Phantom Penguin
Breaking news:

Russel simmons is trying to get Nigger, Ho, and bitch banned from edited rap music.

What?! But that only leaves them with Grill, Bling, Ice, and Glock. You can't make a rap with only four words!

tbh I'm against it. If someone wants to say "nigger", let them. How can you ban a word, anyway?
People suck no matter what, are hateful and rude, and will say things just to get a rise out of others. If we turn this into a freedom of speech issue, it'll just be turning bigots into martyrs, which is not a good idea.
I feel like, sure it's got a history behind it, but that's not the reason why it's so hurtful; it's so frustrating because a person is belittling you over something you have no control of, your race. But then, if someone calls a handicapped person a cripple or something, in a mean tone, it's the same thing and just as hurtful.
if someone calls me a loser or something, sure it saddens me, but I'm like, "well it's because of the way I act." but if someone calls me... idk a honkey? It's like, "yeah I'm white... but that doesn't define me as a person!" and it feels a lot more frustrating.

To ban saying a word is not going to square with the constitution, though. It'll cause more problems than solve, unfortunately.

The certain sections in question of today's African American community need to get some sense when approaching this word. It makes little sense to call each other the very word that was created to dehumanize them in the slavery days. I'll never understand why saying it can produce endearment and not embarassment. I am fully aware that N---a and N---er are "endearing" and disgusting, respectively, but that's the dumbest excuse I've ever heard to keep the former word going. It's derivative and too similar to the latter word to assume that it suddenly has a totally different meaning. It shows no respect to themselves, nor the (bless their hearts) African Americans of the previous generation that endured the most disgusting, dehumanizing treatment, only to one day dream they could be in their shoes and co-exist with others as equal human beings.
So I do not know why any slang that sickeningly identified with that era should have such a need to part their lips like it's something cool to do. If they (the sections, not the AA community as a whole) want to be endeared, use other words that don't throwback to an era everyone wants no part of. If they want to be respected, do what every human being needs to do: Show care and respect to others as one would to oneself.(Sound familiar to something I read in a certain popular book based on a certain popular religion...) Muzzling others with a racial right of passage isn't going to make that possible. In fact, that's like some wierd verbal element of racial discrimination. Quite Ironic.

And another thing. Those sections in question of today's African American community are the ones that are helping fuel the flames of racism toward the race as a whole. By saying the same word (it's the same, get over it) amongst each other and tabooing it when it involves the outside race, it puts an unfair muzzle of polictical correctness on other people's (especially white people's) mouths that will only anger them more and make it harder to accept their right to be treated equally. This isn't to say they should say it (as they ESPECIALLY shouldn't for the same historical reasoning), but it is now like these hypocritical mindsets are saying they shouldn't say it and then slapping them in the face for not being African American (which otherwise would supposedly make it "okay" for them to say it).

/rant

Anyway...I'd rather see some protest against this stupid vernacular within the parts of the African American community that know better. It seems these days that the neglectful sections of the community won't change unless the remaining sections urge them to stop the hypocrisy. I hope it happens, because I'm sure many of the know-betters of the community certainly must be embarassed that the other sections are behaving that way.

ok ok ok let me put my word in....im half black and half filipino. I do use the n word sometimes i try not to. It is bad but its just the enivorment i live in and the people im around.Im not saying their bad but that is just how it is.I try to use other words like my ninja,dude, mayne/man,dog homie etc.....but sometimes i do slip up and say N&%$$*.They should not banned it though cause there are other words we are called that hurt just as much.

Wow. How trivial has society gotten? Are we really trying so hard to find a distraction from real problems that we talk about bad words in legislature? When I read the article, it almost sounded like something that would come out of a PTA meeting, not one for the city council, especially for a place like New York City. I mean, people are going hungry and the city council is more worried about telling them that they can't say "Nigger" any more (Look, I'm not afraid of posting the word, despite the fact that I also despise it. Flame me all you wish for using it, but being afraid of the word doesn't really strengthen an argument about it). It's like the city council thinks its the parents and every single citizen of the city is like an immature child who needs to be told not to use bad words.

