The NAACP plans to hold a mock funeral for the N-word this summer at its convention in  Detroit.

The decision was indirectly brought on by Don Imus' derogatory comments about black members of the Rutgers University women's basketball team. One result of the Imus flap has been a long overdue debate in the black community about the hypocritical tolerance and worse, support, for misogynistic rap music.

But do such symbolic ceremonies work?  Are the likes of Snoop Dogg etc. likely to see beyond their millions of dollars to the damage caused by their words? I doubt it.   

But if nothing else, maybe the burial will make it clear where at least one organization stands on the issue and end the confusion of non-blacks who stumble into using the word on the grounds that "Black people say it all the time!"