Fresh Air Richard Pryor’s daughter Elizabeth is a scholar of the N-word
22 snips
Jun 1, 2026 
Elizabeth Stordeur Pryor, a history professor who studies the N-word and Richard Pryor’s daughter, recounts tracing the word from slavery to hip hop. She reveals why she hid her lineage, how a classroom moment shaped her research, memories of her father’s comedy and renunciation of the word, and the tensions of family, race, and language.
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Classroom Moment That Sparked a Research Journey
- A student in Elizabeth's class quoted Blazing Saddles and then uttered a racial slur, causing her to freeze mid-lecture.
- The incident forced her to confront how to teach the N-word when racism unexpectedly appears in the classroom.
The N-Word As A Personal Geography
- Elizabeth frames the N-word as a geography of her life, linking family history, teaching, and identity.
- Her biracial upbringing and father's public use of the word made its history a map she needed to trace personally and professionally.
When People Started Saying The N-Word
- The phrase 'the N-word' is a relatively recent linguistic invention popularized during the O.J. Simpson trial era.
- Older generations either said the slur or didn't; the surrogate phrase changed how people relate to and discuss the term publicly.
