I am happy that this young journalist chose to venture into her own community to inspect the use of the word "Nigger/Nigga" within the Black community. Such an action and the resistance to unilaterally discontinue its use among Black people merely fortifies my observations of the absence of enforcement within our community. While the tool of the "indictment" is effective when used to force the change of external threats - there is no such a tool that can be used to channel the behaviors of a Black who is otherwise in good standing. (This means ideologically in alignment with the prevailing order in the community).
As such there IS no means of cleansing this vile word from the lexicon. Not the commercial speech and most certainly not the informal speech that is heard on the street. Ironically - even though previous organized efforts to have commercial messages (ie: movies, television shows and music) used to lead to the change in consciousness among the people who are the consumers the presence of the word "Nigga" in the Black lexicon is said to contribute to its authenticity. Imagine the movie "Hustle & Flow" in which the director and the movie studio agreed to scrub the word "Nigga" out of the movie? The very same claims of inauthenticity that is hurled against the works of Mark Twain for his depiction of the savage times in "Tom Sawyer" or "Huck Fin" would be said about the modern day works that seek to capture the reality of the streets today.
In the Black community there is a delicate balance that is retained by the Black Political Establishment. In as much as this cluster of young people who are most prone to make use of the word "Nigga" are also seen as a fruitful voting block in the American Political Domain - any hard handed movement to impose regulation upon them risks a fracture in this political union. The Black Establishment is forced to accept them as they are, hoping that with "soft nudging" they will see the errors in their way and discontinue the use of this word and other harmful actions. None the less - they both agree that with the unity that is crafted as they cast their eyes outward against any ideological enemy who dares to stand in the way of the "Black political agenda" is vital to each of them agreeing not to scrutinize the other.
From this mutual agreement comes those who advance the notion that calling President Obama a "socialist" is the new "Nigger". Their "White Liberal Snarling Foxes" partners pile on in agreement.
4 comments:
I'm totally against censorship of any kind. The censoring of one the the greatest American novels is beyond insane.
That being said, white racists don't call black people "Niggers" because of what they over heard during a pick up basketball game or a rap album. they do it because they are racists.
People use slang and often offensive slurs when speaking to and around friends and family. Including white people. It doesn't represent some weird pathology. It is simply individuals exercising free speech amongst their own peer group.
The reality is I can say things to my wife that you couldn't say. Is that a double standard or just an accepted reality?
Twain's novel was a fictional account of his imaginary view of race as such a fictional novel about with a fictional theme by a fictional writer amending said fiction is not a problem..
There is nothing historical about his fiction..Twain's novel was not reality based...Nothing in history is changed by the amendment of this fictional novel..The new publisher is not banning the novel nor censoring the novel..
Clearly removing fiction from fiction of a fictional author is no big deal....
I was listening to a black minister on TV talk about how there is no point in taking away the word nigger, when so many blacks live up to the definition of nigger every day with the raping, robbing, out of wedlock birthrate, drug use, etc etc. He had a good point, unfortunately when a white person calls them on it there's outrage, rallies, and Al Sharpton.
[quote]That being said, white racists don't call black people "Niggers" because of what they over heard during a pick up basketball game or a rap album. they do it because they are racists.[/quote]
Anon#1:
Notice - I made the case that EVEN IF THE BLACK COMMUNITY WANTED TO mitigate the word out of common usage WITHIN - there exists no mechanism to do so.
I have been researching Frederick Douglass as part of an attempt to counter my friend Chauncey DeVega's comments on the US Constitution. Douglass noted how the WHITE MAN'S attempt to justify the inferior human state of the African has him producing some strange and arbitrary rules in his attempt to deny the OBVIOUS.
I contend that the modern day Black community has the same Kabuki Theater as it relates to the word Nigger.
WHO can use it?
WHEN can it be used?
IF a Hip Hop Voice Of the Street Pirate Artist uses it in a song can an Asian person who paid for the song via iTunes have the right to lipsync the word?
Anon#1 - Have you seen the movie scene in which the boyfriend is caught cheating on the girl and the girlfriend goes to BEAT UP THE OTHER GIRL instead of the man who violated her trust? This is the logic that is expressed as there is attack upon Dr Laura yet SILENCE about the Black people who use this vile word in commercial speech.
I restate - The Black community has no mechanism to actually ENFORCE the common will for this word. The fear of the "civil war" that would result is too great of a risk. Instead these quirks are sublimated as the unifying political activism looks the other way - toward their common enemy.
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