Also, how would you enforce it?! You can't stop words from emerging from a person's lips without a great deal of physical force.

Racism is unfortunately still an issue. I wouldn't be surprised if somebody got offended when I said that I'm proud of being white.

Heck, I still think people expecting me to call people "African American" is silly. I call them "Black" and they don't care. I sure don't call myself "Caucasian American", I say I'm "White" and don't get offended when other people do.

If someone really analyzes it, whites are subjected to a fair amount of racism as well. it's just that nobody cares because we're a majority, which is another example of racism against us.

Frankly, I think banning it just gives the word more power. It makes no sense what-so-ever to be offended by this word. I mean, the only reason it was chosen to be used to describe black people is because it is the Latin word for black. If people ever want to make the word less offensive, they don't need to ban it. They should make it available to be said by everyone for whatever reason they want. Then it would become just another word as opposed to being a "bad" word.

Frankly, I think banning it just gives the word more power. I

Yep.


Most people don't even care if you use the word any more. Black people call eachother it all the time, and even when a white person does it, they just joke around and go back to whatever they were doing.

Atleast that's what happens where I live.

I just don't think it's possible. It's in rap and they say it to eachother all the time. Homosexuals call eachother fags, but it someone strait says it, it's really bad. Just like if say, a older white rich white guy called me a girl in an interview (lena taylor :It's woman pal, woman) I'd hate it, but in reality we say it to eachother all the time.

Rap glorifies it, it's pumped through the media, and it's current language suddenly, but it's not surprising. You'd have to obliterate 'The Boon Docks' from the face of recollection too.

I have a bad encounter with the n word. The girls ostricized me growing up, and in grade 10 one girl said it was because I called her the n word in 4th grade. Now, we're all white in THE ENTIRE TOWN. I had never heard of the n word until 9th grage. She wanted a reason to justify being a bitch all my life, so they threw that at me. And the stigma attached to that word was breaking, though I knew I never said it. It's just...THE WORST WORD EVER. I wanted to die because people thought I had uttered it at another person.

With that aside, I do believe in freedom of speech. And you can't limit people's intention of speech, it would never work. You'd have to ban every slur imaginable, even ones not related to ethics. And I don't care if someone calls me white in a negative way, and it has happened, even this year. So...someone with the same skin color as me did something terrible. Shit, I'm sorry, but it wasn't me. Seriously. I was born 1988. There's a good Nofx song like this, but I can't recall the name (I think it's 'Don't Call Me White' ) .

There's no point to banning the word. It's just a word. What we really want to end is the sentiment behind the word, and that can only come with time and work as a society. In time people will simply stop using it, or it will completely loose it's meaning and power.

I think someone already said that if it was banned they (the people who actively use it) will find/make up a replacement word. I totally agree. Like people who say 'fudge' or 'trucker' instead of the f word.

I don't use the word simply because I don't believe in it. It kind of represents something terrible to me, no matter -who's- using it. I don't believe that anyone should be discriminated against (well, unless you're a supreme bigoted idiot or something like that). I also don't believe a group of people should try and keep themselves locked in a stereotype ( I won't go into detail).

There're a buncha words I don't use because I think that socially they represent horrible things in our society, but I guess there shouldn't be legal action taken against them unless things go outta hand and whatnot. (Though it's hard to define what's "outta hand" )

We're so far away from getting Thought Police, and we aren't living in Orwell's "1984" just yet. We are, however, living in a place where people are held accountable for what floats out of their mouths. That can be a good or bad thing.

The good news is that the word may simply cease to exist in a few millenia. That, and the things that we thing make us so different on the outside. Take THAT, Bible Belt. :-)

"Bad words" are only bad because people tell you they're bad growing up. Think about it, words have no substance, no meaning at all until someone tells you the meaning. It's syllables thrown together that somehow offend people.

If you really look into the word instead of assuming it's bad, it was never actually used in a vulgar way in the past. It's Latin for black so it's what slavers used to identify the whole group at once. Because of the constant usage of the word in an angry way, many slaves assumed it was an insult directed at their race. This misconception continued to spread until it actually became true. I don't think i need to point out the irony here.

