite gags as I can relate to this situation having seen it happen. I believe that this joke is progressive rather than regressive because it undermines harmful stereotypes. Instead it represents the usually dominant white male as being uncomfortable and unsure of social protocol and positions the black man as the distributor of power. The white man needs the black man’s permission in order to fully enjoy the song. Secondly I believe it eases tensions between different groups by comically commenting on a common social situation. Finally it affirms a sense of identity in the traditionally non-dominant group. It is a black comedian talking about black men giving his friends permission to sing along to a black rapper rapping about black people. The black man has control of the situation as oppose to the white man. Finally it is not an exclusive joke. White people can laugh at it as well as being reassured that they can sing along without facing social repercussions and black people can laugh at the awkwardness of the situation and be reassured that they are in control and that it is ok for white people to say the word ‘nigger’ as long as it is in the song. This last addendum is important to note as it implies that it is still a controversial topic as it is not ok in other social situations.