The N-word Laid to Rest in Symbolic Funeral

Hundreds of people attended a funeral today in Detroit...and instead of mourning, there was celebration. They gathered to bury the N-word, that most hateful of racial epithets. It was a symbolic but powerful piece of street theater staged by the NAACP, sending a message to the nation. In Detroit, NAACP members from around the country filled the streets to say what they wished could be a final farewell to an old enemy. "The N-word...Is Dead!" The word was laid to rest in a symbolic ceremony that participants hope will send a very real message. "If we find only five hundred ... that in fact is progress." Other cities held similar funerals, like the one conducted just outside of Houston. "I dont use the N-word - cause its a bad taste!" Its a positive response to an old controversy, centering on explicit rap lyrics. Hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons called for a voluntary ban on the N-word...and a few others...but refused to make it mandatory. "They can use them rappers can paint a picture of society no matter how uncomfortable it makes you." The long-simmering issue bubbled up last year when comedian Michael Richards hurled the N-word at some hecklers...and it boiled over when Don Imus made racially insensitive remarks about the Rutgers womens basketball team. Political science professor Lorenzo Morris says there can no longer be two standards. "There cant be two separate uses of a word that was meant to be abusive." A word whose time has come to go...though easier said than done. "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust ... if God wont have him ... the devil must! Goodbye!"