The word "albus" doesn't offend me, simply because no one made up the fact that it's offensive. Who is to judge that some words are worse then others? Who can say that a word is offensive just because it has to do with them? If we're gonna' start being offended by words, at least look into them. Negro means the exact same thing. Nobody (except for maybe extreme versions of the before) consider it offensive.

Besides, why are we making a big deal over this small problem? What about the glorifying of sexism in rap? The really sad part is many women are going with it. I'm tired of people acting like the word I'm not gonna' say 'cause it'll piss someone off for no reason is the only problem. it's kind of like an escape from the real world.

(By the way, about that racism against whites thing earlier. White Americans is under controversial articles on Wikipedia.)

I'm going to put in my two cents here. I am all I dunno this truthfully since my father is paler than Nicole kidman in Moulan rogue, and he never knew who his father was his mother doesn't even know. But anyways I don't believe its society's fault anymore...I have many hispanic, asian, white, and native american friends and a few black friends and I have at one point or another have heard them use the N word on occassion. You can't be a hypocrite and say ban the n word when music vidoes and other media mention the word all the time. And no one seemed to have a problem with it till now. Personally I think its a disgusting word that nothing can be done about it. I wouold know. I come from a family going back 197 years of slavery and are probably turning over in their graves right now. Its like the word whore/slut/trick/*****/hoe...my friend said she went to tokyo and an asain teen called her a hoe because he thought it was a compliment. Its mostly a media thing.

Deviant Lynx
You can't be a hypocrite and say ban the n word when music vidoes and other media mention the word all the time.

We'd be hyprocrites if WE put it in music videos and said to ban it, but we're not...:\

i don't like the word but to ban it is to say screw our founding fathers who fought to get us freedom and died in the revolutionary war

subcultured
what do you guys think of new york banning the "n-word"?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6406625.stm [news.bbc.co.uk]

i think it goes against the 1st ammendmnet under "freedom of speech".

i hate the n-word myself, but this banning is gonna start a chain reaction where words become banned. it's a few steps away from a totalitarian government where they tell you what to say and can't say

to steal from colbert, "Narnia plz, it's just a word."

Nigger is just a word. Using it in context isn't nearly as bad as using it to insult someone. People need to get over the fact that it exists. It's a terrible word and I absolutely hate the fact that people use it, but you can't control people. If you try to take it away, it will only make them more angry.

There is a discussion about who can say nigger and get away with it. Can black people say it? I had a black fellow I worked with, he was a supervisor, nearly 60 years old. He called me nigger all the time. It was strange. I've been called it before by friends(I am friends with several rappers and rappers love the word) but by such an old man, it was very weird. Can white people say it? I have several times.

I think the important thing to remember is that anybody can say it in anyway they want, just as anybody can be offended by it. If someone is mad that I said it, I'm sorry. I do not mean to offend. I know how painful it can be.

I dated a black woman for several years. I remember one time, this guy she was friends with online, he found out she was black and he started calling her names, nigger being one of them. It was the first time anybody had ever called her that as far as she knows. She started crying, she didn't know what to do or to say. She just knew that someone who had previously thought she was kind, smart, insightful, caring, and funny was now the scum of the earth. the pure and vile hatred broke her heart. It broke my heart too. I cant stand to see people I love hurting.

Aereis
I just don't think it's possible. It's in rap and they say it to eachother all the time. Homosexuals call eachother fags, but it someone strait says it, it's really bad. Just like if say, a older white rich white guy called me a girl in an interview (lena taylor :It's woman pal, woman) I'd hate it, but in reality we say it to eachother all the time.

Rap glorifies it, it's pumped through the media, and it's current language suddenly, but it's not surprising. You'd have to obliterate 'The Boon Docks' from the face of recollection too.

I have a bad encounter with the n word. The girls ostricized me growing up, and in grade 10 one girl said it was because I called her the n word in 4th grade. Now, we're all white in THE ENTIRE TOWN. I had never heard of the n word until 9th grage. She wanted a reason to justify being a bitch all my life, so they threw that at me. And the stigma attached to that word was breaking, though I knew I never said it. It's just...THE WORST WORD EVER. I wanted to die because people thought I had uttered it at another person.

