Larry Wilmore and the “N” vs “N” Word Controversy

Larry Wilmore did comedy at the National Press Corps Dinner a few days ago. As you would expect, his comedy was a bit on the edgy side. At the end of his session he turned to President Obama and said something out of respect and endearment that not only got the racist right wing press up in arms…But some of the apparently less hip left wing press.

This particularly was a shot by Larry at the right-wing racist press who has tried to tarnish and question President Obama’s authenticity and blackness. Too bad some folks didn’t “Get It”.

 

WATCH: Larry Wilmore rips into Piers Morgan for criticizing his use of “n*gga” at the White House Correspondents Dinner

On Monday night’s edition of The Nightly Show, host Larry Wilmore addressed some of the criticisms of his performance at the White House Correspondents Dinner — in particular, Piers Morgan calling him out for addressing President Obama as “my n*gga.”

According to Morgan, Wilmore said “Yo, Barry, you did it my n*gger!” But that’s not what Wilmore said, as he explained. “He thinks I called the president a ‘n*gger’? I don’t believe I said that.”

“Piers, you did not properly conjugate that slur,” he said. “N*gger is the word white people use to denigrate, demean, and dehumanize black people.”

“N*gga,” however, “is a term of endearment some black people use between each other to take back that power.”

Wilmore also pointed out that Morgan wrote that “Larry, you’re not a n****r and nor is Barack Obama,” to which he replied — “I know! Stop calling us that! Conjugate the slur!”

The entire Larry Wilmore speech is here –

For those of you interested in the history of black lexicons, the term “Nigga” was first widely popularized as a term of reverse endearment in Curtis Mayfield’s Soundtrack for black exploitation film “Super Fly”, in the song “Pusherman”, where the protagonists claim the word as their own.