*When black artists decide to explore the n-word, who are they doing it for, black folks (aren’t we over it?), or their white audiences, who remain pressed that black folks can still use the word while they can’t…?
Well, get ready to beat this dead horse over the head yet again, as an upcoming episode of NBC’s “The Carmichael Show” is prepared to go there. In a page ripped right out of the White Hollywood Handbook, series star Jerrod Carmichael has decided that viewers need an unedited episode of his show where the N-word is tossed around like sandbags. Clearly the episode aims to be a teachable moment for millennials.
While promoting the upcoming third season this week at an NBC press event in Beverly Hills, California, Carmichael told members of the press that the slur will be used “like six times,” and really, that’s six times too many.
Many of us are inundated with this word daily, and Hollywood insists on continuing the trauma by subjecting black viewers to racial epithets in entertainment.
“‘N-word’ is childish…say it!” Carmichael said to the press on Monday. “We know what we’re talking about. We’re not speaking to children.”
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“The Carmichael Show” has tackled taboo issues through its previous two seasons, including episodes about rape, police brutality, Black Lives Matter, and Bill Cosby’s scandal.
When the Cosby-themed episode aired, NBC executive Jennifer Salke told Variety, “When we decided to move forward with Jerrod’s show, we bought into the idea that this is a show that tackles really uncomfortable conversations that should be happening in living rooms all over the country. When he brought up doing the Cosby episode, we thoroughly discussed it and made the decision that we would support him tackling this area, as long as with any of the episodes that he hopes to do that he’s exploring the different points of view around these kinds of topics.”
Carmichael said, “You can’t be afraid of talking about things like that.”
Season 3 of “The Carmichael Show” returns Wednesday, May 31 at 9 p.m., and the n-word episode will feature a parental advisory notice ahead of the broadcast.
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