With that aside, I do believe in freedom of speech. And you can't limit people's intention of speech, it would never work. You'd have to ban every slur imaginable, even ones not related to ethics. And I don't care if someone calls me white in a negative way, and it has happened, even this year. So...someone with the same skin color as me did something terrible. Shit, I'm sorry, but it wasn't me. Seriously. I was born 1988. There's a good Nofx song like this, but I can't recall the name (I think it's 'Don't Call Me White' ) .

The difference between gay people calling each other fags and white people calling gay people fags, or black people calling each other nigga/er and white people doing it is that when white people do it, they make presumptions.

I think what most people need to realize is that as long as you arent using it with hate, and as long as you know how peoplel will react, you are free to use what ever words you want.

This straight guy at work, he's very metro and I call him fag all the time. It's funny because he's all about having sex with women, but he plucks his eyebrows and what ever.

The "n-word" is a word, in Spanish, it means a color >_>.
If the thesis in your front post is true, I'll die laughing when the word "cracker" gets band.

Aereis
Rap glorifies it, it's pumped through the media, and it's current language suddenly, but it's not surprising. You'd have to obliterate 'The Boon Docks' from the face of recollection too.

I wouldn't mind that but I've always thought Boondocks was racist as could be, just from a more Black-centric perspective. I don't support banning the word because I agree about the constitutional aspects and giving the word too much power, etc. So for the same reason, I wouldn't support banning any form of artistic expression, even one as racist as Boondocks.

Phantom Penguin
Breaking news:

Russel simmons is trying to get Nigger, Ho, and bitch banned from edited rap music.

ROFL

It's funny that white people like the Boondocks more than black people even though it always makes fun of us. I personally love the show because I like racism against me. White people are just weird that way.

When the world cant joke about things any more is the day the human race ends... and at this rate it will be happening rather shortly... Banning a word no matter how cruel it may seem is throwing us right into 1984

No words should be banned. Besides it is just a word. You shouldn't give people the power to hurt you with something as objective, abstract and stupid as a silly word.

Eh? Ban the N-Word? That's ridiculous. On one hand, it's a loaded, nasty word. Does that mean that I get to request the C-word for women banned? I hate that word- it's repulsive and vile to me. It turns my stomach to hear it. Not because I'm a feminazi or whatever, but because the word is offensive to me. That, and Slut. There's no nice way to say the word Slut. Can we ban those words too?If you want to do that to the N-word,then we gotta comb through the whole language and take out every word that makes us angry or feel offended.

But then, just read 1984 for what happens when that goes down. I understand why people feel offended by the word, but the word isn't killing them or oppressing them. It's nasty, it's derogatory, it's insulting, but it does NOT make you a slave. It doesn't make you a second-class citizen. And if you don't like the word, don't let the culture be saturated with it- don't be an elitist hypocrite and say only certain people can use the word without it being offensive. It's either offensive or it isn't, and frankly, I think it's offensive.

Just like C*** and Slut don't reduce me to my nether regions or make me a promiscuous woman.

I'm sick of the over-PCness in this nation. On one hand, there should be a fairness and equality for each group of people, but on the other hand, don't go banning words because they make you uncomfortable. And yes, that's what it comes to- the word makes you uncomfortable. It doesn't hurt you, it can't take away rights, it doesn't DEFINE you. It's uncomfortable.

And, besides, other words have come to mean something that they didn't start out meaning. Witch started out as a word to define someone who was wiser than his/her peers. Then it got bastardized and demonized. Then, it became a fictional entity, and it's only recently that witches have started claiming the word back from years of degradation. Pagan originally meant, basically, "Country Dweller", back when the term was coined. It, too, became demonized, and turned into "Oo, strange people!" to the popular understanding of the word. The N-word started just as a way to define a race, that got turned into a derogatory, nasty term.

Overall? Don't ban the word. It's putting a band-aid over a gaping gash, and it won't fix Racism.

