(Editor’s Note: This column, just like all columns that appear in the EastWord News, does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the entire newspaper staff, but that of its author).

Sports waded into an old debate last week. Miami Dolphins lineman Ritchie Incognito and Los Angeles Clippers forward Matt Barnes plunged the sports world into every layer of the N-word debate with their actions over the last few weeks. 

Incognito opened the door first when a voicemail calling fellow lineman Jonathan Martin “a half n-word” was revealed. The debate heated up even more when Barnes tweeted that he could no longer stick up for “these n-words” in reference to his teammates after getting ejected defending teammate Blake Griffin. 

It should be noted that neither used the universally despised racial slur that ends in an “er,”but the desensitized hip-hop version that ends in an “a.” The discussion also divided along the lines that Incognito is white while Barnes is black. 

Both took criticism in the media for using the word. However, it opened the door for that version of the N-word’s place in society. Is it a different word? Who can use it?
Former NBA player and TNT NBA analyst Charles Barkley seemed to suggest that this version lies within the African American community to decide on its use. 

“I’m a black man. I use the N-word. I will continue to use the N-word among my black friends, with my white friends,” said Barkley. “White America don’t get to dictate how me and Shaq talk to each other.”

ESPN personality Michael Wilbon agreed with Barkley about using the N-word saying he uses it “all day every day.” Neither of them delved into differentiating between the racial slur and hip-hop staple. 

Neither did Jason Whitlock when he admitted to using the word in his column while chastising Barkley and Wilbon for defending its use. He went on to say we need to let go of the word because its sole purpose has always been to demean. Whitlock blames hip-hop and the new generation of youths for the N-word’s rise to popularity in mainstream culture, because they are unaware of its destructive powers. 

ESPN Los Angeles radio hosts Max Kellerman and Marcellus Wiley added the second layer to the discussion. Kellerman and Wiley decided the hip-hop style N-word was a different form of the word although they were closely related. They agreed in a perfect world it wouldn’t be used at all but it is important to establish that the hip-hop style N-word isn’t a racial slur in its use and more closely a synonym for “dudes.” 

Kellerman, a white man, established he had been around that version of the word his whole life growing up in New York and had been called it on occasion. Wiley, who is African-American, used the word growing up but decided to discontinue use of the word after seeing the film 12 Years a Slave. 

Wiley circles us back to Whitlock’s point about understanding the destruction in the word, and that’s mostly where this debate lies. It’s a debate on how words matter in the American vernacular. Are words allowed to evolve over time? 

The N-word headlines the debate right now. However, there’s a demeaning term for almost all ethnicities that could fit into this discussion. The N-word has the most history and provides a ground map for how we deal with race in America. 

In a perfect world, Whitlock is right. There are other words that you can use to mean “dude.” That word has too much anger and hurt behind it. Pick something else. Words can evolve just not that word. Unfortunately, that’s not how culture works. That’s especially not how American culture works. 

Whitlock speaks from the older generation. They were called the racial slur without hesitation in public. The word too closely resembles pain and destruction.

Barkley and Wilbon represent the next evolution. They co-opted the word as a term of endearment between two African American friends. It was used in light-hearted ribbing or to describe behavior that was overtly and negatively “black.” Kellerman described it as internalized oppression because of how closely tied to degrading others the word still was. 

The final evolution of the word is where we are now. This generation has limited dealings with the pain of that word. It ends with an “a.” It’s different. It’s not the slave owner’s word. It’s our word. It misses the mark to say this generation has no understanding of the word’s past, moreover they feel the past is the past. 

As far as who can use the word, it’s organic to this generation. It naturally occurs as the friendship grows. No one gets a card or the ability to be an “honorary black person” as Incognito was called by his teammates. The word just links you with those you're closest with in this meaning. It evolves. 

That’s the debate. Is it a sign of growth of a nation that the next generation has decided your baggage isn’t ours? Or is it a sign of a forgotten past that a rebellious youth are too far removed from the pain? 

It’s not just the young African-American generation. It’s this generation as a whole that is shifting American vernacular. In the South, they’ve co-opted redneck and white trash. Words evolve and change.

The American youth have decided English in America today is more about context. This generation has decided it finds a certain joy in turning negative words into terms of endearment. They’ve decided how you use the word is more important than the words you use. 

We’ve all decided the other version is a racial slur. This new version is still being waded through and debated about. That fact in and of itself is an evolution.