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Amid protests, McGruder defends use of N-word in 'Boondocks' TV debut

From EURWeb.com
(November 8, 2005) The N-word and its heavy presence in last night’s debut of “The Boondocks” on Cartoon Network is at the root of a new protest from Los Angeles community activist Najee Ali.

The half-hour series, based on Aaron McGruder’s controversial cartoon strip, premiered at 11 p.m. during the channel’s three-hour Adult Swim block reserved for folks over 18. Ali points out that McGruder, 31, featured the divisive word 15 times in the first episode, and laments the fact that the Chicago native plans to use the word in every single show during its run this season.

In fact, if McGruder had his way, it would appear more often in the comic strip, which is currently syndicated in about 350 newspapers across the country.

“We use asterisks sometimes or ‘profanitype,’ but, I’ve used it extensively in the strip,” McGruder told us. “I try to use it more and more. It’s tough in newspapers. They’re not really thrilled about it, but I keep trying to push them.”

The word continues to push African Americans toward one of two sides – those who see zero value in its use and view it as an epithet, whether it’s spelled with five letters or six; and those who embrace the looser pronunciation of the word as a term of endearment, turning the original definition on its ear

“I think it makes the show sincere,” McGruder says, defending his use of the term. “I just think that at a certain point, we all have to realize that sometimes we use bad language. And the ‘N word’ is used so commonly, by not only myself, but by a lot of people I know, that it feels fake to write around it and to avoid using it.”

For that reason, Najee Ali has rounded up the troops at his Project Islamic H.O.P.E. and will today at noon announce the launch of a national letter writing campaign designed to protest the show’s ample use of the word.

“The N-word should not be used by anyone,” says Ali. "I can't and never have supported anyone using the  N-word. In Aaron McGruder’s case, there can be no exception. The N-word represents a horrible part of our past, a painful reminder of slavery. When black people were lynched, that often was the last word they heard as they hung at the end of a rope."

This very debate dominated an interview session with the cast held last July in Beverly Hills. After about the third question on the word’s multiple appearance in a 60 second clip shown to the room of mostly white journalists, McGruder joked: “I understand the word offends a lot of people. Look, that’s what late-night cable is for. You don’t have to hear it at 8 o’clock, but you sure can hear it at 11 o’clock on Adult Swim if you so desire. It will be there for you.”

The N-word is just the latest in a long line of controversial issues surrounding the cartoon, which features two city kids – the revolutionary Huey Freeman and his hip hop-loving younger brother Riley – who live with their grandfather in a white middle class suburb and pontificate on issues of the day; from George Bush and politics, to racism, to the problems the shortcomings of BET.

Actress Regina King voices both brothers in the TV version, which has among its 15 episode run a show about the resurrection of Martin Luther King Jr., whose turn-the-other-cheek philosophy is ridiculed in today’s post-Sept. 11 world. In another episode, Robert “Granddad” Freeman, voiced by John Witherspoon, has no idea that the younger woman he has been dating is a prostitute, which leads Huey and Riley to discuss whether or not all women are “hoes.”

Had Rosa Parks not passed away on Oct. 24, McGruder would have left in a scene that had the late civil rights matriarch scrapping with fans of accused child pornographer R. Kelly in an upcoming episode entitled, “The Trial of R. Kelly.”

The strip, created by McGruder in 1997 while attending the University of Maryland, was pulled from newspapers temporarily in 2001 for its scathing attacks against the war in Iraq. The cartoon has also been pulled for its use of the N word.

Additionally, McGruder says he often runs across the celebrities he has skewered within the panels of the strip.

“One of two things either happen,” begins McGruder. “They either call the syndicate looking for me; then there’s when you bump into them, and that’s particularly unpleasant because normally people are incredibly nice and gracious, and then you just feel like a big jerk.

“Jesse Jackson called the syndicate once when I was doing the ‘Barbershop’ thing. And I still haven’t talked to him. Will Smith was very nice. Mario Van Peebles was nice. I had a long talk with Michael Mann about why I didn’t like ‘Ali,’ and he was great. You know, it happens, and I’m always kind of taken by surprise. There was a while I was ducking Vivica Fox because I really thought she wanted to beat me up.”

Reginald Hudlin, a producer on the show’s pilot, has since become the president of entertainment at one of McGruder’s favorite targets, BET. But the cartoonist affirms that he’ll have “absolutely no problems with continuing shots at BET.”

Meanwhile, Najee Ali will continue taking shots at McGruder, along with fellow protesters The National Action Network, The Malcolm X Movement and the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable, headed by Earl Ofari Hutchinson. Today’s protest at Lucy Florence Coffee House in Leimert Park (3315 W.43rd Street) seeks not only to discourage the cartoonist from using the N word in “The Boondocks,” but to call for a worldwide moratorium on the term, banishing it from existence completely.

“It’s obvious that it's our culture’s own fault in using this negative word,” says Ali. “Now other animated cartoons such as ‘South Park’ will feel they have license to do so. We only have ourselves to blame.”

When asked if he is concerned with tossing the word around so liberally during Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim, whose demographic consists mostly of 18- to 34-year-old white males, McGruder says: “I think 15, 16 years after the advent of gangster rap, young white kids have heard the word ‘nigger’ before. And they’ve said it maybe a few times. I’m not sure. So if they start saying it all of a sudden on [November 7], I refuse to take responsibility.”

