Nia Long wants to see some accountability after claiming that a racial epithet was not censored in a song that was played at her youngest son’s school.
“What is this world coming to? I attended my son’s school for a dance recital, and a song was played featuring the N-word. Somebody has some explaining to do. I will not sit in silence. I will not tolerate perpetual gaslighting,” she tweeted late Friday (June 9) evening. Long shares her 11-year-old son, Kez Sunday Udoka, with her ex-fiancé, Ime Udoka.
The former couple were together for 13 years before their split was confirmed in early December of last year. The end of the relationship came on the heels of the former Boston Celtics head coach being caught in a scandalous affair with a staffer. He was subsequently suspended and ultimately let go by the franchise. In April, he was announced as the new coach of the Houston Rockets.
When it comes to her children, Long is fiercely protective and devoted. “My life is full. My heart is full. God has been good to us. My greatest gifts. Happy Mother’s Day to those building up our kids. Mothers come in all forms. I love you Massai Dorsey and Kezzie,” she wrote in an Instagram post in May. She also shares a 22-year-old son, Massai Zhivago Dorsey II, from a previous relationship with her former actor beau, Massai Z. Dorsey.
While it is unclear what song Long took issue with, it still sparked a flurry of reactions. “Get on ‘em… be[cause] silence is complicity,” wrote one person. Another commented, “The directors or teachers should be held accountable for that. Who would pick a song like that for a dance recital[?] Instrumentals, maybe.” A third person wrote, “Couldn’t even play an edited version? The word itself is vile but virtually inescapable. You would think adults would understand it’s not appropriate for any school-related function.”
The use of the N-word has come under fire in hip hop for years. While artists and fans alike argue that the culture flipped the negative connotation by dropping the “er,” there is still an abundance of disdain for the slur. In 2007, the NAACP held a burial ceremony in downtown Detroit for the racist term that dates back to times of enslavement in America.