Norman Lear Leads N-Word Chant in Podcast

"I think we’ve done so much for race relations in that moment," said Jerrod Carmichael after he and the 'All in the Family' creator said the word on the air.

The Carmichael Show's Jerrod Carmichael visited Norman Lear's new podcast "All of the Above" this week and talked about how he plans to incorporate the n-word into his network sitcom.

Carmichael, Lear and Lear's co-host Paul Hipp spoke about the word, which the three of them believe only increases the divide in society.

"Wouldn’t it be better if the word...was available?" said Lear. "Making it the worst thing that could ever happen, so that nobody can say anything but the ‘n-word’ — isn’t that a curse on the word and communication?"

Carmichael responded by saying that making it taboo actually preserves the word and makes it "more dangerous. “It’s a curse on the word and childish, and does more harm than good. People think — the intention is it’s stopping hatred, but it doesn’t stop hatred and it doesn’t stop, you know, painful language."

Lear said he'd like one of them to use the n-word in the next three minutes. He counted down and then all three men simultaneously said the word.

"By the way, that may be one of the greatest moments of my life," said Carmichael. "I think we’ve done so much for race relations in that moment."

Carmichael added that he knows that using the word on his show will make some people angry, but he also hopes it will make people more enlightened. His decision to incorporate the word onto his show received some pushback, but he said it is said with the best intention for the sake of discussion.

Lear is the man behind classic TV series like All in the Family, Sanford and Son, Good Times and The Jeffersons.