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Wabash Ave. Suite 210 Chicago, IL 60604 t. 312-408-1881 f. 312-408-1867 info@targetmarketnews.com	THE LATEST NEWS Amid protests, McGruder defends use of N-word in 'Boondocks' TV debut From EURWeb.com (November 8, 2005) The N-word and its heavy presence in last night’s debut of “The Boondocks” on Cartoon Network is at the root of a new protest from Los Angeles community activist Najee Ali. The half-hour series, based on Aaron McGruder’s controversial cartoon strip, premiered at 11 p.m. during the channel’s three-hour Adult Swim block reserved for folks over 18. Ali points out that McGruder, 31, featured the divisive word 15 times in the first episode, and laments the fact that the Chicago native plans to use the word in every single show during its run this season. In fact, if McGruder had his way, it would appear more often in the comic strip, which is currently syndicated in about 350 newspapers across the country. “We use asterisks sometimes or ‘profanitype,’ but, I’ve used it extensively in the strip,” McGruder told us. “I try to use it more and more. It’s tough in newspapers. They’re not really thrilled about it, but I keep trying to push them.” The word continues to push African Americans toward one of two sides – those who see zero value in its use and view it as an epithet, whether it’s spelled with five letters or six; and those who embrace the looser pronunciation of the word as a term of endearment, turning the original definition on its ear “I think it makes the show sincere,” McGruder says, defending his use of the term. “I just think that at a certain point, we all have to realize that sometimes we use bad language. And the ‘N word’ is used so commonly, by not only myself, but by a lot of people I know, that it feels fake to write around it and to avoid using it.” For that reason, Najee Ali has rounded up the troops at his Project Islamic H.O.P.E. and will today at noon announce the launch of a national letter writing campaign designed to protest the show’s ample use of the word. “The N-word should not be used by anyone,” says Ali. "I can't and never have supported anyone using the N-word. In Aaron McGruder’s case, there can be no exception. The N-word represents a horrible part of our past, a painful reminder of slavery. When black people were lynched, that often was the last word they heard as they hung at the end of a rope." This very debate dominated an interview session with the cast held last July in Beverly Hills. After about the third question on the word’s multiple appearance in a 60 second clip shown to the room of mostly white journalists, McGruder joked: “I understand the word offends a lot of people. Look, that’s what late-night cable is for. You don’t have to hear it at 8 o’clock, but you sure can hear it at 11 o’clock on Adult Swim if you so desire. It will be there for you.” The N-word is just the latest in a long line of controversial issues surrounding the cartoon, which features two city kids – the revolutionary Huey Freeman and his hip hop-loving younger brother Riley – who live with their grandfather in a white middle class suburb and pontificate on issues of the day; from George Bush and politics, to racism, to the problems the shortcomings of BET. Actress Regina King voices both brothers in the TV version, which has among its 15 episode run a show about the resurrection of Martin Luther King Jr., whose turn-the-other-cheek philosophy is ridiculed in today’s post-Sept. 11 world. In another episode, Robert “Granddad” Freeman, voiced by John Witherspoon, has no idea that the younger woman he has been dating is a prostitute, which leads Huey and Riley to discuss whether or not all women are “hoes.” Had Rosa Parks not passed away on Oct. 24, McGruder would have left in a scene that had the late civil rights matriarch scrapping with fans of accused child pornographer R. Kelly in an upcoming episode entitled, “The Trial of R. Kelly.” The strip, created by McGruder in 1997 while attending the University of Maryland, was pulled from newspapers temporarily in 2001 for its scathing attacks against the war in Iraq. The cartoon has also been pulled for its use of the N word. Additionally, McGruder says he often runs across the celebrities he has skewered within the panels of the strip. “One of two things either happen,” begins McGruder. “They either call the syndicate looking for me; then there’s when you bump into them, and that’s particularly unpleasant because normally people are incredibly nice and gracious, and then you just feel like a big jerk. “Jesse Jackson called the syndicate once when I was doing the ‘Barbershop’ thing. And I still haven’t talked to him. Will Smith was very nice. Mario Van Peebles was nice. I had a long talk with Michael Mann about why I didn’t like ‘Ali,’ and he was great. You know, it happens, and I’m always kind of taken by surprise. There was a while I was ducking Vivica Fox because I really thought she wanted to beat me up.” Reginald Hudlin, a producer on the show’s pilot, has since become the president of entertainment at one of McGruder’s favorite targets, BET. But the cartoonist affirms that he’ll have “absolutely no problems with continuing shots at BET.” Meanwhile, Najee Ali will continue taking shots at McGruder, along with fellow protesters The National Action Network, The Malcolm X Movement and the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable, headed by Earl Ofari Hutchinson. Today’s protest at Lucy Florence Coffee House in Leimert Park (3315 W.43rd Street) seeks not only to discourage the cartoonist from using the N word in “The Boondocks,” but to call for a worldwide moratorium on the term, banishing it from existence completely. “It’s obvious that it's our culture’s own fault in using this negative word,” says Ali. “Now other animated cartoons such as ‘South Park’ will feel they have license to do so. We only have ourselves to blame.” When asked if he is concerned with tossing the word around so liberally during Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim, whose demographic consists mostly of 18- to 34-year-old white males, McGruder says: “I think 15, 16 years after the advent of gangster rap, young white kids have heard the word ‘nigger’ before. And they’ve said it maybe a few times. I’m not sure. So if they start saying it all of a sudden on [November 7], I refuse to take responsibility.” Go to Target Market News homepage	ONLY 2 WEEKS AWAY! Target Market News Presents The 2005 African- American Magazine Summit November 15th, 2005 Time Warner Inc. 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