The 'N' word again .....

[Woody]

I don't want to be misunderstood here .... I am opposed to such words but ....

Dillards is being sued for $5 million because a clerk used the 'N' word on a customer.

What this is ... is a sign of our society. Because the Blacks accept this word and routinely use it among themselves ... and Hollywood routinely uses the word in movies and shows ... it is bound to get out in the public domain.

When the Blacks stop the use of the word and Hollywood follows ... then I would approve of these large suits. But not until then.

[David Koot]

I had been under the impression that this type of prejudice, and the use of that word, are U.S. phenomena, and that other countries such as UK and the Scandinavian countries, are not afflicted with the problem to the extent we are here. Am I correct?

[Stan]

There are all kinds of offensive words used every day, offense to someone...

Example, ever feel gypped? As in cheated?

Ask a Gypsy how they feel about that.

As a Jew if he has ever jewed done any one. (as in price)

I never saw a black person until I was 20, the 'n' word had nothing to do with them for us as a kid.

Ask an East Indian how they really feel about being called an East Indian...

That list is pretty long....

[lazarus]

I had been under the impression that this type of prejudice, and the use of that word, are U.S. phenomena, and that other countries such as UK and the Scandinavian countries, are not afflicted with the problem to the extent we are here. Am I correct?

My father took the decision to emmigrate to the UK rather than the US in the 50's because he had a real problem with the nature of American culture as regards black people.

Things are alot more polite in the UK, I can't really speak for the rest of Europe.

I've been very surprised at the way American radio talkers riducule others on the airways. Its most of the time short of crossing the line but it would not be acceptable in the UK.

[Dr. Shane]

I thought employers were allowed to ask race on the employment applications in the UK. Is that true?

[Woody]

I had been under the impression that this type of prejudice, and the use of that word, are U.S. phenomena, and that other countries such as UK and the Scandinavian countries, are not afflicted with the problem to the extent we are here. Am I correct?

I am not sure if the Blacks there use the 'N' word like they do in the US. And if THEY don't use it ... the general public probably doesn't.

[David Koot]

However, Redwood, blacks did not originate the word, which actuallly derived quite harmlessly from the Latin word 'Niger,' meaning 'black.' It was not until the 19th c. that the word developed a negative connotation. I understand that in the UK, the word is used to describe people of darker complexion generally, including Indians, Pakistanis and others.

I am guessing that U.S. blacks began using the term because that is what they were called by whites.

Dave

[lazarus]

I thought employers were allowed to ask race on the employment applications in the UK. Is that true?

Its usually on a separate sheet and its used to find out what kinds of people have applied, to make sure that the various sectors of society are fairly represented. The information is mainly used by government agencies and sent to a different department and you don't put any personal details on that part of the form.

[lazarus]

I am not sure if the Blacks there use the 'N' word like they do in the US. And if THEY don't use it ... the general public probably doesn't.

I guess things have improved since its black people using it rather than white folks!

[olger]

By JASON WHITLOCK - Columnist

Thank you, Don Imus. You’ve given us (black people) an excuse to avoid our real problem.

You’ve given Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson another opportunity to pretend that the old fight, which is now the safe and lucrative fight, is still the most important fight in our push for true economic and social equality.

You’ve given Vivian Stringer and Rutgers the chance to hold a nationally televised recruiting celebration expertly disguised as a news conference to respond to your poor attempt at humor.

Thank you, Don Imus. You extended Black History Month to April, and we can once again wallow in victimhood, protest like it’s 1965 and delude ourselves into believing that fixing your hatred is more necessary than eradicating our self-hatred.

The bigots win again.

While we’re fixated on a bad joke cracked by an irrelevant, bad shock jock, I’m sure at least one of the marvelous young women on the Rutgers basketball team is somewhere snapping her fingers to the beat of 50 Cent’s or Snoop Dogg’s or Young Jeezy’s latest ode glorifying nappy-headed pimps and hos.

I ain’t saying Jesse, Al and Vivian are gold-diggas, but they don’t have the heart to mount a legitimate campaign against the real black-folk killas.

It is us. At this time, we are our own worst enemies. We have allowed our youths to buy into a culture (hip hop) that has been perverted, corrupted and overtaken by prison culture. The music, attitude and behavior expressed in this culture is anti-black, anti-education, demeaning, self-destructive, pro-drug dealing and violent.

