Dr. Laura's "N word" Rant

[MikeK]

One of the statements laura cut this woman off from saying was that white people MADE the word ****** an insult so them trying to use it is not the same.

Now when will you people realise that to end racism you have to listen to how black people feel about all of this?

What about how White people feel about it?

The White people who "made the word ****** an insult" are long gone, along with the evil era of slavery. So it is not contemporary White people who seek to perpetuate an offensive vestige of that era by attempting to impose censorship -- often with the threat of violence or sometimes with actual violence.

This obsessive demand to impose unilateral censorship of the American vocabulary occurs as a direct statement that there is an indelible difference between Black and White Americans, while at the same time Black political leaders insist that "we're all the same."

Which is it?

 

[MikeK]

The word ****** has enjoyed more attention and controversial celebrity than any other word in the history of human languages.

The word originated as the mispronounced name of the region where most captive Africans were transferred from "slave castles" on the banks of the Niger River, to the vessels of Dutch, Spanish, Arab and Portugese slave traders. The bills of lading accompanying the slave cargoes noted the point of origin as the "Niger region," thus the respective slaves were identified as Niger people, mispronounced as ******, and gradually degenerated to "*******" on the semi-literate tongues of American slave handlers. So the most concisely literal meaning of the "N-word" is, slave.

Because the status of slave is indeed demeaning it is understandable why American Blacks might find it objectionable to be reminded of their abject origin and therefore would be anxious for the word, ******, and all recollection of what it once represented, to be excised from the English language. But this does not appear to be the case at all. In fact there is little question that the widely excoriated word is used far more liberally by Black Americans than by Whites.

The offensive nature of the word, ******, was acknowledged by many Whites who respectfully chose to use only the technically correct designation, negro, or the more amicable term, colored, both of which have since been deemed unacceptable by the descendants of African slaves. Subsequent to the civil rights revolution of the early 1960s, militant American negro organizations insisted that the term, "colored people" was demeaning, as was the word, negro, demanding that instead the acceptable designation should be Black, because it implies the political opposite of White. (This in spite of the fact that until then it was considered offensive to refer to a negro as black -- as in "black bastard").

At some point between the sixties and the nineties it was decided (by someone) that the proper way to refer to American negroes is, "people of color" (five syllables) and the most recent mandatory semantic is "African American" (seven syllables).

Thus far we have gone from Niger, to ******, to negro, to colored, to black, to people of color, to African American. Meanwhile, Blacks continue to use the word ****** in the presence of Whites mainly as what I perceive to be a verbal emblem of special license and exclusivity. I believe this endless etymological progression is, more than anything else, an exercise of ambitious political power. It is by virtue of this socially accepted proscription that Blacks have successfully intimidated Whites into tacitly surrendering an element of free speech.

While I personally do not believe it's okay to openly call someone a ****** (or any other offensive name) without some ample provocation, that word has become anathema, analogous to pronouncing the name of Satan during high Catholic mass? The word, ******, when used academically, is not in itself a malediction. Neither is it obscene, nor profane. It is a word that bears historical relevance and should not exist as a trigger for misplaced White guilt.

I believe that progress in the way of racial hostility in America will be manifest when the word ****** no longer serves to perpetuate recollection of abject status. No negro who regards himself as a whole human being and an equal member of society should be offended by any mere word.

 

[Madeline]

MikeK, this is how you see things and how you feel. And that's great. But truthmatters is right...the folks whose opinions matter more are those to whom the word is directed. I hardly think it is possible to refer to any black person as a "n*gger* and not insult them, if you are white. There may be folks who enjoy playing on the edges of what is socially acceptable, but most over 12 do not.

Why use a word that is likely to cause so much pain and inflame so much passion? What is the upside that would make such a risk warranted?

 

[Harry Dresden]

All of your posts in this thread have been retarded.

this coming from someone named SILKY EGG SALAD....ill give what you think some real serious consideration...

 

[Madeline]

Because discounting someone's statements is important if the nick ain't "macho" IYO? Or because "Dresden" is such a pretty line of fine china?

 

[Harry Dresden]

I am a glack guy who "acts white"? Were the hell did that come from? Please provide examples. I would love to some evidence of this.


Fool.

."

it came from me dipshit......basically.....i dont believe for one minute your a black guy.....it would be like Charlie Bass saying he is a White guy.....when he says he is black,you know he is black just by what he relates to in his posts,the same with 52nd St.... they are black.....you i doubt it.....when you posts its like Richie Cunningham is doing the posting....

 

[Madeline]

Christ onna cracker, you're a ignorant person.

