Rachel Jeantel, whose testimony was likely the most talked about part of the George Zimmerman trial, gave an interview Monday with Piers Morgan.
In the lengthy sitdown, Trayvon Martin’s friend reiterated that Zimmerman, who she says Martin called a “creepy ass cracker,” was pursuing Trayvon.
Not only that, she and he both worried he was a rapist.
Rachel Jeantel‘s uncomfortable testimony added to the racial dimension of the Zimmerman trial, and last night, she made more headlines in that regard.
Namely by saying “nigga” isn’t a racist term.
The controversial George Zimmerman verdict – not guilty on all counts – was not just the result of her slang-filled testimony, but she didn’t help prosecutors.
When she wasn’t borderline incomprehensible, she was inconsistent.
Morgan asked his guest, “Is there’s anything you wished you said?"
“Nigga,” Jeantel said. “The whole world say it’s a racist word."
What’s that mean to you? Morgan asked her.
“That mean a male,” Jeantel responded, “any kind of male. Any kind. Chinese can say nigga. That’s my Chino, nigga. They can say that.”
“But nigger,” she added, stressing the pronunciation of the last two letters, “I’ll advise you not to use that… because that’s a racist word.”
The “er” also played a role in another racially loaded word, “cracker,” which is often used to refer to whites, and which caused a stir at trial.
Asked Morgan: “How do you spell it first of all.. there’s no ‘er,’ right?”
Jeantel: "No. It’s an ‘a’ at the end."
Morgan: “C-R-A-C-K-A?”
She agreed.
The origins of cracker are unclear, but some observers argued that Martin’s use of the word proved that he, not Zimmerman, was the racist one.
That’s likely a stretch, but Zimmerman’s defense argued that race was not a factor in the case, something his brother Robert Zimmerman Jr. stresses.
Do you agree?