# A bar bet I would have lost - Did Fred Sanford ever say the N -word on "Sanford & Son"?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bar-bet-i-would-have-lost-did-fred-sanford-ever-say-the-n-word-on-sanford-son/715460
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [March 20, 2015, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bar-bet-i-would-have-lost-did-fred-sanford-ever-say-the-n-word-on-sanford-son/715460 "2015-03-20T06:14:59Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)
#### Post date: [March 20, 2015, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bar-bet-i-would-have-lost-did-fred-sanford-ever-say-the-n-word-on-sanford-son/715460/1 "2015-03-20T06:14:59Z")
I was reading this article on Empire -
[‘Empire’ Is Showing Us A New Way To Think About Black TV Characters](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/19/empire-season-one_n_6905556.html)
and they referenced how it has not (so far) used the N-word, but Sanford and Son and “the Jeffersons” did. I thought “No way Sanford and Son used the N-word. It was a comedy for God’s sake, would never have been acceptable!”
So I googled it and I was very, very wrong per the link below .
It's odd how we sanitize our own cultural history in our personal recollections. We lose track of how casual racism used to be.
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### Author:  [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)
#### Post date: [March 20, 2015, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bar-bet-i-would-have-lost-did-fred-sanford-ever-say-the-n-word-on-sanford-son/715460/2 "2015-03-20T07:06:26Z")
It’s also funny in that the show was super sanitized in comparison to his stand-up comedy acts which were known to be very dirty.
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### Author:  [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)
#### Post date: [March 20, 2015, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bar-bet-i-would-have-lost-did-fred-sanford-ever-say-the-n-word-on-sanford-son/715460/3 "2015-03-20T07:11:54Z")
Speaking of which I was kind of shocked to hear William Shatner say this on the Twilight Zone and though I had watched it before didn’t recall this exchange:
[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=B04BN\_BffyM](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=B04BN_BffyM)
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### Author:  [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)
#### Post date: [March 20, 2015, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bar-bet-i-would-have-lost-did-fred-sanford-ever-say-the-n-word-on-sanford-son/715460/4 "2015-03-20T08:36:22Z")
“Nigger” became an obscene word rather recently.
And I think “retarded” was still a common, technical term when I was a kid, in the 1970’s and 1980’s.
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### Author:  [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)
#### Post date: [March 20, 2015, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bar-bet-i-would-have-lost-did-fred-sanford-ever-say-the-n-word-on-sanford-son/715460/5 "2015-03-20T10:07:35Z")
> [@pool](#):
>
> Speaking of which I was kind of shocked to hear William Shatner say this on the Twilight Zone and though I had watched it before didn’t recall this exchange:
>
> [https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=B04BN\_BffyM](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=B04BN_BffyM)
Tangentially, during the roast of Charlie Sheen, regarding Sheen’s negative publicity at the time, Shatner said, “In my day, if I wanted that kind of publicity, I had to do something drastic like kiss a black girl, or let an Asian drive!”
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### Author:  [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)
#### Post date: [March 20, 2015, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bar-bet-i-would-have-lost-did-fred-sanford-ever-say-the-n-word-on-sanford-son/715460/6 "2015-03-20T10:32:18Z")
> [@astro](#):
>
> it has not (so far) used the N-word, but Sanford and Son and “the Jeffersons” did. I thought "No way Sanford and Son used the N-word. It was a comedy for God’s sake
What do you think “Jeffersons” was? Game show? Sci-fi drama? Police procedural?
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### Author:  [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)
#### Post date: [March 20, 2015, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bar-bet-i-would-have-lost-did-fred-sanford-ever-say-the-n-word-on-sanford-son/715460/7 "2015-03-20T10:52:20Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#):
>
> What do you think “Jeffersons” was? Game show? Sci-fi drama? Police procedural?
The Upper East Side is divided into two separate, yet equally important groups; Those who do not let fish fry in the kitchen, and those who do not let beans burn on the grill. These are their stories…
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### Author:  [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)
#### Post date: [March 20, 2015, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bar-bet-i-would-have-lost-did-fred-sanford-ever-say-the-n-word-on-sanford-son/715460/8 "2015-03-20T11:11:00Z")
That’s pretty damn funny, CA. 😃
Though I thought it was steaks burning on the grill…
ETA: Nope, you’re right. [- YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L09qnRfZY-k)
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### Author:  [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)
#### Post date: [March 20, 2015, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bar-bet-i-would-have-lost-did-fred-sanford-ever-say-the-n-word-on-sanford-son/715460/9 "2015-03-20T11:48:56Z")
On the first season of All in the Family, 1971, Sammy Davis Jr. said it.
