Black leaders: End N-word in entertainment

chopitdown

I can't believe it, I am actually in agreement with Jesse Jackson on something. I hope this does some good and they are able to accomplish this.


Black leaders: End N-word in entertainment
LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Black leaders challenged the entertainment industry, including rap artists, actors and major studios, to stop the use of the racial slur that triggered the scandal involving "Seinfeld" comic actor Michael Richards.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, a civil rights leader, and others said Monday they will meet with TV networks, film companies and musicians to discuss banning the racial slur that is a derogatory term for blacks. They also sought an effort by the public to stop using the term.

"We want to give our ancestors a present," Jackson said at a news conference. "Dignity over degradation."...

http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/TV/11/27/michaelrichards.ap/index.html

Collin

Chappelle's show will be a half hour of silence.

Androgynous Mind

it always baffled me that african americans despised the word, but go ahead and use it themselves to greet each other. it doesnt make any sense.

miller8966

Whatever happened to freedom of speech?

jeffbr

miller8966 wrote:

Whatever happened to freedom of speech?

There is no supression or censorship of speech here. It is simply a good suggestion by Jackson. You don't really think this is a first ammendment issue, do you?

Collin

Androgynous Mind wrote:

it always baffled me that african americans despised the word, but go ahead and use it themselves to greet each other. it doesnt make any sense.

It is often said that African Americans use that word to take away the connotation of it or that it is like a term of endearment.

farfromglorified

Jesus...if you want to give your ancestors a present, how about turning your back on the demands you're making of other people's behaviors and freedoms?????

Collin

jeffbr wrote:

There is no supression or censorship of speech here. It is simply a good suggestion by Jackson. You don't really think this is a first ammendment issue, do you?

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, a civil rights leader, and others said Monday they will meet with TV networks, film companies and musicians to discuss banning the racial slur that is a derogatory term for blacks.

RainDog

Goddamn it! Pulp Fiction is one of my favorite movies.

Ahnimus

They are misinterpreting the use of the word.

The only way to degrade the meaning of the word is to use it the way it's being used in television. No one thinks Dave Chappelle is being racist when he uses the word. The defintion in that context is completely different. The deragatory meaning can be preserved by making the word taboo. What is better? What is more respectful to black ancestory? To allow a simple word bring down your dignity and self-esteem? Or to use the word in your own way? I applaud black artists that use it in the modern context. They derive strength from it, because they can look it in the face and say "I'm not afraid of you." They use it how they want it to be used and that's great for the evolution of language.

FinsburyParkCarrots

This will get complex. As Collin was hinting, Dave Chappelle uses the word all the time, yet he uses it in a celebratory way, reclaiming it in the context of black culture, with the attitude that "It's okay when we say it because we don't mean it in a racist context, and we're using a degree of irony."

Also, I think of great literature such as the Caribbean poet's Derek Walcott's "The Schooner Flight". He uses phrases such as "red nigger", which are steeped in all sorts of nuances that don't add up to anything like white on black racism, or even black on "red".

So, in these case, the word is used in a different context. One doesn't have to be a deconstructionist philosopher of language to work out that words don't have fixed meanings and can change according to when they're used.

However, this is beginning to give me a headache because it sounds like I'm saying: if a black person uses the word in context, it's free speech, and if it's used by a white person, it's hate speech. Well, how about when a white writer who understands black culture tries to use the word, in the context of portraying black characters? Are they to be banned from doing so? It gets very confusing.

I also think that banning words is no solution to ending racism. I'll use one of my usual analogies: it's like trying to ban skyscrapers by banning the word "skyscrapers". Changing the socio-economic structure of society, which causes racism in the first place, will be far more effective.

farfromglorified

FinsburyParkCarrots wrote:

I also think that banning words is no solution to ending racism. I'll use one of my usual analogies: it's like trying to ban skyscrapers by banning the word "skyscrapers".

This is perfectly said.

Abuskedti

FinsburyParkCarrots wrote:

This will get complex. As Collin was hinting, Dave Chappelle uses the word all the time, yet he uses it in a celebratory way, reclaiming it in the context of black culture, with the attitude that "It's okay when we say it because we don't mean it in a racist context, and we're using a degree of irony."

Also, I think of great literature such as the Caribbean poet's Derek Walcott's "The Schooner Flight". He uses phrases such as "red nigger", which are steeped in all sorts of nuances that don't add up to anything like white on black racism, or even black on "red".

So, in these case, the word is used in a different context. One doesn't have to be a deconstructionist philosopher of language to work out that words don't have fixed meanings and can change according to when they're used.

However, this is beginning to give me a headache because it sounds like I'm saying: if a black person uses the word in context, it's free speech, and if it's used by a white person, it's hate speech. Well, how about when a white writer who understands black culture tries to use the word, in the context of portraying black characters? Are they to be banned from doing so? It gets very confusing.

I also think that banning words is no solution to ending racism. I'll use one of my usual analogies: it's like trying to ban skyscrapers by banning the word "skyscrapers". Changing the socio-economic structure of society, which causes racism in the first place, will be far more effective.

But maybe a movement to try and stop using it serves some symbolic purpose. Blacks acknowledging that they still very much don't like hearing white people usinging, and at the same time agreeing to stop using it themselves.

Sure not using the word in itself will do nothing.. but trying to work together as individuals to end what has been an issue for a long time might be a good thing.

Ahnimus

Abuskedti wrote:

But maybe a movement to try and stop using it serves some symbolic purpose. Blacks acknowledging that they still very much don't like hearing white people usinging, and at the same time agreeing to stop using it themselves.

