TRIO DOCUMENTARY 'N-Word' examines its roots and usage

The film is particularly direct in its presentation.
By JAMES ENDRST
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
NEW YORK -- Outspoken rapper Chuck D isn't a fan of street use of the N-word -- the subject of a new Trio documentary. Indeed, he's most offended by the slur for African Americans when people act as if it's an acceptable substitute for "brother."
"I don't think that the adoption of it being a word of love is something that makes sense," Chuck D, co-founder of the group Public Enemy, told the New York Daily News.
Those who use it that way, he said, do so because "it comes from a slave mentality, people who really don't have a sense of self, so they try to connect to areas that [they] think might allow us to be independent and free but speaks against it."
Starting Monday, it's going to be hard for many New Yorkers to avoid "The N-Word."
That's because cable channel Trio is plastering the town with an ad campaign to promote "The N-Word," its documentary airing at 9 p.m.
Raising eyebrows
And, in addition to the controversial word itself, the ad campaign will raise eyebrows by using an African-American Uncle Sam character.
With that kind of exposure, said Bravo/Trio President Lauren Zalaznick, something about "The N-Word" on Trio is going to register mentally -- even within the "precoffee" community.
The documentary is particularly direct -- opening with an aural and visual assault of the N-word.
The program examines the roots of the word, its evolution, social significance and transformation (in some corners) from polarizing slur to youth culture salutation.
Weighing in
Activists, academics and pundits weigh in along with entertainers and celebrities such as Chris Rock, Ice Cube, Whoopi Goldberg, Samuel L. Jackson and Michael Rapaport.
The documentary also includes interviews with Chuck D, who said now is a good time to talk about the N-word because "It has been appropriated by so-called bleed-over culture."
And what does Chuck D do when someone comes up to him and, with a smile, greets him using the N-word?
He said he answers them with a question.
"'Why I gotta be a n----- today?'"
That's when, he said, "people catch themselves."