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### Author:  [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)
#### Post date: [March 20, 2015, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bar-bet-i-would-have-lost-did-fred-sanford-ever-say-the-n-word-on-sanford-son/715460/10 "2015-03-20T12:11:27Z")
On the first season of SNL, Chevy Chase said it to Richard Pryor.
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### Author:  [@spifflog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spifflog)
#### Post date: [March 20, 2015, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bar-bet-i-would-have-lost-did-fred-sanford-ever-say-the-n-word-on-sanford-son/715460/11 "2015-03-20T12:17:05Z")
I dare say there were very, very few people in the early 70’s who could have honestly said that they had never used the “n” word. For better or worse (worse certainly) it was much more accepted then.
We’re better off for not using it as much to be sure. But there is a measure of political correctness that I’m not sure is helpful, but I haven’t a clue on how or where to draw that line.
I recently told someone that rescued a Beagle and that I’m a new pet owner! She corrected me and said that I can’t own another being, and that I’m a pet guardian. At some point these actions are counterproductive.
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### Author:  [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)
#### Post date: [March 20, 2015, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bar-bet-i-would-have-lost-did-fred-sanford-ever-say-the-n-word-on-sanford-son/715460/12 "2015-03-20T12:29:34Z")
Technically he’s saying “Nigga” and not “Nigger”. A small, but important distinction.
Or so I’ve been told.
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### Author:  [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)
#### Post date: [March 20, 2015, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bar-bet-i-would-have-lost-did-fred-sanford-ever-say-the-n-word-on-sanford-son/715460/13 "2015-03-20T12:35:48Z")
> [@spifflog](#):
>
> I dare say there were very, very few people in the early 70’s who could have honestly said that they had never used the “n” word. For better or worse (worse certainly) it was much more accepted then.
>
> .
Yeah, I remember as a teenager (80’s) I was watching a movie on network TV. I can’t remember what movie I was watching but they bleeped out the N-word. I remember thinking “WTF.” at the time.
I mean, I knew it was a bad word, I just don’t think I’ve ever seen it edited like that before.
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### Author:  [@stegon66](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stegon66)
#### Post date: [March 20, 2015, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bar-bet-i-would-have-lost-did-fred-sanford-ever-say-the-n-word-on-sanford-son/715460/14 "2015-03-20T13:06:06Z")
> [@](#):
>
> I recently told someone that rescued a Beagle and that I’m a new pet owner! She corrected me and said that I can’t own another being, and that I’m a pet guardian.
Sorry to get off topic, but you don’t own a beagle. The beagle owns you. I know, I’m owned by two of the little buggers. 😃
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### Author:  [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)
#### Post date: [March 20, 2015, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bar-bet-i-would-have-lost-did-fred-sanford-ever-say-the-n-word-on-sanford-son/715460/15 "2015-03-20T13:31:11Z")
> [@spifflog](#):
>
> I dare say there were very, very few people in the early 70’s who could have honestly said that they had never used the “n” word. For better or worse (worse certainly) it was much more accepted then.
Born in 1957, turned 18 in 1975. The word was NEVER used in the circles I moved in (suburban Jersey and rural New England), either by me or anyone I knew. The worst I ever heard was an elderly great-aunt ranting about the “coons” on one occasion, which shocked the hell out of my sister and me.
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### Author:  [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)
#### Post date: [March 20, 2015, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bar-bet-i-would-have-lost-did-fred-sanford-ever-say-the-n-word-on-sanford-son/715460/16 "2015-03-20T13:41:18Z")
I have no idea if it was the only instance, but the time I remember that someone said the n-word on “The Jeffersons” was definitely a Very Special Episode. A Klan member had moved into the building, and used the word towards Weezy and Florence. At the end of the episode, when the Klan member had a heart attack, George (who absolutely knew who he was) saved him with CPR. When the Klan member regained consciousness, and his son told him George had saved him, he said “You should have let me die”.
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### Author:  [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)
#### Post date: [March 20, 2015, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bar-bet-i-would-have-lost-did-fred-sanford-ever-say-the-n-word-on-sanford-son/715460/17 "2015-03-20T13:44:18Z")
I’d have lost too, **astro**. Everyone knows _All in the Family_ and _The Jeffersons_ did it, but I remember _Sanford and Son_ being more lightweight, _a la_ _Chico and the Man_ or _Welcome Back, Kotter_.
Now someone is going to show up with a clip where they said it on _Welcome Back, Kotter_. But it will have been a VERY SPECIAL EPISODE[sup]TM[/sup].
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### Author:  [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)
#### Post date: [March 20, 2015, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bar-bet-i-would-have-lost-did-fred-sanford-ever-say-the-n-word-on-sanford-son/715460/18 "2015-03-20T13:55:29Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#):
>
> Born in 1957, turned 18 in 1975. The word was NEVER used in the circles I moved in (suburban Jersey and rural New England), either by me or anyone I knew. The worst I ever heard was an elderly great-aunt ranting about the “coons” on one occasion, which shocked the hell out of my sister and me.