 

[Harry Dresden]

Because discounting someone's statements is important if the nick ain't "macho" IYO? Or because "Dresden" is such a pretty line of fine china?

look i understand you live in Cleveland....Ive been there....i can understand why your so miserable.....but do you think Egg Salad can defend him or herself?....i really dont give a rats ass what you think....a talking Egg Salad....now that might be worth a listen...

 

[IanC]

MikeK, this is how you see things and how you feel. And that's great. But truthmatters is right...the folks whose opinions matter more are those to whom the word is directed. I hardly think it is possible to refer to any black person as a "n*gger* and not insult them, if you are white. There may be folks who enjoy playing on the edges of what is socially acceptable, but most over 12 do not.

Why use a word that is likely to cause so much pain and inflame so much passion? What is the upside that would make such a risk warranted?

Hi Madeline. Does your line of reasoning hold for muslims and pictures of mohammed? Its not worth the risk? Should everyone just go balistic whenever they are offended or is it just limited to certain groups. Perhaps it is the level of violence that triggers special status.

 

[Harry Dresden]

Christ onna cracker, you're a ignorant person.

yea because you come off as such a brainiac....i have been in a few threads with ya Madie.....i think its safe to say, im not alone in saying your no bundle of brain cells....your just a few steps above Truth matters.....and she is standing on the bottom step....like i said in a previous post.....I CAN GIVE A RATS ASS what you think....

 

[taichiliberal]

Bottom line: "Doctor" Laura is just another new conservative clown that jumped on the pundit bandwagon a few years ago, and is riding on fumes now. Everyone forgets how her conservative preachings on premarital sex were exposed as sheer hypocrisy when an ex-boyfriend posted pics of the the good "doctor" cavorting naked at his place LONG before she was married.

As for the her latest mental flatulence regarding race relations, I think the most telling quotes are these, "....If you're that hypersensitive about color and don't have a sense of humor, don't marry outside of your race,"

"......Why don't you let me finish a sentence? Don't take things out of context. Don't NAACP me, leave them in context."


In the first quote, "Doctor" Laura is telling folks that the occasional good natured "ribbing" by folks about your ethnic/racial background is the price you have to pay for inter-racial marriage in order to get along. Hell, why stop there? Let's just bring back minstrel shows and reduce all movie/radio rolls for black performers to Step N' Fetchit and Rochester. It's all in good fun, right? Of course, clowns like "Dr." Laura are NOT the target or recipient of this attitude, and only know of the cumulative effect of CENTURIES of institutionalized racism and bigotry in the USA from a purely academic perspective. So it's no big deal to her.

In the second quote, it's quite telling that she automatically equates the NAACP as taking things out of context. She hasn't specified what she's referring to, but recently the NAACP was a VICTIM of such a tactic by the good "doctor's" ideological compadre Breitbart....who was patently NAILED for misleading blogs regarding the NAACP and Ms. Sherrod. So it seems the good doctor is just carrying the insipidly stubborn torch of the neocon punditry by repeating a lie until it's accepted as the truth.

A very telling expose into the mindset of "Dr." Laura....I don't know what's more pathetic/scary.....her or the people who excuse/support/agree with her.

 

[xotoxi]

I am a glack guy who "acts white"? Were the hell did that come from? Please provide examples. I would love to some evidence of this.


Fool.

."

it came from me dipshit......basically.....i dont believe for one minute your a black guy.....it would be like Charlie Bass saying he is a White guy.....when he says he is black,you know he is black just by what he relates to in his posts,the same with 52nd St.... they are black.....you i doubt it.....when you posts its like Richie Cunningham is doing the posting....

 

[xotoxi]

MikeK, this is how you see things and how you feel. And that's great. But truthmatters is right...the folks whose opinions matter more are those to whom the word is directed. I hardly think it is possible to refer to any black person as a "n*gger* and not insult them, if you are white. There may be folks who enjoy playing on the edges of what is socially acceptable, but most over 12 do not.

Why use a word that is likely to cause so much pain and inflame so much passion? What is the upside that would make such a risk warranted?

Hi Madeline. Does your line of reasoning hold for muslims and pictures of mohammed? Its not worth the risk? Should everyone just go balistic whenever they are offended or is it just limited to certain groups. Perhaps it is the level of violence that triggers special status.

Ian...for what reason would you use the word ******, or draw a picture of mohammed? Would it be for your health? Would it be because it makes you feel really good?

Or would it be just because you legally can and you want to push someones buttons?

 

[sitarro]

Still goes back to the original comment: why is the word "******" a racial epithet when Whites say it and not when Blacks say it?

If you ever go to a gay bar, there's a chance you'll hear some of the people in there call each other fags. Similar concept why some blacks call each other niggas (the 'er' ending is almost never articulated unless it is meant as an insult, even from one black to another). It's about a historically-oppressed group in society taking ownership, and desensitizing, a word that has represented the oppression. It's psychological in a way, but its usage is in now way universal.

