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Commissioner Proposes Ban On 'N-Word'

Jordan Sponsors Resolution Encouraging Miami-Dade Residents To Stop Using Word

POSTED: Wednesday, May 16, 2007

A Miami-Dade County commissioner said she's not trying to be the word police by wanting to ban the use of the "n-word," but she finds it so hurtful and offensive that she wants to take it out of circulation.

"That word was designed to be cruel (and) to hurt," Commissioner Barbara Jordan said Tuesday.

Jordan said she's been disturbed for years by the casual use of the word "n-----" in rap music.

"If you're in the heart of the hood, on the corners, OK, that type of language is being used every day," Miami-Dade County Commissioner Dorrin Rolle said. "It's going to be tough to say you can't use that word or you shouldn't use that word."

Nevertheless, Rolle said he supports the resolution Jordan is sponsoring that "encourages the residents of Miami-Dade County to cease from using the 'n-word' and to encourage others with whom they may encounter to do the same."

"We need to take it away," Jordan said. "We need to take it off our lips. We need to take it from the community and anytime we meet somebody on the street that may casually use the word, we need to let them know that's not OK."

Will passing a symbolic moratorium on the word have much of an impact? Probably not, Local 10 political reporter Michael Putney said, but it does send a message, though those who likely need to hear it aren't reading resolutions or watching the news.

"I don't think it's OK," Miami Northwestern Senior High School student Charlotte James said about the word. "But the way they're using it is maybe different from the way they used it back in the day, but it still isn't a good word."

Jordan is expected to introduce her resolution at a commission meeting Wednesday. Even if the resolution passes as Putney said he expected it would, there would be no legal recourse for those who continue to use the word.
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