There are some differing, yet interesting and valid points being made. I do agree that we as black folk have been using the word for so long that it's hard to imagine it going away. However I don't think that's any reason for us to stop trying. I for one am guilty of using the word more often than I am proud of. At the same time, I do feel it's something different when I hear it from my best friend than when I hear it from a policeman or professor (not that I ever have, but I'm just saying.) I think that J.Lo is being chastised in the black community because people like Starr and Buckwild don't feel she has the all important "street cred" required to be considered "down". Fat Joe, Big Pun and the other artists perceptively and correctly listed by straightBOS on the other hand do. Just more hypocrisy, which is basically what urban music has come to be indicative of. In a perfect world this word would no longer be used by black, white, green, purple or blue people, but the truth is that for every homeboy on the corner using it to address his boys, there's a CEO of a major company using it at the dinner table with his family. It's a tough issue, but I am willing to say that J.Lo has no right to use it. Reading these posts has made me see the pain and hurt it still causes for so many people, and she does not have any right whatsoever to contribute to that because she has no stake in our community. perhpas Starr should have been more concerned with starting a letter writing campaign to the record lables of Snoop Dogg, Jay Z, Master P, Ja Rule, DMX, Sisqo, Alicia Keys, Chante Moore...all artists who use this word on their CD's so that other artists such as J.Lo won't be tempted to do the same in the future.
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