Randall Kennedy

I mean, Richard Pryor's best album is That Nigger's Crazy.

Well, was Richard Pryor trying to put down black people?

How does one explain that?

One can only explain that by getting deeper into the word, by understanding that, yes, this is a word that has been used in a derogatory way.

This is a word that has been used to put people down.

This is a word that has been used to terrorize people.

You got to know that.

But you also have to know that this is a word that has also been put to other uses.

There are artists, there are entertainers who have used this word like Dick Gregory used it to put up a mirror to American society and say, look at this word and look at the terrible way in which it's been used.

We don't want you to look away.

No, don't look away.

We're not, no euphemism.

No asterisk.

No N-word.

No, nigger.

Now, we want you to look at that, and we want to talk about that.

James Baldwin.

There was a documentary about James Baldwin a couple of years ago, a highly lauded documentary.

The title that was given to this documentary was I Am Not Your Negro.

That's not what James Baldwin said.