London, present day.
Leigh Carverâs living room. Itâs Sunday evening, around 8pm. Jay and Leigh sit on a sofa. Jay drinks a can of Diet Coke. Leigh drinks red wine.
Jay Is there homophobia in Hollywood? Of course. And misogyny? How can we deny it? Itâs reflected in so much of our output. Narrative upon narrative centred around the abuse of women, the violent abuse of women. And racism? Only a fool could pretend otherwise. Weâve come a long way since Stepin Fetchit . . . fuck weâve come a long way since Poitier but still . . .
LeighNo I agree with what youâre saying.
JayYou ever use the n word?
LeighMm?
JayYou ever use the n word?
LeighThe n word?
JayYeah.
LeighThe actual word?
JayYeah, the actuâ, you need me to say it?
LeighNo.
They laugh.
JaySo have you?
Leighshakes his head no.
JayNever?
LeighNot that I remember.
JaySo you may have? If you were drunk or â
LeighMaybe as a teenager.
JayOhh . . .
LeighBut itâs unlikely. My parents were old communists so . . . it wouldnât have been . . .
JayIâve never said it. I donât even like saying the phrase âThe N Wordâ. Even referencing it obliquely like this causes me discomfort.
LeighI know what you mean.
JayBut I do wonder if thatâs right. Are we abnegating our responsibility to history by refusing to speak the word? Maybe we have a responsibility as white people to say it as much as possible. To take possession of the word. As our ancestors once took possession of the people. Not my ancestors obviously.
LeighNor mine.
JayMy ancestors were â uh
LeighYeah, mine were probably . . .
JayThey were not slave-owners.
LeighNo. Nor mine.
JayYou ever see Ice Cube on Real Time?
LeighWhatâs Real Time?
JayItâs a talk show.
LeighI donât know the American talk shows.
JayOne week Bill Maher said the n word.
LeighWhoâs Bill Maher?
JayHeâs the host of the show.
LeighAnd heâs white?
JayYes.
LeighOhhhhh . . .
JayIn context it was not without irony, but it still proved controversial.
LeighâCourse.
JaySo the next week they had Ice Cube on as a guest, I know Cube, heâs very honest, straight-talking . . .
LeighHeâs a rapper, isnât he?
JayAnd a great one. If heâd been murdered in the nineties he would be spoken about with the same reverence as Tupac and Biggie, Big Pun.
LeighMm.
JayBig L. And of course Eazy E.
LeighYasss.
JayCube made the mistake of surviving. It says something about America that we prefer our iconic black artists to meet unnecessary, preferably violent, deaths.
LeighItâs a tragedy.
JaySo on the show he said that under no circumstances can the white man say the n word anymore. âThatâs our word nowâ, he said.
LeighRight . . .
JayAnd the studio audience applauded.
LeighYou can see his point of view.
JayCompletely. But I also love what Baldwin said.
LeighWhat did Baldwin say?
JayBaldwin said that that word had nothing to do with the black race. That it was an invention of the white race and was placed upon black people without their consent.
LeighWho could argue with that?
JaySo as itâs the whiteâs man word, itâs the white man who must look inside himself and ask himself why he invented that word, why he needed that word in his lexicon. Itâs a really good question.
LeighIt is a good question. And what was his conclusion?
JayBaldwinâs conclusion?
LeighYeah.
JayI donât think he had one.
LeighMmm.
JayBut I think that was his point. That it was a q...