Seems like that is a huge FAIL........ they have given the word so much power that grown ups actually call it the "N-word", that is beyond ridiculous. You disarm it by laughing at the person that uses it, not by going "Postal".

 

[Zona]

I am a glack guy who "acts white"? Were the hell did that come from? Please provide examples. I would love to some evidence of this.


Fool.

."

it came from me dipshit......basically.....i dont believe for one minute your a black guy.....it would be like Charlie Bass saying he is a White guy.....when he says he is black,you know he is black just by what he relates to in his posts,the same with 52nd St.... they are black.....you i doubt it.....when you posts its like Richie Cunningham is doing the posting....

When I was a kid, I lived in Matua projects on 35th and fairmont ave in west philly. Eventually I moved to Paschal projects on 72nd and woodland ave (Bartram high)...then 58th and market..(thats when I went to overbrook high school). Eventually I ended up at a house near cobbs Creek parkway again. (went to Temple for a bit, then joined the navy).. This is basically all over west philly. If there is anyone from Philly, please chime in....

If I were white, I am pretty sure I would have looked a little silly in my own neighborhood. Especially Mantua

My life wont be complete unless I can prove to you I am black.....lolololol




Fool.

 

[Zona]

Bottom line: "Doctor" Laura is just another new conservative clown that jumped on the pundit bandwagon a few years ago, and is riding on fumes now. Everyone forgets how her conservative preachings on premarital sex were exposed as sheer hypocrisy when an ex-boyfriend posted pics of the the good "doctor" cavorting naked at his place LONG before she was married.

As for the her latest mental flatulence regarding race relations, I think the most telling quotes are these, "....If you're that hypersensitive about color and don't have a sense of humor, don't marry outside of your race,"

"......Why don't you let me finish a sentence? Don't take things out of context. Don't NAACP me, leave them in context."


In the first quote, "Doctor" Laura is telling folks that the occasional good natured "ribbing" by folks about your ethnic/racial background is the price you have to pay for inter-racial marriage in order to get along. Hell, why stop there? Let's just bring back minstrel shows and reduce all movie/radio rolls for black performers to Step N' Fetchit and Rochester. It's all in good fun, right? Of course, clowns like "Dr." Laura are NOT the target or recipient of this attitude, and only know of the cumulative effect of CENTURIES of institutionalized racism and bigotry in the USA from a purely academic perspective. So it's no big deal to her.

In the second quote, it's quite telling that she automatically equates the NAACP as taking things out of context. She hasn't specified what she's referring to, but recently the NAACP was a VICTIM of such a tactic by the good "doctor's" ideological compadre Breitbart....who was patently NAILED for misleading blogs regarding the NAACP and Ms. Sherrod. So it seems the good doctor is just carrying the insipidly stubborn torch of the neocon punditry by repeating a lie until it's accepted as the truth.

A very telling expose into the mindset of "Dr." Laura....I don't know what's more pathetic/scary.....her or the people who excuse/support/agree with her.

Perfect.

 

[taichiliberal]

One of the statements laura cut this woman off from saying was that white people MADE the word ****** an insult so them trying to use it is not the same.

Now when will you people realise that to end racism you have to listen to how black people feel about all of this?

What about how White people feel about it?

The White people who "made the word ****** an insult" are long gone, along with the evil era of slavery. So it is not contemporary White people who seek to perpetuate an offensive vestige of that era by attempting to impose censorship -- often with the threat of violence or sometimes with actual violence.

This obsessive demand to impose unilateral censorship of the American vocabulary occurs as a direct statement that there is an indelible difference between Black and White Americans, while at the same time Black political leaders insist that "we're all the same."

Which is it?

The major flaw in your assertions here is saying...."The White people who "made the word ****** an insult" are long gone, along with the evil era of slavery".

Let me hip you to some facts: Slavery was transformed into Jim Crow laws, which lasted a CENTURY after the Civil War ended and slavery was officially abolished by US law.....right up to 1965!

The SCOTUS decision that guaranteed my right to an equal education anywhere within the USA (Brown vs. Board of Education) is ONLY 4 years older than I am.

And racist/hate groups are very much alive and kicking....check out the Southern Poverty Law Center website for a CURRENT list. Hell, David Duke NEVER renounced his neo-Nazi/white supremacist ways and he got elected to State Rep for Louisiana just 22 years ago.

Once you understand this and the ramifications of the forementioned, you'll see why you're assertions are not correct.

 

[xotoxi]

You disarm it by laughing at the person that uses it, not by going "Postal".

THEY SAID ******!!!

 

[RadiomanATL]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGQ-ISsDm8M&feature=related]YouTube - Where are the white women at?[/ame]

 

[Madeline]

Mebbe the funniest movie ever made.