Tyler, The Creator has never been one to censor himself or color within the lines. In his eyes, freedom of expression is the ultimate form of joy and that includes letting other people speak their mind, even when it’s controversial. So it’s not surprising that in a recent interview, Tyler explained that he sees nothing wrong with white people using the N-word freely.
While chatting with Hot 97’s Cipha Sounds and Rosenberg, Tyler and part of his Odd Future crew stumbled upon the topic of the N-word and Tyler explained that he isn’t offended when white people use the term.
“We don’t actually give a f— about that s—,” said Tyler. “Mothaf—— who care are the reason racism is still alive if you think about it.”
Co-host K. Foxx clearly wasn’t pleased with Tyler’s views and tried to educate him a bit on the history of race relations and civil rights. And though Tyler claimed to respect the history of such issues, he argued that racism is still alive because people make a big deal of things such as the N-word.
“I know, that’s sick, that’s cool. I guess people my age, we’re not even thinking like that. But when you think like that, you keep the racism alive when that’s not even on our palette,” said Tyler.
And when Foxx asked Tyler what he does stand for, the Goblin emcee responded dryly, “Being rich and trying to have as much fun as I can.”
It’s true that words only have power when we give it to them. But, with words like the N-word, which has been imbued with an incredible amount of hate and literally bears the blood of those killed over it, it’s nearly impossible to strip such a word of its devastating impact.
Perhaps, later generations can one day negate the power of that word and reconcile the hate, distrust and misunderstandings that lie between our cultures. But as it stands, now, white people across the globe are still appropriating elements of our culture, including the N-word, without empathy or knowledge of our history and it’s important that they know the dark history of the word and why it’s still painful, awkward and threatening for us as black people to hear it from their mouths.
Check out some other celebs that are okay with white people using the N-word below. –nicholas robinson
