"Membership has it's privileges" She ain't a member. . .so she shouldn't use it It is that simple. if Mike Jackson has to pull his sh*t off the shelves for saying Jew Me. . . how is this different? You do not have to understand it You do not have to like simply . . .. don't say it Black folx can . .and you cannot [just like white folx can pull candy bars and cell phones out of their pockets with out the cops shooting the **** out of them . . .] simple ain't it Rocket River ------------------
Has it become a privilege now to be called that? Send a memo out to most of my African American friends then, because they sure as hell don't think it's a privilege. You may want to send a memo to Mr. Ali as well since he seems to think it's derrogatory no matter who uses it. Guess he wasn't given the sign-up form for the privilege or his application was turned down. As for the Jackson scenario, you're right. So let's pull about 95-99% of all gangsta rap music being made today off the shelf? What? No? You wouldn't like that? A privilege is something that people would like to do or have the opportunity and/or option to do. Quite frankly calling someone by that name is a "privilege" you can keep. That's one club I don't want to be a part of. Now that is simple. I despise these stupid racial arguments. If this stupid world wouldn't continue perpetuating racial stereotypes, ethnic segregation, and outright insane reasonings for being ignorant, it would be such a nicer place to be. We wouldn't have to think about a black man, a white man, an Asian... we'd just think about "that guy". But no, we have to have our "privileges" and our reasons why it's cool for left-handed people to say it on a Wednesday when the temperature is above 75 degrees, but no other people and no other days! Someone once said ignorance breeds ignorance and I'm under the impression that if left unchecked it breeds hatred and fosters utter stupidity. There... I've vented for the month. I'm done with this thread, too. Now I'm going to see if we've signed Webber. ------------------ "I'll tell you this, the older I get, the less I trust people. It's true. It's damn true." -- gr8-1 going through some growing pains. [This message has been edited by Dr of Dunk (edited July 14, 2001).]
Icehouse -- the problem I see is that most of the parents don't understand this either, so there's no one to explain it to the kids. In fact, I can easily see a kid getting in trouble at school for saying it, and their parent telling the school "we'll they say it, why can't my kid?". Maybe this would never happen and I'm worrying about it too much, I don't know. ------------------ "I guess that's YOUR theory"
Dr of Dunk: Take most gangsta rap. If I don't hear an "N" word nowadays in gangsta rap, something's definitely wrong. When asked why they use the "N" word, the usual response is "that's the way it is in the hood". Yes dumb****, that's the way it is, but there are people trying to make it "not the way it is" and here you go promoting it to kids. The key word is "gangsta rap". The say just about anything, which usually amounts to nothing. This rap form is not the only type out there, and there are plenty of successful artists who you will never hear utter the N word. I've never agreed with the argument that "when black people say it, it means something different". Right. It's an ignorant, derrogatory word used to connote stupidity in a race; specifically African Americans/blacks. No one's given me an argument that's made me say "yeah, ok, then it's cool". It's not cool. It's ignorant. A word is what you make of it. Take the bit*h word for example. Is it a good word? No, the meaning is bad and degrading towards women. Do they use it to refer to other women (their friends by the way) on a regular basis? They sure do. And to those of you saying "it's just a word", you're right. I suppose you'd never even think twice if someone just walks up to you and introduces you as "a b****", addresses you as "b****", and says "here b****" every other sentence. I'd love to see that happen in the workplace most of all. Sure... you wouldn't even flinch because "it's just a word". The fact is the "N" word does have a meaning and it has a history and that's something that's not easily forgotten. It hits like a ton of bricks for someone like me who's not even African American.? Once again, the key to the argument is who can call you what without you getting offended. Of course I would get mad if a stranger walks up to me ans starts cursing me out. I would really be lying though if I said none of my friends (or those that I work with) addressed me with a profane word (and I do the same at times) without offending me from time to time. I know they aren't serious, so I don't get offended. ------------------
daaaaaaaaaaaaaamn. Dr of Dunk has been pulling the Mo Taylor. He gets 4 rbg, then all of a sudden... 21 rebounds!?! We're all standing around thinking, "I never thought this guy had it in him". Well, don't worry... his next posts will stink.
History from Tribe : See, ***** first was used back in the Deep South Fallin out between the dome of the white man's mouth It means that we will never grow, you know the word dummy Other *****s in the community think it's crummy But I don't, neither does the youth cause we em-brace adversity it goes right with the race And being that we use it as a term of endearment *****s start to bug to the dome is where the fear went Now the little shorties say it all of the time And a whole bunch of *****s throw the word in they rhyme Yo I start to flinch, as I try not to say it But my lips is like the oowop as I start to spray it ------------------ Squatting on old bones and excrement and rusty iron, in a white blaze of heat, a panorama of naked idiots stretches to the horizon. Complete silence-their speech centers are destroyed-except for the crackle of sparks and the popping of singed flesh as they apply electrodes up and down the spine. White smoke of burning flesh hangs in the motionless air. A group of children have tied an idiot to a post with barbed wire and built a fire between his legs and stand watching with bestial curiosity as the flames lick his thighs. His flesh jerks in the fire with insect agony.
