The Associated Press is reporting that Jesse Jackson, who said he wanted to cut Barack Obama's nuts off also used the word nigger in his "hot mic" exchange.
Most of the other reports you read about this will refer to Jackson uttering the "N-word."
F-word that. I'm no P-word, I am printing the N-word. If someone sues me I'll hire by G-word friend, the Asbury Park lawyer who desperately wants to be on FoxNews, to defend me.
What ever happened to "Sticks and stones will break my bones, but names will never hurt me?"
Will cleansing our vocabulary of offensive words, or our editorial pages of offensive cartoons really improve how we all relate to each other? I think not. Especially if we only do so "in public" but continue to use the terms, and mean them, in private, as Jackson apparently thought he was doing.
If we really want to improve race relations in our country, and I think we do, we need to learn to understand and accept each other.
I propose we start with a national Take a Nigger to Lunch Day and Hang with the Honkies Day.
America’s Jenga Tower of Power
7 hours ago
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7 comments:
Interesting post so shortly after George Carlin's death. I agree that it is ridiculous that the term "N-word" has crept into common usage when referring to something someone else said. It's almost as if you are also guilty of calling someone a nigger if you are reporting that someone else actually said it.
Lugar96
Thanks Lugar. Carlin was very much on my mind when I wrote this post this morning. He will be missed.
I do find it ironic that this post is put up left of the picture of Obama though. I'm sure it was just an oversight on your part.
Dear Mr. Gallagher,
As you know I spend a substantial amount of time in the place of my youth, Asbury Park. That City has a large population of decendents of West African Slaves, who refer to themselves as "African American" as opposed to hyphenating a country. They use "African-American" because records were not kept, and they don't know the specific country they are from (unlike Barack Obama, the first Kenyan-American candidate).
Obviously growing up in a place where Black people were the majority, my life is filled with people I love from that race (my youngest son is named for a dear friend who is blessed with protective pigment of the skin).
Now, your point is not lost on me. I have used the word you do in my own columns when dealing with a quote, just as you say in your post. I specifically avoid "N-Word" when I write, for instance, a sentence like, "It is wrong to call someone a n....."
However, this issue is so charged, it is easily subject to misinterpretation by the casual reader.
Since your posts do show up on Google searches, it presents a problem for me.
I don't want someone looking for me, Googling my name, and finding a post called "Nigger Nuts" with an insinuation that I'm some kind of crusader for the frequent use of the word (that's not what you said, but certainly how it will be misinterpreted).
So, while I don't mind you posting this objection, do you think you can do me the favor of deleting my name from the post, or perhaps altering it to some sort of code?
Gotta go now. Thursday is "Doggie Happy Hour" at the Wonder Bar. Bring your pooch.
Something else you can only get in the wonderful, fun, safe and diverse City of Asbury Park.
justifiedright
So, while I don't mind you posting this objection, do you think you can do me the favor of deleting my name from the post, or perhaps altering it to some sort of code?
Damn straight. You can't defend me if you're the one suing me!
I have no problem with Jesse Jackson saying the word nigger, nor do I have a problem with Don Imus saying "nappy headed hos". I don't think Mr. Jackson should be fired from his job (what is his job anyhow?) just as I didn't think that the I-man should have been fired for what he said.
It's only worth noting Imus because Obama wanted the I-man fired for what he said (ignore his ranch charity and such), but I see Obama shaking off what Jackson said. Obama complains about a cartoon on a magazine cover, but doesn't complain about the words spoken on TV by Mr. Jackson. These are very troubling double standards where free speech is only free sometimes for some people, depending on race. McCain "forgave" Imus, Obama never did. Hillary won't talk to Imus - I suppose now she won't talk to Jackson either? Let's see.
ambrosiajr said...
I do find it ironic that this post is put up left of the picture of Obama though. I'm sure it was just an oversight on your part.
What is ironic about it? Yesterday, Ken Pringle's post was next to the Obamanation.
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