Susan,

whether Ise is wrong or right is a matter of personal opinion. But when i looked at his video, i didn't see him address the underlying issue, which is white people raised in predominantly-black environments who self-identify as black. Comparing the "white girl mob" to the KKK completely overshoots this point. And, Ise also fails to mention an equally-salient topic, that V-Nasty not only self-identifies as a "bitch," but refers to other females as bitches and hoes.

So it's okay to attack someone for casual use of the N-word but not for equally-casual misogyny? And it's okay for some black people to use the n-word, sometimes, but never for white people to use it, even if its not in the context of hate speech? Doesn't that seem just a little bit hypocritical?

Given her subject matter--which includes weed, pills, guns, allusions to lesbian sex and demands to "lick her pu$$y"--V-Nasty really isn't any different from fellow Internet sensation Lil B or any other viral YouTube emcee these days--except that she's white.

in your view, you call V-Nasty a "novelty act," which IMO also fails to address the reality of the situation. It's not about whether we take V-Nasty seriously as a rapper--which would be hard to do, considering that her canon at this point consists of a bunch of crappy freestyles on YouTube--it's about whether we recognize her existance as a person--and by extension, the existance of others who are just like her and grew up under similar circumstances.

I remember when Vanilla Ice came out in 1988. He falsely claimed 'hood credentials, and was largely seen as illegitimate by the black community because of that, despite the fact he went on to sell millions of records.

A decade or so later, Eminem came out and went on to become the biggest-selling artist of the 2000s, according to 60 Minutes. Eminem sparked a lot of debate--including a smear campaign by the then-publisher of Source magizine--but it was harder to qualify him as illegitimate because a) he grew up in a mostly-black section of Detroit; b) paid his dues by performing at all-black clubs; c) recorded with 50 Cent, Dr. Dre, and Jay-Z and d) put his black friends from Detroit, D-12, on. Also, he was undeniably more talented than any white rapper who had come before him.

So the question of white legitimacy in a black art form is nothing new--we can go back to the jazz age and mention Mezz Mezzrow and Bix Biederbecke, who gave up their white privilege by living and working with black musicians in an era of segregation. and, while we're on the subject, if 'hood status = legitimacy, then do middle-class blacks like De La Soul and A Tribe called Quest qualify?

However, in 2011, it can be legitimately questioned whether rap still qualifies as a black art form or not. I would say no, pointing not just to white people in America who rap, but the emergence of emcees and femcees from all over the world who express themselves through rhyme as part of their culture.

Like it or not, V-Nasty exists in that context. She may be ignorant, but she's a product of her environment, and no less ignorant than Soulja Boy or Nicki Minaj--who self-identifies as a black "Barbie."

We could also easily draw parallels between V-Nasty and any punk rock female artist you'd care to mention

While some black artists may not like that, i doubt they would make any attempt to restrict their record sales to just the black community, so it is what it is.

Regardless of whether we take V-Nasty seriously as an emcee, what is being called into question isn't her legitimacy as a rapper, but her use of a taboo word which has connotations as a hateful epithet when used by whites--and whether her background and upbringing qualifies her to essentially forgo white privilege and use the word in the same context by which black people use it.

Since black people themselves are divided on their use of the word--generally, if you identify as ghetto, it's okay, and if you don't,it's not--it stands to reason that there would be debate and controversy over V-Nasty's use of it.

Yet the point that many seem to miss here is that V-Nasty cannot change the corcumstances of her upbringing. Does being a mixed-race person--V-Nasty has a white mother and a Vietnamese father--raised by a black woman in a predominantly-black part of the inner-city legitimize one's self-identification as a ghetto hoodrat?

I would say yes.

However, just the fact that this controversy has even erupted shows that America is not ready to address the existance of white hoodrats. This is why i said the notion of a post-racial society is a myth.

If V-Nasty were an isolated incident--if there were no others like her--than yes, she would be a novelty. But what she represents isn't an anamoly, but something we don't want to admit exists, because doing so becomes problematic to our preconceived notions of race and identity. We don't have to like her raps. But we can't pretend she's not real, or that somehow her reality is less real or authentic than Ise Lyfe's.

If she was from Walnut Creek or Pleasant Hill, sure, we could just dismiss her entire experience as being inauthentic. But East Oakland is East Oakland. Should we be shocked that white people--actually, multiracial people--from the 'hood dress, talk, and act like black people from the hood? What does this say about us as a society?

It's not just about whether a white girl has the right to use the N word, it's about the larger picture of how environment and socioeconomic reality influences identity, regardless of race. A 3-minute video which exaggerates the context and may have self-serving motives doesn't begin to address this, which could easily be a topic of a sociologist's master's thesis.

if we want to have an honest conversation about race, we need to start by being honest to ourselves about our own preconceptions about race -- and the relationship between identity and environment.

Well that's all nice, but in my view, white people don't ever get a hall pass to use the n word in public. Joking with your crew, that's your business with your friends, but this is just plain not okay to me.

let me be clear: i'm not advocating open use of the N word by anyone, black or white. basically, anyone who uses that word in any context is ignorant. if it's not okay for V-Nasty to say it, it shouldn't be okay for anyone to say it, period.

However, I'd like to think that as a black person in America, i'm entitled to more than just the right to say the N word.

Personally, i'm less upset by V-Nasty's existence than i am by Herman Cain's. and i'm less offended by her identifying as a "real-ass bitch" than by Nicki Minaj identifying as a black Barbie. I do wish she could hone her anger and energy into something more positive and constructive in her brand of rap music, which certainly has changed from the hip-hop i grew up listening to. But i could say the same thing about 100 rappers who have strayed from the cultural path.

And, i can't deny that this is a different generation of young people, whose sociopolitical manifesto goes no deeper, perhaps, than the need to have "swag." But despite not having an overt social consciousness, the Swag Generation might actually be more tolerant and accepting of multiculturalism in practice than my generation, or my parents'.

I may not identify personally with V-Nasty, but i can't judge her, having never walked in her shoes. If i'm going to disallow her the right to use the N word, then i should also demand full acknowledgment from Ivy League universities as to their historical connections to slave plantations, as well as full restitution from the US government for legalizing slavery in the first place.

I could go on, but you get the point...

I just blogged about the Nword and Non Black people. My take on the issue is here

http://deepculture.blogspot.com/2011/07/don-call-me-niggaer.html

Well said, Malcolm, thanks for adding your voice to this discussion.

No one should be saying the word you idiots. That simple. To say that it's okay for you to say that word just because you are african american is a cop out. Do you think MLK and Malcolm would want to see a whole generation of young african americans BELITTLING THEMSELVES by using that word? There are no positives about words like these and no reason to use them, no matter what race they refer to or what color the person using them is. End of discussion. If you think otherwise you are ignorant. As your colleague Eric Arnold wrote: How many Jewish people self identify as 'kikes? or How many Italian's call themselves Wops? With the way this word is used, practically like a comma, how can you blame young people whether black or white for wanting to imitate that. I think many of them don't even realize the gravity of what they're saying. It's like the black equivalent of white guys calling each other "dude". At least that seems to be the way the young people feel about it.

Anyone who has a problem with this needs to think very long and hard about this quote from Eric's article:

"As far as the N-word is concerned, maybe the answer is that no one should be allowed to say it, regardless of where they’re from or who they grew up with. And maybe all those people getting their panties in a bunch over V-Nasty's alleged racial epithets should first check themselves on homophobia and sexism."