Sure not using the word in itself will do nothing.. but trying to work together as individuals to end what has been an issue for a long time might be a good thing.

Why is it bad for a white person to use it?

Think about it, if the only reason it's bad is because the person saying it is white. Then that's not a very good reason to dislike the word or the person. It actually fits into racism.

Abuskedti

Ahnimus wrote:

Why is it bad for a white person to use it?

Think about it, if the only reason it's bad is because the person saying it is white. Then that's not a very good reason to dislike the word or the person. It actually fits into racism.

I didn't say anything was bad.

However if a person routinely uses a word like that - when they know it is offensive - and there are plenty of other works to get their point across - if their point was not racist.. then perhaps it is wrong.

chopitdown

Androgynous Mind wrote:

it always baffled me that african americans despised the word, but go ahead and use it themselves to greet each other. it doesnt make any sense.

that's exactly what my thoughts on it were. To me if something is offensive it shouldn't matter who is saying it.

chopitdown

Collin wrote:

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, a civil rights leader, and others said Monday they will meet with TV networks, film companies and musicians to discuss banning the racial slur that is a derogatory term for blacks.

I don't htink I want the word banned (meaning legislatively) but I think they should try to get people to stop using it, if it truly is an offensive word.

The Waiting Trophy Man

it'll never work. it's like telling kids to say no to drugs or to abstain from sex. as soon as you start telling people what not to do, they will do it.

Collin

chopitdown wrote:

I don't htink I want the word banned (meaning legislatively) but I think they should try to get people to stop using it, if it truly is an offensive word.

I thought they were going to try to ban it from tv. My bad.

Ahnimus

Abuskedti wrote:

I didn't say anything was bad.

However if a person routinely uses a word like that - when they know it is offensive - and there are plenty of other works to get their point across - if their point was not racist.. then perhaps it is wrong.

Sorry, I didn't mean to sound like I was attacking you. I just don't understand how it can be bad. If you take your average teenage computer gamer and monitor them playing their multiplayer online games. You will eventually see or hear someone say "oh that's gay". Homosexuality never even crosses their minds. It's the culture of internet gaming. It's to the point that a friend of mine, who has a biology degree, and gay friends, says it in the Internet context by mistake. That comes from it's wide-spread use. Culturally speaking, gay doesn't mean homosexual or happy when used in an online computer game, it means undesirable. I suppose it's use was in some way perpetuated by it's link to homosexuality, but the majority of it's use is habitual and in a different context. Ultimately using gay to describe homosexuality is degrading to it's original definition. But "happy" can't complain about it. I don't think preserving the deragatory definition is a wise thing to do. Just think, nobody uses "queer" to mean "questionable" any more, it's not a good example, but it illustrates how words can change quite rapidly.

Collin

chopitdown wrote:

that's exactly what my thoughts on it were. To me if something is offensive it shouldn't matter who is saying it.

Here's an analogy:

My friend's brother has cerebral palsy, which makes him do weird movements. We have a word in our language of which I don't know the English equivalent, but you could say it means 'spastic person.' Now, if my friend uses that word and calls his brother that, his brother doesn't mind, he doesn't mind when his best friends use it but when somebody else uses it, even if they don't mean it in an offensive way, he says it hurts and he really hates it. The reason why he doesn't mind when his brother or best friends say it is because they know him, love him, care about him and know how hard his life is...

chopitdown

Collin wrote:

I thought they were going to try to ban it from tv. My bad.

i think they are trying to do both. Stop it's use in the media and subsequently the public

chopitdown

Collin wrote:

Here's an analogy:

My friend's brother has cerebral palsy, which makes him do weird movements. We have a word in our language of which I don't know the English equivalent, but you could say it means 'spastic person.' Now, if my friend uses that word and calls his brother that, his brother doesn't mind, he doesn't mind when his best friends use it but when somebody else uses it, even if they don't mean it in an offensive way, he says it hurts and he really hates it. The reason why he doesn't mind when his brother or best friends say it is because they know him, love him, care about him and know how hard his life is...

that's a good point. I guess the counter to that is why do we assume someone we don't know is saying that in a derogatory manner? I understand the sensitivity issues and that it would most likely be inappropriate of me to call someone with CP "spastic person" but that doesn't mean i don't care for him and don't understand how hard his life is. But you do raise a very good point.

Collin

chopitdown wrote:

i think they are trying to do both. Stop it's use in the media and subsequently the public

I guess the two would go hand in hand.

Ahnimus

The real problem with the word is that people take offense to it.

farfromglorified

Ahnimus wrote:

The real problem with the word is that people take offense to it.

Thank God!!! I was hoping someone would say that.

The Waiting Trophy Man

Ahnimus wrote:

The real problem with the word is that people take offense to it.

so the black people in the crowd that night shouldn't have been offended when michael richards was screaming "nigger, nigger, nigger, nigger, look there's a nigger"!!??

Collin

Ahnimus wrote:

The real problem with the word is that people take offense to it.

The word has a certain connotation. If a white person says it, he's basically saying: "I think you are inferior to me based on the colour of your skin." It's no surprise people take offense to it, if you ask me.

farfromglorified

Collin wrote:

The word has a certain connotation. If a white person says it, he's basically saying: "I think you are inferior to me based on the colour of your skin." It's no surprise people take offense to it, if you ask me.

Let me ask you something -- if I called you a cheetah, would you take offense?

Collin

farfromglorified wrote:

Let me ask you something -- if I called you a cheetah, would you take offense?

No, I would not. I might look at you funny, though.

farfromglorified

Collin wrote:

No, I would not. I might look at you funny, though.

Good. Now, can you tell me why your reaction would be different?