By: Natasha Archary
The use of the N-word is a racial slur in the US, much like the K-word is in South Africa.
Considered one of the most offensive words that’s used to describe black people, the word traces back to slavery.
Sizwe Dhlomo came across a clip on social media where a white, US man called a black man the N-word while trying to lure him into a sale.
On opening his front door, the black gentleman was greeted by the white American sales rep who said, ‘Hi, I’m Fernando, we do solar around here, I’m just coming around talking to n*****s, sorry dude neighbours.”
In realising his blunder, Fernando tried to apologise to the man he offended who naturally was not having any of it.
Was it a slip of the tongue or blatant racism?
While Sizwe felt it was a mistake and Fernando simply mixed up his words, confusing neighbours with n*****s, the Kaya Drive team felt otherwise.
“The fact is that when the door opened and Fernando saw a black man, he immediately saw a n***** and that’s where his mind went. It shows that’s how he refers to black people, and what he thinks about black people. The guy probably listens to hip hop.”
But his reaction afterwards is what gave Siz, reason to believe it was just a slip of the tongue.
“He literally stood there for 30 seconds after he realised what he said and you could see his disbelief.”
Listen to listener’s reaction to the clip:
“Yo’ Siz, I just watched the video and I agree with you, it was an accidental slip of the tongue because his reaction at the end shows that. If he was really racist he wouldn’t be that distraught after saying that, he wouldn’t care really. He was probably just listening to some rap on the way there and the word was stuck in his head.”
This was one Kaya Drive listener’s response to the clip
