The George Zimmerman verdict in the killing of Trayvon Martin renewed debate over the use of the n-word, both within the black community and outside of it. In an interview to promote the upcoming film The Butler, media superpower Oprah Winfrey weighed in, telling Parade Magazine “You cannot be my friend and use that word around me.”

The media periodically rediscovers the debate over the n-word, but it never really goes away. Some feel that its use within the black community is justified, either as a way to take it back or to rob the word of its power, but Oprah’s line of thinking is as handy a refutation of the latter as I’ve heard, and a crystal-clear case for why it shouldn’t, and probably can’t, be robbed of its power. She also settled the inane “n-word vs. cracker” cage match in the process. From Parade:

On using the N-word: (The Butler director)Lee Daniels: It’s a word I used quite a bit, until Oprah sat me down and talked to me about its power. Winfrey: You cannot be my friend and use that word around me. It shows my age, but I feel strongly about it. … I always think of the millions of people who heard that as their last word as they were hanging from a tree. (The Butler star) Forest Whitaker: I don’t use the word. Never did.

Winfrey also told the magazine that today’s young people aren’t well-informed about the Civil Rights Movement, which The Butler traces through the eyes of Whitaker’s black White House staffer. “They don’t know diddly-squat,” Winfrey said. “Diddly-squat!”

The trio also touched on racism, through the lens of recent events:

Whitaker: I’ve had many incidents in my life of racism. I’ve been thrown on the ground. I’ve been frisked. I’ve been arrested so many times I couldn’t tell you. I have no need to talk about it. Daniels: It’s a given. I can’t even get a taxi [in New York]. I send my [white] assistant out to get a taxi because I can’t. Whitaker: The movie deals with the valuation of life, too. Like, whose life is valuable? Is it okay to take life? In terms of today, [the film] Fruitvale Station [of which Whitaker is a producer] is playing, about the shooting of Oscar Grant in the Oakland BART station, which just happened in 2009. Winfrey: And the shooting of Trayvon Martin. Whitaker: If you can’t accept that these things are going on, you’re living an illusion. So the question at this point is more of, how can we move the needle forward? Can we speak up? I think this film helps that in some way. Winfrey: Yeah. But do we live in a land where Martin Luther King’s dream has been ultimately fulfilled? No. Has part of the dream been fulfilled? Daniels: Yes. Winfrey: [nods] Are more people judged by the content of their character than by the color of their skin? Yes. Is everybody judged by the content of their character? Absolutely not.

You can read more of the interview preview here, and the full interview will be published in this Sunday’s Parade print edition.

(h/t Ebony)

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