Kanye West’s use of ‘N-word’ only emboldens racists

There will never be a n*****at SAE

There will never be a n*****at SAE

You can hang him from a tree

But he’ll never sign with me

There will never be a n*****at SAE

— Racist rant by Oklahoma University fraternity brothers

I don’t let ‘em talk to me no kind of way

Uh, they better watch what they say to me

N***** still getting’ popped on the day to day

Though I still got the 100 with the small face, n****

Might spend 50 racks on my off day, n****

You a fake Denzel like the Allstate n****

— Kanye West lyrics—“All Day, n****”

It is a quirky coincidence.

Shortly after Kanye West released his “All Day, n****” single, a video surfaced showing members of the Oklahoma University Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity singing a racist rant.

The punishment was so swift it made my head swim.

Within hours, the chapter was disbanded and its members forced to clear out of the frat house. In a final harrumph, workers snatched the fraternity’s Greek letters from the residence.

Ironically, one casualty of the backlash was a black man who had cooked for the SAE house for 15 years. Because of the white students’ anti-black rant, he is out of a job.

Though two of the men identified on the video have been expelled — both have issued public apologies — don’t expect this punishment to go unchallenged.

Legal experts are questioning the legality of the expulsion and arguing the students’ rights may have been violated.

West, of course, has his own way of handling racism. Last year, it’s been reported he chased down and smacked an 18-year-old after the teen allegedly hurled the N-word at Kim Kardashian, now West’s wife, then his fiancée.

But West is so rich and famous that apparently he can give “hall passes” to white folks who want to use the N-word.

Paul McCartney — the last person most people would expect to be associated with a song titled “All Day, n*****”— is featured on the single, though not using the racial slur.

Obviously, Kanye West isn’t writing lyrics for people who grew up listening to Smokey Robinson. Still, the truth is African-Americans are keeping this racial slur alive.

At the height of his career, comedian Richard Pryor publicly agreed to stop using the word. Nearly a decade ago, the NAACP had a mock funeral for the racial slur, and still it rises.

West uses the N-word more than 40 times in “All Day n****.”

When he debuted the song at the 2015 Brit Awards last month, only R&B singer Lionel Ritchie complained.

“I don’t think it’s OK for a black man to use the N-word,” Richie told a reporter. “And I am a black man. I don’t think it should be said and become normal.”

The “N-word” is probably more divisive today than it was 50 years ago.

White haters who get caught using the racial slur are ostracized, while black celebrities who influence the culture are allowed to use the word with impunity.

But ask yourself this:

When it comes to the impact the “N-word” has on the black psyche, whose usage of this hateful word is causing the most harm?