BRYANT GUMBEL CLOSING COMMENTARY
EPISODE #200
AIRS TONIGHT (11/19) @ 10:00 PM ET/PT
“Finally tonight, a few words about words. Between the NFL’s locker room flap in Miami and the tweets of the NBA’s Matt Barnes, the use of the N-Word seems to be on everyone’s lips these days. So for the jocks of all colors, I’d like to offer a few guidelines or personal truths gleaned from over 40 years in locker rooms and 65 years of being black.
Truth #1 – No matter what color you are, no one can give you a pass to say the word. Not once, not ever. Passes don’t exist and you shouldn’t even want one.
Truth #2 – Be smart! Using the N-Word says a lot about you and none of it is good. It just advertises your ignorance.
Truth #3 – Pronouncing it with an ‘A’ after the ‘double G’ in the word because you’re with your boys makes you no more ‘with it’ than the clown who pronounces it with the ‘-er’.
Truth #4 – Being young is not an excuse. The word’s use as a weapon to define, demean, and destroy millions of people should never be forgotten. If you need help remembering, check out the new film 12 Years a Slave and you will never view the N-Word the same way again.
Lastly, stop believing in fairy tales. That old kids’ line: ‘sticks and stone may break your bones, but words can never hurt you?’ Not true.”
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