I was born in 1960, and have lived in Nashville, TN area all my life. None of my friends ever used the word. I would hear people say the word on occasion, but they would almost always immediately be admonished that is was seriously uncool to talk like that.
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### Author:  [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)
#### Post date: [March 20, 2015, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bar-bet-i-would-have-lost-did-fred-sanford-ever-say-the-n-word-on-sanford-son/715460/19 "2015-03-20T13:58:56Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#):
>
> I have no idea if it was the only instance, but the time I remember that someone said the n-word on “The Jeffersons” was definitely a Very Special Episode. A Klan member had moved into the building, and used the word towards Weezy and Florence. At the end of the episode, when the Klan member had a heart attack, George (who absolutely knew who he was) saved him with CPR. When the Klan member regained consciousness, and his son told him George had saved him, he said “You should have let me die”.
That definitely wasn’t the only usage on _The Jeffersons_. I can also remember earlier episodes where George and Tom Willis were arguing about whether “Honky” was as bad as the n-word.
_The Jeffersons_ was on long enough that it transformed itself over the years. In its early seasons, it was almost as hard-hitting as its parent show _All in the Family_ had been. It didn’t really have “Very Special Episodes,” because in those days most every Norman Lear show was nothing but Very Special Episodes. There were lots of incidents of George and Louise dealing with casual everyday racism in their de-luxe apartment in the sky.
By the later seasons, _The Jeffersons_ had become more of a light and fluffy sitcom, where they did typical sitcom plots like going on a murder-mystery cruise, or George forgetting Louise’s birthday. But in its earlier days, it was the kind of Norman Lear social commentary program where the n-word would have been not at all unexpected.
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### Author:  [@TCMF-2L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TCMF-2L)
#### Post date: [March 20, 2015, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bar-bet-i-would-have-lost-did-fred-sanford-ever-say-the-n-word-on-sanford-son/715460/20 "2015-03-20T14:06:23Z")
In 1970s Great Britain one of the most popular family entertainment TV shows was the sit-com _ **Love Thy Neighbour** _. A white couple live next door to a black couple and the husbands begin a feud. The white man continually calls his rival a nig-nog, sambo and a monkey. The black neighbour retaliates with honky and snowflake.
It was a top rated show at the time and for the record the black neighbours tended to be the winners in each episode.
Meanwhile the 1955 film \*\*\*Dambusters \*\*\*(based on true events) heavily featured the British WW2 bomb crew’s black dog which they called “Nigger”. There is some controversy over this and the Americans are accused of censoring the film and renaming the dog “Trigger” for versions broadcast in the US. And for about a decade the censored version has been broadcast in the UK.
There is talk of Peter “Lord of the Rings” Jackson remaking the film and he has discussed the issue.
> **[The Dam Busters (film)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dam_Busters_(film))**
>
> The Dam Busters is a 1955 British epic war film starring Richard Todd and Michael Redgrave. It was directed by Michael Anderson. The film recreates the true story of Operation Chastise when in 1943 the RAF's 617 Squadron attacked the Möhne, Eder, and Sorpe dams in Nazi Germany with Barnes Wallis's bouncing bomb.
> The film was based on the books The Dam Busters (1951) by Paul Brickhill and Enemy Coast Ahead (1946) by Guy Gibson. The film's reflective last minutes convey the poignant mix of emot...
“_The British Channel 4 screened the censored American version in July 2007, in which the dialogue was dubbed so as to call the dog Trigger, this screening taking place just after the planned remake was announced. For the remake, Peter Jackson has said no decision has been made on the dog’s name, but is in a “no-win, damned-if-you-do-and-damned-if-you-don’t scenario”, as changing the name could be seen as too much political correctness, while not changing the name could offend people_.”
Then there is the early (1979) Elvis Costello hit single _ **Oliver’s Army** _ which contains the lines:
“_Only takes one itchy trigger
One more widow, one less white nigger_”
which although broadcast uncut for over thirty years was censored by BBC Radio 6 in 2013 to some controversy.
> **[Oliver's Army](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver%27s_Army)**
>
> "Oliver's Army" is a song written by Elvis Costello and performed by Costello and the Attractions, from the former's third studio album Armed Forces (1979). The song is a new wave track that was lyrically inspired by the Troubles in Northern Ireland and includes lyrics critical of the socio-economic components of war. Costello had travelled to Northern Ireland and was influenced by sights of British soldiers patrolling Belfast. Musically, the song features a glossy production and a keyboard p...
TCMF-2L
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