Political Correctness strikes again.
The Laugh Factory, a well-known comedy club in California, has banned the use of the n-word in any of its acts. This comes after Michael Richards (the tall guy with the crazy hair and who generally never made any sense in the show Seinfield) called two black hecklers "niggers" many, many times. As a black woman, I was never particulary angry about the incident; this outrage was caused by a man simply frustrated that he has no career left, was not funny in a comedy club, and had to take it out on others. What I am just a teensy bit angry about is the fact that black comedians have been fined at the Laugh Factory for also using the n-word.
Huh?
I agree with a lot of people when they say that the n-word should not be used by anyone, black or white. A lot of white people (some of them my friends) argue that the inclination which blacks use the word "nigga" means that they are allowed to say it too. And many white people now do, quite liberally in fact. The Dave Chapelle Show had many kids at school (a lot of them white) crowing about the sketch with the white family with the last name Nigger. Yes I thought it was hilarious. But we have to think for just one second: why is it so funny? I believe it's because what was considered taboo for a long time, what was considered the worst thing you could ever call someone, has lessened. The same connotations aren't put on the word nigger anymore.
I also personally believe it's because some blacks have turned around a word that used to be so hateful and now use it in sometimes an affectionate manner. A word that used to be so awful has lost a lot of its malignant power.
Back to the Laugh Factory. In the general words of a TV anchor from the show The Daily Buzz: Should black comedians use the n-word? No. But should they be allowed to anyway? Yes.
Should they use it? No. Should they be allowed to? NO
A word that used to be so awful has lost a lot of its malignant power.
I have to disagree with that in part. I get what you're trying to say... but if that were really true, it wouldn't still cause such an uproar when someone does say nigger. The mentality that gives the word its power is still there and so long as it is, the negativity of the word isn't going anywhere, whether people feel better about the term nigga or not. If it were truly better... they wouldn't feel a need to use nigga instead of nigger.
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~Fallon~
"Do not be too moral. You may cheat yourself out of much life. Aim above morality. Be not simply good; be good for something." Henry David Thoreau
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My point was that blacks have taken a white word and changed it. The whole nigga part opposed to nigger is simply because of slang.
I understand exactly what you're saying. Black people took the power away from that word when they started using it as a term of endearment. It was one way for them to stand tall against the oppresion that even that one little word has. So now, just like many words in the English language, it has a positive and negative connotation to it. But just because black people took some of the power away from that word by making it positve when they use it as a term of endearment, doesn't mean it doesn't have power when it is used by someone meaning for it to be negative.
No day but today
-RENT
You have an amazing ability to empathize!! I couldn't have said it any better myself!
Thank you. I always try to look at both sides of an issue and then form an opinion. It's not always easy trying to always accept everyone who has their own opinion as well, especially when you feel passionately about a certain topic, but I still try. Keep up the good fight, because someday it might not even be an issue. Surround yourself with people who don't find it an issue and are accepting (I know that may be hard in some areas of the world, but just keep looking). Again, thanks for the compliment.
No day but today
-RENT
I get what you're trying to say, and you make sense. But there's a big difference between white people using that word and black people using that word. Maybe someday it will become harmless, but I guess we're still too close (time-wise) to segregation and etc. to be comfortable with it.