Rather than confront this heinous enemy from within, we sit back and wait for someone like Imus to have a slip of the tongue and make the mistake of repeating the things we say about ourselves.

It’s embarrassing. Dave Chappelle was offered $50 million to make racially insensitive jokes about black and white people on TV. He was hailed as a genius. Black comedians routinely crack jokes about white and black people, and we all laugh out loud.

I’m no Don Imus apologist. He and his tiny companion Mike Lupica blasted me after I fell out with ESPN. Imus is a hack.

But, in my view, he didn’t do anything outside the norm for shock jocks and comedians. He also offered an apology. That should’ve been the end of this whole affair. Instead, it’s only the beginning. It’s an opportunity for Stringer, Jackson and Sharpton to step on victim platforms and elevate themselves and their agenda$.

I watched the Rutgers news conference and was ashamed.

Martin Luther King Jr. spoke for eight minutes in 1963 at the March on Washington. At the time, black people could be lynched and denied fundamental rights with little thought. With the comments of a talk-show host most of her players had never heard of before last week serving as her excuse, Vivian Stringer rambled on for 30 minutes about the amazing season her team had.

Somehow, we’re supposed to believe that the comments of a man with virtually no connection to the sports world ruined Rutgers’ wonderful season. Had a broadcaster with credibility and a platform in the sports world uttered the words Imus did, I could understand a level of outrage.

But an hourlong press conference over a man who has already apologized, already been suspended and is already insignificant is just plain intellectually dishonest. This is opportunism. This is a distraction.

In the grand scheme, Don Imus is no threat to us in general and no threat to black women in particular. If his words are so powerful and so destructive and must be rebuked so forcefully, then what should we do about the idiot rappers on BET, MTV and every black-owned radio station in the country who use words much more powerful and much more destructive?

I don’t listen or watch Imus’ show regularly. Has he at any point glorified selling crack cocaine to black women? Has he celebrated black men shooting each other randomly? Has he suggested in any way that it’s cool to be a baby-daddy rather than a husband and a parent? Does he tell his listeners that they’re suckers for pursuing education and that they’re selling out their race if they do?

When Imus does any of that, call me and I’ll get upset. Until then, he is what he is — a washed-up shock jock who is very easy to ignore when you’re not looking to be made a victim.

No. We all know where the real battleground is. We know that the gangsta rappers and their followers in the athletic world have far bigger platforms to negatively define us than some old white man with a bad radio show. There’s no money and lots of danger in that battle, so Jesse and Al are going to sit it out.

To reach Jason Whitlock, call (816) 234-4869 or send e-mail to jwhitlock@kcstar.com. For previous columns, go to KansasCity.com

[lazarus]

Its A bogus argument Olger:

Its based on the notion that Black activists have not spoken out on the gangster rap issue. They were speaking out when white folks were giving their kids money to buy those same rap CD's. Give the name of one black activist who has not spoken out on violent/offensive rap music.

Its an old tactic. Its a case where many white folks are psychologically unable to address their own racism/or racism in their own community. The reflex action is to point to the black community and point to its problems. We see it here on CA every time the issue of race comes up.

So a discussion about Imus turns into discussion about the problems in the black community which is a subtle justification of what Imus did. Its a form of denial and pride.

[Dr. Shane]

Could it be that when black leaders speak out against gangster rap they don't seek as much press coverage because they don't want to air their dirty laundry?

Has Sharpton and Jackson tried to get the advertisers that advertise on cable channels that air gangster rap videos to pull their advertisements? Have they tried such types of boycotts against radio stations and record labels? Have they puched the FCC to make more restrictions on what can be broadcast on the radio?

It isn't enough just to tell young folks not to listen to the garbage or watch the videos. These leaders know that. And what about BET? Is that helpful or harmful to the black community and are black leaders action appropriate in responding to it?

[lazarus]

Shane the info is out there but it won't be on Michelle Malkin's website!