Very nicely put NagickLorelai

Alright, I think this has gone too far. Though the N-word does bother me I don't care all that much about it like that. I'm totally against banning any word because this is the gateway to even more censorship.

On top of that, I turn on CNN and they're having a funeral for the word. They had a coffin and everything! For a damn word. Have those n****s lost their mind?! This is really not helping our image. On top of that, what the hell happened to CNN, they used to play news but now it's all about some chick randomly going missing and please don't get me started on missing white woman syndrome.

Anyway, I don't care about the n-word and Russel Simmons is a dumbass. This is the guy who said that the illegal diamond trade was no more because the DIAMOND COMPANY told him so! Where does he get off representing rap anyway? He's not even a rapper, his brother was a rapper and now he's the star of a mediocre reality tv show, and his model wife divorced him so f**k Russell Simmons and f**k his miserable attempt to try and fix something that can't be fixed.

hey where'd my post go?
update 5 mins later...
I read the rules on this section...no pictures.

I'll will just recreate then with out the YouTube photage:

We should ban all words that offend people.
We just don't know how people will react.

[insert link to YouTube where we see photage from Balls of Steel and Black Militant segment}


Quite funny though.
Take a look on YouTube it has a man playing a militant african american who gets upset at everything and turns every word into a racial slur...
Poignant for the discussion.

Two choices.

Continue to be offended by a meaningless word just as long as you leave everyone else out of it.

Realize it is, in fact, a meaningless word and let your whole life suddenly become less stressful.

Let me be the first to say that I dislike the N-word for what people symbolize it as. But let me be blunt by saying that if we ban words then we need to ban all sorts of offensive terms for all groups, not just one word that offends one group of people, and quite frankly thats stupid. The words are there to be insulting and derogatory, and the views are different to different people. I was raised to be respectful to all races but treat ignorance as ignorance, no matter who it came from. I was also taught that the n-word stood for ignorant people of all races, but thats one use of the word among many.(shawshank redemption the book has an excellent example of this, stating that in prison, anyone can be a ni**er). That doesn't mean I go about and spout it, it does mean the connotations are different in different settings.

I Like what Lenny bruce had to say about the word when he did comedy, saying that it wasn't the word, only the meaning behind it.
Richard Pryor had a very defined view on the subject after coming back from africa, saying he didn't see a ni**er in the whole country.Also the things randall says in clerks 2 are a fairly funny truth(I too was called a porch monkey as a term of affection by my grandparent, as monkeys are cute bright eyed creatures, who occasionally fling feces' much like children)

I also wanna see one white guy, just one who has the balls to stand right next to dave chappelle and say the word, no rudeness,no white man guilt, no glaring, just say the word like its the most natural thing in the world and notice the fervor that comes after it, because it really is a double standard. I don't like the word, I don't much care for people who use the word, but I also don't think I should get punched in the mouth for saying it(yes its happened when I was a lad).

In my years I have worked with many people of many cultures including some of the finest concert security professionals in kansas city and some of the finest childrens advocates for headstart, and many of them are black or latin and I truly respect and care about each one of them. It not the race of the person, its the spirit and I still think sometimes ignorant people deserve the monicker I was taught to give them.

Over the years because I was what would traditionally be known as caucasian I got alot of flak because of my skin tone, showing that racism does work both ways. I had one kid tell me my family owed him for slavery. The funny truth is I wasn't born until 1986 and never had a slave unless you count brothers, my mothers side fought against slavery in the civil war, my grandmothers side were on kansas side for anti-slave status during bleeding kansas and my fathers side was in hungary until 1930 and during the marches, we marched for equal rights. So I promptly reminded him, he never worked a damned day in his life for any of mine, that we risked just like his family did and that if he wanted to play that game, where was his family while those that stayed in hungary were shoved in ovens and death marched when the nazi's came.
Needless to say, he got very quiet and indignant. I don't have much of that racial guilt thats been drilled into us from a very early age, I guess I was taught bad shit happened to alot of people of every race in this country, and in the world all over.

But thats me and my two cents, my opinion, others could be different.