Essence.com: Do you identify as a Black woman?
K.W.: I am a woman. I ain’t like Tiger Woods (suuurre — RichBoi88). The truth is I’m 25 percent Black. I claim to be Black, Native American and White. I’m all of it. If you ask me, “What are you?” I’m going to say, “I’m a woman.” I stand up for all women. I don’t care if you’re Black, White, Chinese, whatever. But I don’t know what my mama put on my birth certificate…. (Laughs)
Essence.com: So did your mom ever discuss race with you?
K.W.: I know when I was a little girl she would never let me and my brother watch movies that criticized Black people or where White people treated Black people really disgusting, like Roots. She didn’t want us to see how White people treated Black people because she probably thought we might start hating White people.
Essence.com: Was she afraid of how you and your brothers might perceive her?
K.W.: I used to tell her we’re not blind to the fact because we’re sitting there listening to people call her a “n—er lover” or accusing my daddy of being a “sell out” because he’s with a White chick. I told her she didn’t have to hide that stuff from us because we did see and hear about it, and kids did treat us differently.
Essence.com: Did she ever talk to you about the N-word?
K.W.: My mom was raised around African-American people all her life. She can cornrow and everything. All she knows is the African-American way of living, because her stepfather was Black and she was raised by his family. She will use the N-word like it’s going out of style. I say, “Mama you can’t just go around using the N-word,” and she’s like, “I don’t give a damn. I say what I want to say. N—a ain’t no color, it’s an ignorant person.”
Essence.com: But that word is still synonymous with Black folk. So you couldn’t watch Roots, but she used the N-word around you and your siblings?
K.W.: No, she doesn’t say “n—er,” she says “n—a” and says it in front of everybody, every day. She has always said it since I was a little girl. Hell, I thought my name was “n—er” for a long time (laughs). We never thought about it being a bad word.
Essence.com: Wow. So she didn’t want you to watch Roots, but she referred to you and your brother with the N-word? Do you think it’s time for her to stop using it?
K.W.: People should feel free to say what they want to say as long as they don’t use it to hurt other people. I don’t think “n—a” is a bad word. I don’t think it’s directed toward people of color. Now, the word “n—er,” if you call me that, I will kick your a– because now you’re trying to be nasty and hurt my feelings. It depends on how you’re using it.
Essence.com: But do you really think there’s enough of a distinction between the two to make exceptions?
K.W.: Yes, because back in the day they were saying it with the “er” on the end. I think it’s just like saying Negro, because the word in the dictionary it means “ignorant person.”
Essence.com: Yes, and many people still believe that “ignorant people” equals “Black people.”
K.W.: At the end of the day, you’re the one who is ignorant. I don’t think people should use the word so much. I hate how everyone thinks that Black people are beneath them, even Asians, Whites and …Mexicans. No, I’m not all Black, but I definitely stand up for the Black people. They’ve had it rough, they can’t help the fact that they’re skin is dark, or that their nose is a lil’ wider or that the curls in their hair might be tighter. I don’t think that it’s fair for people who look like me—the light skin, pointy nose and pretty hair—to think that dark-complected people are any less than them. Who am I? I’m not better than you. I breathe the same air and I bleed the same blood. Nobody is better than anybody else. We are all in this struggle called life. I think brown skin is beautiful because people like me have to lay out in the sun to try and look like you. My best friends are Black—I mean, Black-Black—and I think that’s so beautiful. I think that’s why I decided to make my children Black…I could have married a White dude and my kids probably would have looked completely White. That’s not what I wanted. Now, they can go outside and get a for-real tan (laughs). I think Black is beautiful. I stand for the African-American people until the day I die.
MG Says: But wait, there is a lot more. This “woman” has a lot more to say. One word not in her vocabulary is humble. Please read the entire interview at Essence.com.
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Shelia
Comment made on 09/02/2007 @ 16:45
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She might have to get my dummy of the award this week. The things that comes out of some folks mouth.
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jasmine
Comment made on 04/22/2008 @ 11:03
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i have to say that i am upset at what keke watts said in her interview with Essence. i love keke as a singer but i think that she is confused on whats she’s talking about. She doesn’t understand the gratitude of the word nigger, or nigga for that matter.i don;t care how your mom pronounces it, it is still offensive to some people. i can understand the fact that her mother grew up in a black family where she was exposed to their lifestyle, but at the end of the day her mother isn’t black, shes white. also i think that you and your brother should of been able to watch roots(which is an excellent movie) becuase you could see how critical and powerful that movie is, and how much of an impact it had on African American’s lives. So keke’s mother is just contradicting herself 100%. i’m happy that keke stands for African-American people..which she should, but im sorry to say..that Essence is right,she put her mouth in her foot fa sho!
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kiana
Comment made on 11/15/2008 @ 04:17
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she’s really ignorant. i cant believe she thinks its ok to be called a nigga. both nigger and nigga are derogatory. whether youre black or not, the word is still offensive. she needs to take a look at her self ms light skinned, pointy nose and pretty hair. you are still black. these words are harmful to others as you would take offense to them being said to you. go watch roots.
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Zaza
Comment made on 06/08/2010 @ 09:01
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Wow,her white mother referred to her and her brother as nigger???I really was thinking maybe you are doing a joke interview,but there’s the link.It’s real!Crazy,how do people this ignorant manage to get up in the morning,wash,clothe and feed themselves???
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Ms. White
Comment made on 08/10/2010 @ 22:41
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U know, I’m black, I love everything ethnic and afrocentric, but I’m tired of this debate. It’s our fault that white people feel so comfortable using nigga these days. How many intelligent blacks do you know that use the word regularly. Most likely its those bumb “niggas” on the street who never graduated from high school and have no self respect. Like Keke said ignorance is ignorance regardless of race. It shouldn’t matter whether it’s said with an -a or -er. If u find it offensive for any race don’t use it or allow anyone around u to. Besides we should really be focusing our energy on more important things like why our babies r having babies younger and younger, how to keep our men out of jail and our families together and the general attitude of our young black generation.
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