New York, N.Y. (March 7, 2005)---Former Democratic Presidential candidate Reverend Al Sharpton, one of the country's foremost leaders for civil rights, is sending a letter today to the major music conglomerates to seek meetings with the CEO's to demand a moratorium on the airplay and promotion of music from artists that engage in violence. Sharpton is proposing a 90-day ban on radio and TV airplay for any performer who engages in violence because currently the airwaves are being used to romanticize urban bloodshed. Revered Sharpton is also seeking a meeting with the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and major advertisers who support artists that engage in bloodshed.

The National Action Network has become extremely concerned about the reoccurring violence in the music industry that is being cynically used by some for record and CD sales at the expense of romanticizing violence to young Americans. Though we clearly support anyone's first amendment right to say and perform whatever they want, there must be a standard of conduct in their actual actions that is conducive to what is regarded as professional behavior in any industry.

Here's Sharptons Letter:

I recall the outrage that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and others displayed in response to the Super Bowl performance of Janet Jackson. Yet, when acts of violence happen around radio stations that actually have caused bloodshed, there has been a strange and disturbing silence from all quarters.

It is almost like we are permitted to create a violent self-destructive environment which is an ultimate form of racism and bias. If professional sports and other parts of the entertainment industry can voluntarily impose standards then certainly we should expect the entertainment industry--specifically the radio and video industry--to attempt to do the same for professional artists. We propose that when artists engage in actual acts of violence they should be immediately subjected to a 90-day moratorium of the airplay and video airplay of their music so these acts and their music companies will at least not use this behavior to promote record and video sales and give the perception to young Americans that violence toward one another is the new paradigm for success and celebrity.

We do not feel that this will necessarily regulate the behavior of all artists but it will certainly take the profit motive out of those who feel that this kind of public display of brutal behavior is a permissible way to promote one's career and sales.I would like to request an immediate meeting with you to discuss how the radio industry and video industry can work towards a voluntary standard that it will use similar to team owners in sports to stop this climate of permissiveness of violence in the music world. I intend also to meet with major advertisers and the FCC in Washington on this matter.We cannot sit silently by while young Americans feel that shootings and bloodshed is now synonymous with success and celebrity.

We understand you're in the business of making money but it cannot be at the expense of polluting the cultural outlook of young Americans. Yours in Progress,Reverend Al Sharpton

[Gerr]

By JASON WHITLOCK - Columnist

Thank you, Don Imus. You’ve given us (black people) an excuse to avoid our real problem.

You’ve given Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson another opportunity to pretend that the old fight, which is now the safe and lucrative fight, is still the most important fight in our push for true economic and social equality.

You’ve given Vivian Stringer and Rutgers the chance to hold a nationally televised recruiting celebration expertly disguised as a news conference to respond to your poor attempt at humor.

Thank you, Don Imus. You extended Black History Month to April, and we can once again wallow in victimhood, protest like it’s 1965 and delude ourselves into believing that fixing your hatred is more necessary than eradicating our self-hatred.

The bigots win again.

While we’re fixated on a bad joke cracked by an irrelevant, bad shock jock, I’m sure at least one of the marvelous young women on the Rutgers basketball team is somewhere snapping her fingers to the beat of 50 Cent’s or Snoop Dogg’s or Young Jeezy’s latest ode glorifying nappy-headed pimps and hos.

I ain’t saying Jesse, Al and Vivian are gold-diggas, but they don’t have the heart to mount a legitimate campaign against the real black-folk killas.

It is us. At this time, we are our own worst enemies. We have allowed our youths to buy into a culture (hip hop) that has been perverted, corrupted and overtaken by prison culture. The music, attitude and behavior expressed in this culture is anti-black, anti-education, demeaning, self-destructive, pro-drug dealing and violent.

Rather than confront this heinous enemy from within, we sit back and wait for someone like Imus to have a slip of the tongue and make the mistake of repeating the things we say about ourselves.

It’s embarrassing. Dave Chappelle was offered $50 million to make racially insensitive jokes about black and white people on TV. He was hailed as a genius. Black comedians routinely crack jokes about white and black people, and we all laugh out loud.

I’m no Don Imus apologist. He and his tiny companion Mike Lupica blasted me after I fell out with ESPN. Imus is a hack.

But, in my view, he didn’t do anything outside the norm for shock jocks and comedians. He also offered an apology. That should’ve been the end of this whole affair. Instead, it’s only the beginning. It’s an opportunity for Stringer, Jackson and Sharpton to step on victim platforms and elevate themselves and their agenda$.

