The word is Nigger

Michelle Diane has penned a heartfelt, cogent, timely response to the politically-correct, navel-gazing frenzy which Auburn Professor Alan Gribben stirred up with the planned release of a re-written, sanitized version of Mark Twain's work.

”We may applaud Twain’s ability as a prominent American literary realist to record the speech of a particular region during a specific historical era, but abusive racial insults that bear distinct connotations of permanent inferiority nonetheless repulse modern-day readers...”

Professor Alan Gribben, Wall Street Journal Interview

Writing at the new michellediane-naked blog, she bluntly goes beyond what most mainstream media pundits bother to explore, urging her readers to tear down the curtain on a step backwards deceptively cloaked in gentle political correctness. This is not an academic discussion, the effects of which will be confined to ivory towers and American Literature classes.

"...America needs to keep saying it until America stops living it. Hold it up as a mirror on the realities that be. Demand that neither they nor we can hide behind a politically correct “N” until criminals like Haley Barbour can no longer circumvent ethics, even simple human decency, in the name of political gain."

Michelle Diane, in

The "N" Word Deception

I'm not in a position to comment on Gribben's motivation, but if we ascribe the best of intentions to his undertaking one must still be wary of the constant reality of unintended consequences - and Michelle Diane is a voice well-worth heeding on this topic. If she persists, hers will be a blog well-worth following; her forthright perspective is clear, well-articulated, and more importantly thought-provoking.

Read it.

Thomas Hayes is an entrepreneur, former Democratic Campaign Manager, journalist, and photographer who contributes regularly to a host of web sites on topics ranging from economics and politics to culture and community.

Scott Storch Calls Timbaland The N Word

What's interesting to me is that a White rapper is calling a Black performer the N-word in a music clip. Fascinating. Stupid, too. What's equally so is Paris Hilton using the word, as reported here. Here MediaTakeOut's view and explanation of all of this followed by the video itself and the song:

February 27, 2007. In today's hip hop, diss songs are commonplace. But even a hip hop diss song has boundaries that aren't supposed to be crossed. And MediaTakeOut.com has learned that hip hop producer Scott Storch may have just crossed that boundary.

Storch, who is Caucasian, has been publicly feuding with fellow producer Timbaland for months. And in a recent diss track, the Caucasian producer put all of his harsh feelings on wax.

In the new song, entitled Built Like Dat, Storch blasts Timbaland with some scathing lyrics. The Caucasian producer uses the track to make some explosive allegations against his rival. For example, Storch claims that Timbaland is on steroids, and implies that the hit producer is a homosexual. But that's not the controversial part of the song.

Near the end of the track, Storch uttered the verse, "Don't apologize [N Word], you can't even get your label to work right." And that verse, which was clearly aimed at Timbaland, is sending shockwaves throughout the hip hop community.

MediaTakeOut.com spoke with a prominent New York DJ who offered his take on the controversial track. The DJ, who asked to remain anonymous, told us the following, "I know Scott [Storch], and he always talks reckless like that ... I don't know if he's a racist or not. I do know that no matter how many beats you make, you don't have the right to call a Black man a [N Word]."

And there may be another reason to question Storch's use of the 'N word' against rival Timbaland. The Caucasian producer is very close friends with socialite Paris Hilton - who was caught on tape using the 'N Word' to refer to Black people.

MediaTakeOut.com has repeatedly tried to contact Timbaland for comment. So far, he hasn't responded to our requests.

We've included audio of the song below. Storch uses the 'N word' when there's :40 left: