remember what happened back in 1998 when the u.s. embassy was bombed. we'll have special coverage of that. meantime, thanks for much for joining us. i'm wolfe blitzer in the "situation room." "nigger," that's what we're talking about tonight. tonight, the "n" word, say it at your own peril. >> i beg for your forgiveness. >> it's not in my mother's vocabulary. we were not raised in a home where that was used. does any other word compare? >> creepy ass cracker? >> yes. >> is it ever okay to say it? even as a joke?

tonight, a cnn special, "the n word." only six letters, just two syllables, yet lethal. a word so powerful, so controversial we have to warn you that what you'll hear and see could offend you. but in order to explore the word and all of the meaning, there are times we actually have to say it. i'll say it if it's pertinent and my guests can feel free to say it if they are comfortable doing it. let's talk. joining me here in studio is a famed jazz musician. professor at columbia university and a film maker and 2008 miss black massachusetts usa, lavar burton, actor and director, and jim o'shea, tim wise, the author of "color blind." and you at home tweeting us using #thenwordcnn. is it ever okay to use that word? >> yeah, i think that private

instances where people use it. like women might call themselves girls. hey, girl, yeah, girl. but it's not cool for me to use it. i don't think because i hear a newscaster speak to another lady and say, yeah, girl. i'm going to say, yeah, girl. i think it has its place. >> but girl and the "n" word, two different meanings. did you think they're on the same level? >> "the n" word is an electromagnetic word. it has the electric, the power, it's part of our national history. people have referred to themselves as that, it is a word that has a lot of money attached to it. people made whole careers off using the "n" word. repels and attracts. it's not the same word but the usage is the same. there are private words and public words which you might call your wife or spouse. what you might call somebody is not something that i can come in your house and start calling that person. >> i have to tell you that, you know, i sort of had mixed feelings about the "n" word.

should they say it? maybe people are taking it back until i was researching this story and started looking at historical foot annual from the klan back in the day things from the civil rights movement and slavery. and i ran across something from the 1970s, right? which was roots. and it's levar burton being toby. let's watch and we'll talk to levar. >> your name is toby. you're going to learn to say your name. let me hear you say it. what's your name? say it louder so we all can hear you. what's your name? >> toby.

my name is toby. >> that's a good -- >> what do you think? >> well, you know, the word is really charged. i'm of an age where i have -- i've been exposed to, i've heard that word used all of my life. and having really become a words person in my life, don, i fully understand the power of words. for me the word "nigger" is just that, it's a word. i know that it's really, really highly charged for a lot of people. i have -- my relationship with the word has evolved over time. at this point in my life, what i come down to always, don, is not the words themselves but what is the intent that is being used

behind the words that we use? and for me, that is the bottom line. the word itself does not have that much of a charge for me anymore because i have been acclimated to it over time. and like i said, my relationship with the word has evolved over time. but it's really the intent. i look at the intent behind the use of any word. if we're using whatever word it is to cause injury or harm, then that's what we need to be looking at. >> okay. i want to say this -- i see you over there. a former cnn employee wrote this in an open letter on the facebook page. and she said this is an open letter to white people on the facebook page. although i don't agree with it, i know why some people in the african-american community use the word. my first question for you is, why do you want to use it? sophia? >> well, let me just start. i am a cosby kid and i'm also a

hip-hop kid. so my childhood was split right down the middle where you never say that word. and i first want to say, i did not learn the "n" word by young money cash money. i learned the word from mark twain. i learned the word from english lit and that was so much more painful and damaging. >> but kids aren't running around quoting mark twain. >> but they are reading "to kill a mocking bird," they are reading "huckleberry fin." why do young kids do it? why does anybody with low self-esteem, low self-worth and in some parts of the black community, they don't expect to live past the age of 20. is it a shock that people with low life expectancy projections -- >> what are you saying? you think it's okay to use the word? >> it's not that it's okay. >> do you use it? >> i do use it, don. i use the word. it's one of those aa meetings or something. >> is that something that black people don't want to admit?

>> no, we admit it. we'll say -- here's when i use it. when i'm listening to a rap song and trying to be popular and i'm trying to be, you know, cool. i use it when i am trying to insult somebody because to me it's the worst swear word. and i use it lastly to describe somebody who is a bad -- like they walk in and like, who is that. i definitely say it at that point. i use the g-g-a. >> before we do that, paula deen, her tearful apology. look. >> if there's anyone out there that has never said something that they wish they could take back, if you're out there, please pick up that stone and throw it so hard at my head that it kills me. please. i want to meet you. i want to meet you. i is what i is and i'm not

changing. >> mark, why are you shaking your head? >> wow. every time i watch it, i'm waiting iffer the actuwait ing for the actual tears to come. >> but haven't you ever said something you want to take back? >> absolutely. and i'm not unforgiving about that. but if evidence had come up she said it 50 years ago, or 20 years ago or 5 years ago and it was a mistake she's come to terms with, i could live with this. she wasn't going to court for using the "n" word, it was mistreatment of employees attached to the "n" word. i'm more concerned with her treating people like the "n" word and that at the core is the problem. >> father, i want to play on our morning program on cnn. listen and i want to get your reaction. >> i can tell you this, that word, that horrifying, terrible word that exists and i abhor it coming from any person is not in my vocabulary, not in my

brother's vocabulary. we were not raised in a home where that word was used. >> there are opportunists. and my mom has admitted and she has apologized and as a person what more can you do? >> father, is paula deen being punished for something people say all the time even african-americans to each other daily on the street? >> i hear it all day long, i work in brooklyn and hear it all day long. but i think at the same time the word itself and, again, i think the wasted time on paula deen on her saying the word who is a multimillionaire and will be fine no matter what happens doesn't, i think, communicate the reality of that -- what that "n" word means and the structures that produced it that created it in the beginning, but they continue now. you know, every day, the same attitudes are creating the unfair structures that are really affecting young people today in the african-american

community. you see it every day. whatever paula deen said or didn't say or feeling, she's not that important. she's going to be wealthy and happy no matter what happens at the end of the day. the reality is today and tomorrow morning, what the "n" word produced is still happening. it's not from the past. and i think that's where we need to put more energy and let paula deen go where she goes. let's look at what's going on. >> i know that tim wise feels the same way. we've spoken about this a lot. tim, you said, listen, i really don't care in some ways what paula deen has to say about the "n" word it's much bigger than paula deen. >> the only thing about paula deen that troubles me is her world view that nostaligizes the south. the reality is, we have a supreme court in the last ten days has just basically called 40 million black folks that word without saying it by restricting or limiting the voting rights act of 1965 and basically ending for all intent and purpose or,

at least, limiting in many ways aif i reca affirmative action. law school-educated high powerful people who know well enough not to use that word but still restrict opportunity based onhe same kind of fundamental mentality that affects a lot of people, paula deen among them, perhaps, but at the end of the day, millions of us, and i want to say with regard to this word, i agree with levar, he makes a great point that context always matters. i'll say this as a white person doing antiracism work. i can think of no context where white folks should ever audiblize that word with regard to black folks. i want to make this clear because i know white people get upset because i've been around white people my life and they say, oh, but black people get to use it, why can't i use it? if that's the only thing you have to complain about as a white person that you don't get to use that word, your life is pretty sweet. the reality is, the difference is history, the difference is there has never been a history where white folks used that word

vis a vis black people as a form of endearment or another word for friend or buddy or, hey, let's get a burger at mcdonald's, my "n" word. i'm not saying that because i know all white people say it. those were my main friends as a kid. i didn't use that word. we didn't use that. and so the idea that white folks can use that word because, you know, it's okay, it's like the old third grade wisdom or even like -- not even third grade, like kindergarten, i can talk about my mama, but you cannot talk about my mama. that's the difference. >> tim, i love it when you come on because you never say how you really feel. >> never. >> ever, never. all right. stick around, guys, standby, the "n" word versus cracker. are the two words equally as bad? and can paula deen be forgiven? >> comes from an era where that was normal. that was like saying any other word. it was nothing to them. i understand that. one day we're going to be embarrassed that we use such

homophobic language generally. i'm from that generation. >> i don't get the feeling that she's racist, i think she did grow up in the south like she says, certain things are said, you know, i think way back in the day her family had slaves, but it comes a time when we have to really change the way we speak out of habit.

welcome back, everyone, to our special presentation "the "n" word." should one be acceptable while the other is taboo. this conversation front and center came from a witness at the george zimmerman trial last week. rachel jeantel was on the phone with martin before he was shot. she testified about how martin described zimmerman. listen. >> creepy ass cracker? >> yes. >> so it was racial but it was because trayvon martin put race in this. >> no.

>> you don't think that's a racial comment? >> no. you don't think that creepy ass cracker is a racial comment? >> no. >> hmm, welcome back to our panel now. also joining us now, michael, the editor in chief of global grind and michelle oliver joins us, as well. so michael, were you surprised at all that rachel jeantel did not see this as racist, "creepy ass cracker?" >> no the word cracker comes from the word that means loud noise. the crackers were the guys that whipped the slaves. if you look at it compare it to the "n" word, there's a huge difference in the use of both of those words. the "n" word has done so much damage and the word cracker has not done as much damage.

so a girl like rachel jeantel, she say this as a descriptor. >> there are people who say the same thing about the "n" word, it's not that it's not offensive or racist, it's certainliy la racially offensive word. and here's the big point for me, there's no word that equals the "n" word, that's like the trump card. there's nothing that matches it because black and white aren't the same. they're not opposite sides of the same coin. >> levar, listen, who is talking? >> i was going to say, the other difference is let's say for the sake of our argument that both of these men viewed each other through a lens. through the lens of a dangerous black man in a hoodie and trayvon viewed him as a white cracker. here's the point, he tried to avoid zimmerman. to the extent he viewed trayvon racially, he pursued trayvon. if he doesn't do that, we p

don't know either of these guys' names. so that's the difference in the words they have power behind them. one has power and one doesn't. >> so, does history matter here? >> history matters. i mean, history is not what we need to look at and, i mean, we heard just a moment ago about the use of the word "cracker," that is not a racial term when you look at the history of it. the cracker was the person who whipped the slaves. and as the cracker whipped the slaves, he would not use their names, he would call them "nigger," you did something wrong. and the crack was just a sound of the whip. and, you know, you didn't have to be white to be a cracker. blacks were also sometimes used. and if you look at the situation with trayvon, he should be commended because he actually used the term correctly.

>> we can't -- use the term correctly. none of us would say that cracker's an appropriate term. i'm all for saying "then" word the most offensive, but -- >> but the problem is, there's a conversation about white people, we want to say, it's equal, there's racism on both sides, no, there isn't. it's geared toward people of color. white people are not the subjects of racism. >> i agree with that, but what i'm saying -- >> you can't say that -- >> to the extent -- >> there are white people that are racist, there are black people who attack -- >> the damage has been to the people of color, not to white people. white people have prevailed in the history of this country. >> let's take a broader view. there's a whole 100-year body of music which the term is used

constantly. the history of that term has come back where it's always a majority. when we look at a word like "cracker," they're not interested in being racist towards white people. somebody say i read about it, every other word when i was growing up was "nigger," across the board. when we take a humanistic view, we say where do we want our culture, our country to go. let's take the fact that the man was walking -- boy was walking through a neighborhood and he was shot by a man who the police said don't mess with this man. and these young men all over the country, every movie, every film, every book that portrays black youngsters as predators and our kids are full of fear and they need that love so bad, but they're seen in a negative light and re-enforced in film. >> there are african-american men on the panel, have you ever been followed or -- in a manner similar? obviously, you're still here, have you ever been? >> man --

>> hey -- >> i have never. >> okay. >> i've been followed by black and white people. >> what about you, levar, have you ever been followed? >> listen, i'm going to be honest with you, and this is a practice that i engage in every time i'm stopped by law enforcement. and i taught this to my son who is now 33 as part of my duty as a father to ensure he knows the kind of world in which he's growing up. when i get stopped by the police, i take my hat off, my sunglasses off, i roll down my window, take my hands, stick them outside the window and on the door of the driver side because i want that officer to be as relaxed as he can be when he approaches my vehicle. and i do that because i live in america. >> right. >> and because -- >> but, tim, before i go to you. i am a little bit of an

uppity -- what did you do? growing up in louisiana, people would stop me, my parents did very well. they say where did you get that car? whose car is this? i was coming back from florida with a friend who happened to be white. and he said, i never had the police deal with me like that. i'm like, hello, welcome to my life. you don't understand, it doesn't exist for you. doesn't exist. >> that's why i don't like white people to use the "n" word. >> go ahead. >> what levar just said is so heavy. and i want white folks watching this show to see how heavy it is. i lived in new orleans for ten years and i told you this story once on a show before, back when i was 23 living in new orleans, graduated from tulane and locked myself out of my car on roberts street and i'm trying to break into my car with a coat hanger and a cop comes up and does not even ask me for i.d. or proof that's my car. he actually, literally, the nopd, and i know he will

appreciate this story. he was like, hey, you're breaking into the car the wrong way, let me help you. like the cop was trying to help me break in. now there is not a black man in this country for whom that would have been the reaction. and i hope people understand how, like levar having to put his hands out the window. basically what my mom told me was, be nice to cops. she didn't say don't move your hands because you're going to get shot. none of that. that is about white privilege, that's about racism, and the fundamental difference between the "n" word and any other term on the planet. >> let's get back to the words, to the "n" word and to cracker. i saw this clip, i was like, wow, this would never fly today on television. listen. >> jungle bunny. >> pecker wood. >> burr head. >> cracker. >> spear chucker. >> white trash.

>> jungle bunny. >> honkey. >> honky, honky. >> nigger. >> dead honkey. >> should we be censoring things like that on television? or should we be talking about it more? >> it's an interesting thing. we talked about context earlier on in the conversation. and words have power. the "n" word has power. and if you don't understand how to use that power, if you don't know the history and the culture that goes into these words, then you will misuse them. and that's what we're seeing, you know, with paula deen, she's misusing the word and doesn't really understand how offensive it can be to people. >> the damage -- >> the damage. that's when the damage is done. >> that's why we shouldn't censor it, right? don, if you sit here right now

and say "nigger" as opposed to the "n" word, that matters. there's a value to that. what happens is, we'll say paula deen allegedly used the "n" word. and if they hear that in a sense. i want people to viscerally hear "nigger." >> go ahead, rochelle. >> i'm sorry, just saying the word doesn't say -- doesn't mean that you're using it correctly. we need to use it correctly in that skit you just showed. they knew what they were doing. comedians know their words, know their audience. and they know how to use it and the way to say it correctly. i don't think that people should be walking around the streets saying the words. and i don't approve of anyone saying it actually. just because they've become comfortable. >> go ahead. >> well, i think that the word is like hot sauce or sugar, you going to put hot sauce on everything, egg, ice cream, you put hot sauce on.

>> in louisiana. >> you know what i'm saying? but i want to say that the history of race relations in america is always black and white versus white. what tim said before, it was about the whole supreme court decisions, these are matters, we're going to talk about whether somebody use the word "nigger" when it's being constantly. the proliferation of it in the 1990s and '80s, when we saw that come back around as musicians added to all the other profanities, just every day, language for our young people, we accept it. >> standby. much more to come. we have a lot of show left here. so next the "n" word, the dark history. the "n" word, the dark history, the power, the celebrities and musicians, the ones who use it. i believe, certainly, you should never use the "n" word. unfortunately i see in the rap

culture and hip-hop culture it's used frequently. there is this double standard. >> it's the intention behind the word. so i see people use it where the intention is like, you are my family. and then i see people use it like you are a piece of, you know, bleep. i think farmers care more about the land than probably anyone else. we've had this farm for 30 years. we raise black and red angus cattle. we also produce natural gas. that's how we make our living and that's how we can pass the land

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welcome back, tonight, we're talking about "the "n" word," it's a highly sensitive topic. bear warning, some of what you're about to hear in the next story may be offensive. but we felt we could not fully examine the history of the "n"

word without using it in our reporting. >> it was said without thinking, painting an entire race with a single word. but it wasn't always a slur. originally the latin n-i-g-e-r just meant black. but at the dawn of america, it became n-e-g-a-r. >> what's your name? >> kuntar. my name is toby. >> and with slavery, the word was contorted into its current dark, degrading hateful insult for african-americans. >> we are the klu klux klan.

look out, the klan is getting bigger. >> it's appeared in everything from ugly propaganda to cartoons to nursery rhymes. it didn't always end in "catch a tiger by the toe." it was tossed about casually in movies well into the 20th century. part of the way of life. but also, sometimes to raise consciousness. and in the civil rights era, the stigma came to a head. author james baldwin in the documentary "take this hammer." >> we have invented the nigger, i didn't invent it, white people invented it. >> a new willingness to explore the impact of the word. >> isn't it a lovely morning? >> up yours. >> if you two started going -- he'd be calling you -- >> don't say it. >> it hardly disappeared in the

1980s and '90s. some black people did, a lot. >> there's black people and -- >> as a society, we've tried to ignore it, ban it, literally bury it. the naacp held this symbolic funeral for the "n" word. and we've perhaps added more gravity to the word just by refusing to say it. >> whenever a white lady on cnn with nice hair says "the "n" word," that's white people getting away with saying the word. >> given the word's dark history, some have tried to reclaim its power to use it in other ways, like in art and music and cnn contributor donna

brazil joins us now to go through some examples. thank you for joining us, your prospective on this is profound. you get the whole incarnation of the whole world. is there such thing as a good use of the word even in lyrics? >> no, i don't believe -- you should use this word at all. by the 1900s, it had become a pejorative word. and as they were shipped to the united states, they were called that. it derives from the latin term niger, the portuguese word for "black," but it had become so insulting, demeaning, and threatening, many americans, citizens were killed when that word was used, lynching, there's so many negative connotations that i don't believe in the cultural way the way it's used

by some artists. they spell it differently n-i-g-g-a versus n-i-g-g-r. i was taught very early in life when i heard the word never to repeat it, never to use it, and my mother would also tell us it's not what you call someone, it's what they answer to. meaning, if we were called the "n" word, don't respond to it, don't react to it. so i find it highly offensive. and i'm glad -- >> and donna -- >> i'm glad that paula deen has stepped out and said i'm sorry. she should be forgiven. but forgiveness is only the first step. but the truth of the matter is, it's a very offensive term. and the naacp and the congressional black caucus and others said we should bury the word the and i tend to agree with them. >> i've never seen you so

passionate about this anything outside of politics. it's amazing. i want you to listen to this. it's from kanye west. and i want to -- i want to get your reaction to it. >> yes. >> you know what the midwest. ♪ >> okay. that was a cleaned up version, actually. because the other version says might steal your lexus, your necklace. that's the radio version you heard and i hear this and people saying it in public, those are the lyrics. i was in the barbershop yesterday, and i turned and said, you know, you need to watch cnn tomorrow night. to me, it's just the -- the word, i don't know, it conjures something in me i can't explain to you. >> when you hear rappers and entertainers, paris hilton, charlie sheen, j-lo, there's a long list of celebrities gotten in hot water for using the word.

of course, when i listen to some of your guests including my home boy and others on the show -- >> you guys grew up what a couple of blocks apart? >> oh, i mean, four blocks apart. celebrated the two of us was taylor and jackson street. i was on fillmore, so i love this man. >> she heard the word a lot too. >> i heard it on both sides of the levee. i heard it on both sides of the railroad tracks. but we know the power words. it's important. especially now when we hear it so often we need to let people know it is not a good word. the meaning of that word and the way it was used, it's insulting, and we should not use that word. >> all right. well said, donna. thank you. appreciate that. and we're talking about paula deen again. she's seen her empire come

crashing down after admitting she used the "n" word many years ago. and while the backlash against the queen of southern cooking has been punishing, she's not the first celebrity to use a derogatory word yet for some uttering the "n" word's not always a career ender. here's nichelle turner. >> if you never committed a sin, please pick up that rock, that boulder. >> she told matt lauer she is not a racist, her once piping hot career as a celebrity chef has gone cold. >> it seems like her admitting to using the "n" word in the past has really been career ending for her. >> it's destroyed an empire fairly quickly. >> she's not the first non-black celebrity and won't be the last facing career turmoil after an "n" word controversy. >> i'm very, very sorry to the

african-american community. >> perhaps most notable was seinfeld actor michael richards who while performing a stand-up comedy routine in 2006 shouted the "n" word multiple times at hecklers who were black. the outrage that followed was fierce. reverend jesse jackson called for a boycott of "seinfeld" dvds. he later appeared alongside jackson to apologize. reality star dog the bounty hunter found himself in the dog house in 2008 after a leaked recording of him repeatedly using the "n" word surfaced online. a&e briefly suspended his show and he vowed never to utter the word again. >> turn on hbo and all you hear is [ bleep ]. >> radio host repeated the "n" word 11 times to an african-american caller seeking advice in 2010. she apologized for her remarks, but that didn't stop sponsors and affiliates from cutting ties.

but is the reaction different when the word is sung instead of said? ♪ take jennifer lopez' 2001 hit "i'm real," she said the "n" word in the line of the song and faced criticism in a line. according to "forbes" magazine, she made more than $45 million last year. >> i'm curious what makes you so curious. >> no long-term damage to director quentin tarantino's career either after his 2013 oscar nominated film "django unchained." used it 106 times in the film and faced heavy backlash he went too far. >> all that criticism that came out, it ended up being kind of a good thing because one of the things i wanted to do was i wanted to actually start a conversation about slavery, about america's role in it. >> i cannot think of a word that

is more racially charged, more explosive than this word. >> a word for which the penalty can mean career death or millions at the box office. >> joining me now is nichelle turner. why do you think celebrities feel they can say the "n" word so freely? and do they ever wonder if they're going to get in trouble? >> i don't know if they think they can say it so freely, i think in cases like jennifer lopez like we saw and in cases like quentin tarantino, they feel it's a little bit more creative license. and in j-lo's case which i thought was interesting at the time, so many african-americans came to her defense when she said the word in the song. ja rule was the first who wrote the song. that was a point wherehe was with sean diddy combs, kind of

like she had a pass. she was with diddy, a little more hip-hop. so it seemed to be okay which i never really understood. >> so then why -- michael richards, why is he castigated? and others like j-lo and quentin seem to get a pass? >> because it was hate speech. when michael richards said it it was hate speech. i want to stand up for hip-hop if i can. i've got to stand up for hip-hop and i think the use of the word in hip-hop is powerful. i'm going to disagree with my elders here for a little bit. i think language is powerful. i think the ownership of language is powerful, taking it back, watching kanye west, you know, use the "n" word in that song, it's a song called "jesus walks." and he's using a word -- >> what does jesus have to do with the "n" word? >> he's using it as a term of endearment. these are not records that are hateful speech like michael richards or paula deen used it. >> let me state one thing. when you take the history of

music, what we ended up doing when we got to hip hop and the way we used language and disrespected women and ourselves is an international embarrassment. and if you are not from america and you don't know this dialogue, when you go to japan, italy, france, all the places i see people and they turn these things on and say what happened to you people? it is an embarrassment and we should not. there's many uses of the word, but the majority of those recordings are not using it in any powerful way. it's shameful. >> come here. >> we're going to agree to disagree. >> there's nothing wrong with disagreeing. >> but we will disagree with that. >> you have to disagree during the commercial break. we've got to run. still to come, the future of the "n" word, will it ever be acceptable to say? can it be reclaimed? meet the newest member of the quicken loans family:

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i'm going to show you some words, right, and you have to tell me if they offend you. do you ever use that word? >> no. >> never? does it offend you? >> no. >> if somebody calls you that -- >> i wouldn't take it lightly, no. >> and what about this word on top? >> i find it offensive, as well. >> this doesn't offend you? >> it does not. >> why not? >> for some reason it's in a friendly manner. >> you're hispanic, do you say that word? >> once in a while. >> you do? to? >> to anybody. >> in a bad way or term of endearment. >> friendly manner. >> i see people my age saying this all the time in both demeaning and affectionate way. >> what about that word? >> no. to anybody.

>> to anybody? >> no. >> you're 19 years old. >> yeah. >> when you hear people use this, what do you think? >> it's offensive. >> is there a difference between these two words? >> there is a difference. >> and the difference is? >> one would be more offending. >> what's interesting about this word, it's transformed into having a lot of different meanings, kind of like you're my friend, my equal. >> what does the "n" word mean to you? you heard honest opinions of people of different generations and races. one of the most offensive in the english language, but has the meaning been disarmed as jay-z puts it by the current generation? or will it forever carry a lethal racist connotation? i'm joined by the professor at columbia university, 2008 miss black massachusetts usa, and michael

so listen, these two words. i'm telling you, young people on the street said this word is different than that word. >> it's not that these two words necessarily mean something different. that's the short hand for this. black english tendses to function like this. when black people say nigga, it's fine. when you hear nigger, it's coming from a white person. white people shouldn't say it fp. >> do you think it's because they didn't go through the civil rights movement? i mean, i was a child in the '70s, i remember right after the civil rights movement, i know what people went through. you were brought up not to say that word, is that because -- >> martin luther king one day was looking -- >> you can be romantic. you say martin luther king, what's romantic about that. >> andrew young finally came

back into the building, he said, little nigga, where have you been. that's a documented fact. i don't think martin people didn't love black people. sometimes black people say nigga and it means something different. >> i see these cards. what means what. i asked every cousin under the age of 21. i was like, what do these words mean to you. they all categorically said, this is a fighting word. another cousin 15 years old, she said, i will punch someone. i didn't know she was that vibt violent. >> here's oprah and jay-z, let's hear him explain what the word means. >> i've been accused of not

being a fan of rap music because of the lyrics and the n word. you feel differently. >> li'l bit. >> tell everyone why. >> people give words power. and for our generation, what we did was, we took the word and the power out of that word. we turned a word that was very ugly and hurtful into a term of endearment. >> all right, mr. hip-hop generation. oprah defends it. >> i respect sean carter for that. i would never say either of these words. these are two words that would never come out of my mouth personally many many white america would love for black people to have the conversation. the fact of the matter is, there are so many black people in this country, bad health care, bad living conditions, no jobs, and they'd much rather have this discussion than that discussion. >> stand by. more of our special on the n word next. are we dwelling on the past? romanticizing it?

as mark lamont hill said? out there owning it.

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the n word, just the sound of it is toxic. which is why it caught on. sadly, it now flows freely from the mouths of the very people who would have been called that disgusting, vile, nasty word before someone beat, shot, rained or lynched them. while you may think it's cool to take the word back by bastardizing it, it's not. by promoting the use of that word when it's not jermaine to the conversation, have you ever considered that you may just be

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good evening, everyone, there's breaking news out of arizona. 19 bodies have been recovered. 19 heroes now identified and tonight we'll tell you all about them. the first two people to question george zimmerman after he shot trayvon martin take the stand for the prosecution. the question once again, did strong cross-examination turn their testimony to the defense's advantage. another compelling day in court, we'll go indepth on that. egypt is on the edge of a volca volcano. that's what it looks like tonight. these are live pictures. millions across the country protesting the government everyone the clock ticking before the m