In “Pryor Convictions,” Pryor said that he left Africa “regretting ever having uttered the word ‘n*gger’ on a stage or off it. It was a wretched word. Its connotations weren’t funny, even when people laughed.
“To this day I wish I’d never said the word. I felt its lameness. It was misunderstood by people. They didn’t get what I was talking about. Neither did I. … So I vowed never to say it again.”
It took Pryor about 10 years to come to his conclusion.
While rappers still utter it on just about every song, men and women still use it in every day language and children are seen using it like it’s nothing on youtube videos, people–Black folks specifically–still get upset with non-Black people use it.
But Pryor took a stance not to give the word power, but to give the respect back to the people that look like him. While this is just one article and it may not change the world, we still like to shine the light and do what we can for our brothers and sisters around the world.
We love you.