For fuck sake

This is regarding the use of the N word in the track, The March Of The Black Queen. I'm not saying that this isn't a good song (it fucking rocks), or that people shouldn't listen to and enjoy it (I don't want to know anyone who wouldn't!), but Freddie using that word was wrong.

Oh humor me, what is the meaning of the song that makes you so sure Freddie was being racist? And think this, if Freddie had used the 'mother fucker' in his song, would you have considered that he was talking about somebody who fucked a mother? And why (or why not?) - serenadeyoursilence

Freddie using the N word was racist. Context and intention aren’t necessary to keep racism thriving.

Obviously I can’t convince you that this kind of shit is problematic. Conversely, you can’t convince me that words that harm and oppress minorities are completely innocuous. Stalemate. We’re done here.

- That Guy Who Really Likes Queen And Doesn’t Need To Come Up With Irrelevant Hypotheticals To Derail The Issue At Hand And Justify His Ignorance And Bigotry

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It's not at all my intention to turn this into a social justice blog. Although since I'm big on social justice (liberal, intersectional feminist, and proud of it), it's only inevitable that sometimes my critical thinking will intersect with this blog. Queen's music means the whole world to me, but it is in no way sacred. If you want to disagree with me, that's fine, but please don't waste my time and energy with mental acrobatics to defend using racial slurs and other hate speech.

Follow-up in my Ask box

IMLHO, you can't take a word out of the whole song. And you also should consider the circumstances when the song was written. These days, people are so politically correct, they try to find anything to justify the opinion. Don't use this, don't use that. Words are shaped and raped in ways that fit to their pov. In the end, words lose their meanings. I'd say, shove it. - serenadeyoursilence

It’s really easy to dismiss the weight of words that have never applied to your lived experience, isn’t it? One of the MANY joys of any sort of privilege is being able to completely ignore shit that doesn’t personally affect you. What continues to amaze me is the “The N word is completely meaningless and should be given absolutely zero attention and critical thought, BUT OMG WHY CAN’T I SAY IT EVEN THOUGH I WANT TO??11!!!!1” response so many “I’m not racist, but…” white people have when they’re told that that word isn’t theirs to say.

If I’m able to continue to do the work involved in unlearning racist shit and acknowledging my white privilege, you can too. And if you don’t want to put in that kind of effort, then you have absolutely nothing of value to contribute to any discussion about race and should therefore sit down, shut up, and let the grownups talk.

- That Guy That Really Likes Queen And Has Zero Patience For Your Bullshit

Seriously, not singing along to that word will not ruin the integrity of March Of The Black Queen.

No, seriously

So some (most?) of you? Yeah, you. We need to have a little chat. Well, okay. Scratch that. I'm going to lecture you with absolutely zero apology, and I'm going to hope that you read this entire thing and digest it properly without interruption, because this is important. What I have to say is going to hurt. Your first response - whether it be quietly to yourself or emailing me - is going to be defensiveness and anger. Like, really intense anger, because you'll no doubt think that I'm talking specifically about you as a human being and that I'm judging your character on the whole.

I'm not. I promise.

You might be asking how I know how you'll feel. I know because I've been there. And admittedly, I sometimes catch myself continuing to struggle and unlearn this. I don't like how it makes me feel, but that's part of the learning experience. And the end result is well worth it.

Now you're wondering what the hell I'm talking about. The N word. If you're not black, you don't get to say it.

No, Freddie adding it as a lyric and singing it in March Of The Black Queen doesn't make it okay on any level, and you cannot sing along to it, let alone say it. Nope, not even if you say it with an "uh" or an "ah" at the end, as opposed to "er." No, you can't say just the first syllable. Especially if you're white. That's not your word, you're not cute, and you're not being ironic. You're being racist. If you're white and you say any variation of the N word, regardless of any reason you throw out there or the lengths you go to justify it, you're being racist. If you're a non-black Person Of Color, you're still using a word that's not yours. Knock it the hell off. Why is it so important that you should get to say it, anyway? "Equality?" It would be "reverse racist" (HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA - no) if you couldn't? It would be a violation of your freedom of speech (nice try. Actually...)?

I can only go so far into this since I'm white and can have no personal experience with racism, but I will absolutely not tolerate any sort of hate speech and will call people out whenever possible. Does this mean I'm condemning you as a horrible human being? Not at all. Am I judging the shit out of you for taking a word white people have tainted and twisted and loaded with murder, slavery, rape, and all other forms of dehumanization, and ongoing (as in, "still happening"), inescapable (as in, "cannot get the fuck away from it") oppression for centuries and trying to co-opt it because you think it's "cool?"

Yes. Yes I am. And I'm judging Freddie Mercury, too. And I still worship him because he's totally my hero!