I watched the Rutgers news conference and was ashamed.

Martin Luther King Jr. spoke for eight minutes in 1963 at the March on Washington. At the time, black people could be lynched and denied fundamental rights with little thought. With the comments of a talk-show host most of her players had never heard of before last week serving as her excuse, Vivian Stringer rambled on for 30 minutes about the amazing season her team had.

Somehow, we’re supposed to believe that the comments of a man with virtually no connection to the sports world ruined Rutgers’ wonderful season. Had a broadcaster with credibility and a platform in the sports world uttered the words Imus did, I could understand a level of outrage.

But an hourlong press conference over a man who has already apologized, already been suspended and is already insignificant is just plain intellectually dishonest. This is opportunism. This is a distraction.

In the grand scheme, Don Imus is no threat to us in general and no threat to black women in particular. If his words are so powerful and so destructive and must be rebuked so forcefully, then what should we do about the idiot rappers on BET, MTV and every black-owned radio station in the country who use words much more powerful and much more destructive?

I don’t listen or watch Imus’ show regularly. Has he at any point glorified selling crack cocaine to black women? Has he celebrated black men shooting each other randomly? Has he suggested in any way that it’s cool to be a baby-daddy rather than a husband and a parent? Does he tell his listeners that they’re suckers for pursuing education and that they’re selling out their race if they do?

When Imus does any of that, call me and I’ll get upset. Until then, he is what he is — a washed-up shock jock who is very easy to ignore when you’re not looking to be made a victim.

No. We all know where the real battleground is. We know that the gangsta rappers and their followers in the athletic world have far bigger platforms to negatively define us than some old white man with a bad radio show. There’s no money and lots of danger in that battle, so Jesse and Al are going to sit it out.

To reach Jason Whitlock, call (816) 234-4869 or send e-mail to jwhitlock@kcstar.com. For previous columns, go to KansasCity.com

From a Black colimnist? WOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!

Probably been called an Uncle Tom a zillion times.

Gerry

[Gerr]

Its A bogus argument Olger:

Its based on the notion that Black activists have not spoken out on the gangster rap issue. They were speaking out when white folks were giving their kids money to buy those same rap CD's. Give the name of one black activist who has not spoken out on violent/offensive rap music.

Its an old tactic. Its a case where many white folks are psychologically unable to address their own racism/or racism in their own community. The reflex action is to point to the black community and point to its problems. We see it here on CA every time the issue of race comes up.

So a discussion about Imus turns into discussion about the problems in the black community which is a subtle justification of what Imus did. Its a form of denial and pride.

Bogus argument? Still playing the victim, huh?

Gerry

[Gerr]

I wonder if this is the same message he had been giving out earlier in his career?

Gerry

[lazarus]

Quote:

Bogus argument? Still playing the victim, huh?

Gerry

Are you accusing me of playing the victim? Don't start something you can't finish...

Quote:

If you can find such a speech like Cosby has done, I'd be happy to take all my words and eat them.

Your silence after I posted quotes from Jackson's speeches was the "loudest" and most revealing of your responses in our exchange about the victim mentality.

[Dr. Shane]

If Sharpton's last major action against rappers was in March of 2005 then I guess Michelle Malkin was right. But I admit that it was a cheap shot she made.

[olger]

Jesse & Sharpton do not practice the Bible teachings in Psalms & 1 Peter. They are charlatans. And you can quote me on that, dear ones.

This is OLGER signing off

[lazarus]

Thats interesting. The same was said about MLK and worse and for similar reasons.

[lazarus]

I love the way some latch onto some black brother who agrees with your point and its posted as if to say..."see, there you have it" a black person said it so there. LOL.

[olger]

Hi Laz.

"Thats interesting. The same was said about MLK and worse and for similar reasons."

Not by me, since I was 4 years old at the time.

We didn't have no slaves either.

OLGER

[Amelia]

You know what? There will always be words of debasing from all races til the end of time. Even if everyone could stop using the N word or the C word or whatever word; other words will fill the void. It's and idylic thought but it wont happen. It's up to each individual to police their own verbage. I would pray that parents teach their children about the power of words and not to use them to cause pain to others.

[Woody]

You are right on Amelia. It has to start with the parents teaching their kids the respect that all are due.