So there’s this white girl named V-Nasty who claims to be from East Oakland, 35th Avenue to be exact. She’s an aspiring rap artist who identifies as a member of the White Girl Mob, a clique, which also includes V-Nasty’s sister and viral Internet sensation Kreayshawn.

Got all that? Okay.

Recently, V-Nasty has become a source of controversy over her liberal and frequent use of the N-word. That’s right, she says “nigga.” A lot. Not necessarily in a pejorative sense, more as a simple term of reference.

The taboo word populates her slang, appearing in various contexts: there are generic niggas, and then there are “her” niggas, and then there’s the use of the word in everyday conversation, e.g., “whatchoo doin’ nigga.”

Somewhat lost in this debate is V-Nasty’s penchant for misogyny– she raps about “Psycho Bitches” and “Barbie Hoes.” And, for the record, she also peppers her syntax with drug and gun references. Her character - and the controversy it’s engendered - has thus far been much more notable than her raps, which make old-school Too $hort look like Shakespeare and Lil’ Wayne look like Robert Frost.

But here’s where the story gets interesting: Oakland rapper Mistah F.A.B. - who shares a manager with Kreayshawn – recently defended V-Nasty’s use of the epithet, declaring that “this is 2011. Nobody gives a fu-- about that sh-- no more.“ Furthermore, he  adds, “V-Nasty is really mobbin’, she just got out of jail for robbery.”

But apparently, not everyone in Oakland is willing to give V-Nasty a ghetto pass.

Recently, spoken word/hip-hop theater artist Ise Lyfe felt compelled to address this topic with a vlog post.

“Fab, you shocked me with this one, bra … what the fu-- is a white girl mob?” Ise declares. He then launches into a rant that aligns V-Nasty’s use of the N-word with, among other things, images of the KKK and Johannes Mehserle.

Ise’s video has accumulated more than 300,000 views in three days and set off some heated online debates. But is he right that white people don’t have the right to use the N-word, even if they are from the ‘hood ? Or was he just soapboxing?

Sorry, Ise. Loved “Pistols & Prayers,” and I get the historical references. But I also see where F.A.B. was coming from, even if he expressed himself in a less-articulate fashion.

If we’re going to take V-Nasty seriously, and it looks like we are, otherwise I wouldn’t be writing this, we must address the myth of post-racial Amerikkka in comparison to its reality.

Myth: Obama’s election in 2008 eliminated racism (so why are black people still complaining?)

Reality: Racism still exists, but no one except black people think it’s a relevant issue anymore.

If we really lived in a post-racial society, then the N-word not only wouldn’t matter, but no one would be tripping off of white hoodrats who talk hella ghetto. Obviously, that’s not the case. 

But there’s a huge contextual difference between someone like Michael Richards (aka Kramer on “Seinfeld”) using the N-word and someone like V-Nasty using it.

In Richards’ case, he was clearly using it as hate speech in the now-infamous rant at African-American hecklers who complained his standup act wasn’t funny. In V-Nasty’s case, she uses it because she self-identifies as a “real-ass bitch” and that’s how real-ass bitches talk, evidently.

One could speculate about her apparently dysfunctional upbringing - according to Kreayshawn, V-Nasty’s mother uses the word herself - but at the very least, there should be equal outrage over her use of the b-word. And, after viewing several of V-Nasty’s YouTube clips, it’s clear that she’s not using it for shock value, but as a placeholder in sentences, the way other people might say “y’know” or “you feel me?”

I’m going to leave the debate over whether V-Nasty can be considered “mobbin’” to others; that’s really neither here nor there.

And without defending the N-word itself - it’s distasteful to educated African Americans, and brings back painful memories to those who lived through the Jim Crow and Civil Rights eras - let’s ask a salient question: Can we really expect political correctness from a hoodrat?

The simple fact of the matter is, in 2011, yes, Virginia, there are white hoodrats. Or half-white/half-Vietnamese hoodrats, as the case may be. This doesn’t excuse their use of politically-incorrect slang, but at the same time, that’s impossible to condemn without being somewhat hypocritical: the socioeconomic reality is that not every white person automatically has white privilege, and if you grew up in the deep East, surrounded by young black males with no fathers, well, you’d probably use the N-word a lot, too.

Ask yourself: How many people do you know from the ghetto - white, black, yellow or brown - who speak “proper” English? So maybe this isn’t really about race, but more about environment, socioeconomics and identity.

If a white person grows up in a predominantly-black environment, they will most likely identity as black. The same way that a black person growing up in a predominantly-white environment will most likely talk “white,” and have “white” cultural reference points.

Being white maybe makes the use of the N-word awkward, but why isn’t it equally awkward when a black person says it? After all, you don’t hear too many Jews self-identify as “kikes,” Asians as “chinks,” or Italians as “wops.” Why is it okay for Lil B to say nigga, bitch, hoe, suck my d--- et. al, but when he declares (facetiously) he's gay, all of a sudden he gets death threats?

As far as the N-word is concerned, maybe the answer is that no one should be allowed to say it, regardless of where they’re from or who they grew up with. And maybe all those people getting their panties in a bunch over V-Nasty's alleged racial epithets should first check themselves on homophobia and sexism.

The bottom line is we should have compassion for V-Nasty, not disdain. She clearly needs an education and to be surrounded by more supportive people who have her best interests in mind – two things that the rap music industry probably won’t give her.

That said, what it all comes down to is this: it’s a sign of the times that we live in that V-Nasty could spark such a debate: proof, perhaps, that the notion of a post-racial society is indeed a myth.

The hope may have been for a bunch of impeccably-mannered, well-adjusted Huxtable kids who play well with others and don't cause problems with their very existence. The reality is, there's probably a whole lot more V-Nasties out there than most people are willing to acknowledge.

Note: The views expressed in this article are that of the author and not necessarily that of Oakland Local.

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