Similar to the teary eyed exchange between Whoopi Goldberg and Hasselbeck in their 2008 “N” word discussion; a familiar argument ensued on yesterday’s episode of The View, after Sherri Shepherd scolded Barbara Walters for her use of the ‘N’ word.
The panel was discussing a hunting camp leased and frequented by Republican Presidential candidate Rick Perry and his father that was once called Ni**erhead.
Goldberg refused to censor her language and openly referred to “the N-word” in its full context as it related to the story. She then outlined how fellow Republican Presidential candidate Herman Cain used the word in order to admonish Rick Perry’s affiliation with the camp. Whoopi appeared to agree with Cain’s usage stating;
“It’s so hard to know what to say now so I just say the word.”
However, when co-host Barbara Walters chimed in by stating;
“It’s very hard for me to say (the “N” word) It gives me chills,” Shepherd was quick to chastise stating that she didn’t agree with the manner in which Walters used the word.
“When I heard you (Whoopi) say it, it was fine. You said it a different way. When I heard you (Barbara) say it, I didn’t like the way you said it. Because when you say it, you say (inaudible). And I don’t like (inaudible)”
Shepherd continued;
“I don’t know if it’s a semantics thing, but it’s something that goes through my body.”
Walters rebutted;
“Is it because I’m white?”
Shepherd responded;
“Yes. It’s something about hearing you say it…I don’t like it when you use the word…when you say it it’s a different connotation.”
And then the argument ensued as Walters snapped back;
“If I’m reporting on this you mean I can’t use the word?”
Shepherd sarcastically replied;
“You can do anything you want! You’re Barbara Walters!”
As you can imagine, that only further confused Walters as she simply stated;
“I’m sorry, that has nothing to do with it, Sherri”
Goldberg disagreed with Shepherd feeling it was perfectly fine for Walters to use the word in the context of the story.
However Shepherd staunchly disagreed as she stated;
“We all should care about the same things and the fact that I don’t say something exactly the way Whoopi does…You can’t take away the way it makes me feel Barbara”
Walters, looking ever more puzzled, eventually conceded and the cast moved on to other topics.
What do you think? Was Barbra’s use of the word out of place?
