With Apologies to Jesse Jackson

Season	s11
Episode	e01
Written By	Trey Parker
Production Code	1101
Original Air Date	2007-03-07

Episode Chronology

Previous
Stanley's Cup
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Cartman Sucks

Story

Description

Randy appears on the TV show Wheel of Fortune and is presented with a bonus round puzzle whose category is "People Who Annoy You". Randy is given the letters: R, T, S, L, and E. He adds the letters: B, N, G, and O leaving the puzzle to spell: N_GGERS. With five seconds to go he reluctantly answers â€œniggers" on live national television, shocking his family, friends and millions of viewers nationwide and angering African-Americans. Randy suddenly loses; the correct answer is â€œnaggers", and the game show ends abruptly. The next day, Cartman warns a thoroughly humiliated Stan that Tolkien will be mad at him, so Stan attempts to defend his father. Stan talks to Tolkien and he tells him that his dad can sometimes be stupid, such as blurting out the "N" word, and Stan tells him that it is not a big deal. Tolkien tells Stan he does not understand how black people feel about that word. Despite Cartman's attempts to escalate the incident into a â€œrace war", Tolkien refuses to fight. Cartman takes this sign of defeat as a victory and announces "Whites win again!"

Randy attempts to rectify his mistake by officially apologizing to Rev. Jesse Jackson. Jackson only accepts after Randy kisses his buttocks, of which a photo is published in several newspapers. Stan thinks everything is okay now, but Tolkien angrily states that "Jesse Jackson is not the emperor of black people!" Stan replies, although Tolkien has angrily stormed off, "He told my dad he was." Meanwhile, Randy goes to a comedy club where the black comedian recognizes and points Randy out while jokingly calling him "the nigger guy", which soon catches on as Randy's new nickname.

Randy continues trying to redeem himself by founding a scholarship for blacks. However, he is soon accosted by a gang of socially progressive rednecks who hunt "the nigger guy". They criticize him for "slandering an entire race of people on Wheel of Fortune" and say "We don't take kindly to social ignorance." A group of other "nigger guys", including Michael Richards and Mark Fuhrman, scare the rednecks away and invite Randy to join their organization of people who have become pariahs for the use of the word nigger. They successfully lobby Congress to pass a law saying at least seven words must always separate the words nigger and guy.

Back at school, a dwarf by the name of Dr. David Nelson is called in to give a presentation on sensitivity. He insists "Words are like bullets. I let them pass through me." As soon as Cartman sees him, he begins to laugh, disrupting the assembly so Dr. Nelson cannot speak. Dr. Nelson decides to go against his standards and get revenge by making the other kids mock Cartman's weight problem; however, he is frustrated as Cartman continues to laugh uncontrollably at him. Cartman and Dr. Nelson wrestle while the song â€œDown with the Sickness" by Disturbed plays. Cartman gains the upper hand and forces Dr. Nelson to submit by saying "uncle" and â€œCarol Anne, donâ€™t go into the light!"Cartman then gets up and starts to walk away, laughing and preparing to gloat about his victory. As Cartman turns his back on Dr. Nelson, however, Dr. Nelson surprises Cartman and kicks him to the ground. Dr. Nelson walks away, claiming victory and to have proven his point. Cartman remains unaffected and continues to point and laugh at Dr. Nelson uncontrollably, clearly ignoring Dr. Nelson's desire for sensitivity. Stan and Kyle say that they have no idea what Dr. Nelson's point was, but then Stan concludes that not knowing the point is the point. He explains to Tolkien that, as a white person, he will never understand why Tolkien is so upset by the word, and why it can make black people mad when a white person says it in any context. Tolkien is finally satisfied that Stan gets that he does not get it, thus creating an understanding between them.

What I Learned Today

"I've been trying to say that I understand how you feel but... I'll never understand. I'll never really get how it feels for a black person to have somebody use the N word."