Who can kill the N-word

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People hosted its annual convention in Detroit this past weekend. On Monday, the NAACP held a "funeral" for the N-word.

"Today we're not just burying the N-word, we're taking it out of our spirit," said Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. "We gather burying all the things that go with the N-word. We have to bury the 'pimps' and the 'hos' that go with it."

Mayor Kilpatrick is absolutely right, the N-word embodies a whole attitude - a whole culture. If the NAACP wants to get rid of the n-word, it will have to to do more than push for racial equality. It must eradicate a whole attitude. Much of the hip-hop culture is centered around a demeaning attitude. In our society the n-word has as much to do with culture as it does race.

I could list lyrics fom some of the many famous hip-hip artists like 50 cent, Kanye West or Eminem (Yes, he is white, but he is also certainly part of the hip-hop culture.) But everyone knows that the n-word is featured prominently in some, if not many of their songs.

I strongly believe that we are all created equal, and endowed by our Creator with the unalienable rights of life, liberty and property. I hope that the NAACP will follow through on this metaphorical funeral and kill the attitude that goes along with the n-word as well.