Eminem doesn't use the word. Try and find it. I personally think that HipHop has taken the word and totally de-sensitized it. It used to be a completely derogatory nasty word, no matter who used it. Now it's embraced by (many) black folks. So in a sense, the word is slowly losing it's edge. Older folks are way more offended than (many) youger folks. The backlash to this is that pop culture is also using it, not to be racists but to be 'cool' like their favorite bands. This is good and bad. It's good that the word is losing its traditional meaning. It's bad because many people will always view it as they did when they were young. I personally have no problem with it. I don't use it outside of singing along to my Ice Cube CDs. I never use race-specific derogatory slurs. I use equal-opportunity slurs! Hip Hop culture has made and incredible impact on pop culture in the last 15 years. So much lingo has made its way into our vocab. I never did understand all that Snoop lingo! Some of it, but that's about it. (as in: That's the shizznit! or whatever). There will be a time when the word is just what it is, a word. No more, no less. ------------------
SpaceCity : I disagree. In my experience, there are far too many peole who use the word as it was originally intended for the word to ever become anything more than what it is now. This word bas born as an expression of hatred, and through hatred it was nutured and it grew, the only reson the word exists at all is because of hatred. To me, the word is an audial manifestation of hatred, and I don't like it. ------------------ It was the time of the preacher, in the year of '01 Now the preachin' is over, and the lessons begun . . .
Oh well, So when ever someone black says the word round them they read them the riot act? Like I said . . u don't have to like it Just don't do it? Black folx can say things to black folx that white folx cannot fat folx can say something to Fat folx that skinny folx cannot white folx can say somethings to white folx that black folx cannot Rocket River Time to step into reality ------------------
Personally I rarely if ever use the word But a harbor little to no ill will to a black person that uses it .. . because honestly I think we got bigger fish to fry But a white person using it . . is BIG FISH Rocket River ------------------
Lot of naivete going around here. I was simply trying to point out that there's a difference in how many blacks perceive the use of the n-word based on who's saying it. You can call that hypocritical or stupid or just plain shucky-darn bad, but that doesn't change the fact that it's true. The spokesman's comments are wholly indicative of that. This double-standard shouldn't surprise anyone and frankly isn't worth getting up in arms over. It's not really up to white America to tell black America how to talk about itself, and it's not really up to whites to tell blacks what should or shouldn't offend them.
I really could care less how certain aspects of African-American society view the word(and it is CERTAIN aspects, my friends who are black would never use the word because they view it for what it is, a slur) I am more concerned with SOCIETY's view of the word. Civilized society (black and white) view it as a slur. Period. If you are a spokesman of a large organization, and you attempt to style yourself a civil-rights defender, and you have just uttered the statement that is offensive NO MATTER THE ETHNIC GROUP OF THE USER, then, in order to maintain credibility, you must condem use of this word by all artists. Not just high profile, non-black artists,At all times. I think most people have no trouble seeing through this particular spokesman and his clear agenda. I leave it at that. [This message has been edited by stringthing (edited July 17, 2001).]
I really could care less how certain aspects of African-American society view the word(and it is CERTAIN aspects, my friends who are black would never use the word because they view it for what it is, a slur) I am more concerned with SOCIETY's view of the word. Civilized society (black and white) view it as a slur. Period. If you are a spokesman of a large organization, and you attempt to style yourself a civil-rights defender, and you have just uttered the statement that is offensive NO MATTER THE ETHNIC GROUP OF THE USER, then, in order to maintain credibility, you must condem use of this word by all artists, not just high profile non-black artists, at all times. I think most people have no trouble seeing through this particular spokesman and his clear agenda. I leave it at that. [This message has been edited by stringthing (edited July 17, 2001).]
I don't think this is only relevant for African Americans and the N-word in particular. It is different for your own group to use a derogatory term (whether for Whites, A A, Mexican A., Latino, Asian A, American Indian, etc.) than for another group to use it--especially another group who is the dominant group or created the word in the first place. This is an attempt to take ownership of the word away from dominant group. Likewise, a woman can say "b****" in a way to describe herself or her friends that would come off completely different if a group of men threw it around about a particular woman. This truism (that words mean different things by who says them and among whom and how) isn't that complicated, but it can be hard to grasp because we are uncomfortable recognizing that groups are different. As for J Lo using it, I think it is a tough call because I certainly don’t condone it, but it also is not equivalent to a grand dragon or whatever saying it. Considering the context (it was used about her boyfriend), and the relationships she has with others in the African American community whom she knows well, I guess they are the ones to best determine whether it is offensive. [This message has been edited by Desert Scar (edited July 17, 2001).]
Come to think of it you are right Women's groups constantly on hipHoppers for using the word but the Meredith brooks i think that is her sings I'm a b**** I'm a mother I'm some other stuff and not only is their not an uproar but she is not bleeped on eMpTyV Rocket River ------------------
