Michael Richards rant

[ProstheticHead12]

If Chris Rock had been up there calling people in the crowd crackers it wouldnt have be an issue what so ever. Double standards.

Chris Rock would've been funny, and making a joke, not just just yelling whatever slur popped into his head because he was pissed off.

[NeuroNomicon]

"Cracker" isn't offensive to anyone. It's a fucking silly word. Greg's absolutely, positively, correctomundo. Chris Rock would've been fuckin' around. Mike Richards went off.

[TheKshatriya]

I dont care what he would have done, I said if he did.

[Holiday Rambler]

I'd like to know why a word so widely, WIDELY used among blacks (possibly more often than 'the' or 'a' in some cases) is considered practically fucking unspeakable when used by anyone else.

You cannot claim a string of letters as your personal slogan and then cry foul or racist or hateful or bigot or discriminator or supremacist when it gets used elsewhere. Surprise! That makes you the discriminator.

[ProstheticHead12]

I dont care what he would have done, I said if he did.

That's my point though, Rock has the humor and class not to go on a stupid rant.













Nigger.

[Vince]

I'd like to know why a word so widely, WIDELY used among blacks (possibly more often than 'the' or 'a' in some cases) is considered practically fucking unspeakable when used by anyone else.

You cannot claim a string of letters as your personal slogan and then cry foul or racist or hateful or bigot or discriminator or supremacist when it gets used elsewhere. Surprise! That makes you the discriminator.

I think you're completely missing the point.

First of all, the word is not just "a string of letters," as you so casually put it. It's an extremely loaded word that connotates memories of every foul bit of racism in America from segregation and Jim Crow all the way back to slavery. When a white man calls a black man 'nigger,' he is not only reminding him of that legacy, but also re-affirming it.

Second, somewhere along the way, black people started using the word themselves to refer to an ignorant person. This has been going on for a long, long time, but it has recently become most visible in hip-hop culture. The same culture has been co-opted by suburban white kids all over the world who imitate black culture. These people view being black as being fashionable. So, just like the rappers they listen to, white kids started saying 'nigga,' without thinking of its implications.

Third, you're obviously not black, and NEITHER AM I. So how the FUCK do we even have a right to debate the use of this word?

[BlazeTSU]

like i said before.....i'm not saying that he was right or wrong but is it really that big a deal?


i'm simply saying that what he said and did was no worse than what thousands of other comics that happen to be black say about white people. and does it really make it more racist to call someone a "racial slur" when your pissed off rather than just having it written into your act?

for all we know the guys that were heckling him were being racist as hell towards him.


we could avoid a lot of nonsense like this if people would understand that there are consequences for your actions. if you heckle a comic from the crowd they might get pissed off and come back at you, if you don't comply with police orders you might get tased and if you shoot and injury three cops you might get shot to death no matter if you are a 92 yr. old black women. race really doesn't play that big a role in any of these cases. its basic 'cause and effect'.

[Holiday Rambler]

So, just like the rappers they listen to, white kids started saying 'nigga,' without thinking of its implications.

And with this statement, I think you're missing the point. White kids aren't the only ones using it and being unaware or clueless of the 'deeper' implication.

If the word truly sparks ideas of slavery and segregation and oppression (which it does, and always will), then why does anyone, ESPECIALLY much of the black culture, openly use and even embrace it? Sorry, I simply don't buy the notion that one race can rally around a dated and divisive epithet like it's a badge of honor while simultaneously shitting themselves with accusatory witchhunt bullshit when anyone else utters the same two syllables.

If you see it as such a volatile term, and the mere fact that it's part of the English language enrages you, then quit being part of the problem. Don't use it.

And not to branch away from the discussion, but the "black culture" you're probably referring to (MTV, rap, bling, 'get rich or die trying') is, at best, a sorry representation of a handful of a morally bankrupt, string-pulling opportunists posing as artists, musicians and rappers. I wouldn't use that as your sociological model.

[holly]

And not to branch away from the discussion, but the "black culture" you're probably referring to (MTV, rap, bling, 'get rich or die trying') is, at best, a sorry representation of a handful of a morally bankrupt, string-pulling opportunists posing as artists, musicians and rappers. I wouldn't use that as your sociological model.

Because that's everything that hip-hop culture encompasses.

[Vince]

You're helping prove a point: The hip-hop culture on TV is such a small part of black culture and does not define it. The majority of black people would probably rather the word 'nigga' just disappear. You're generalizing when you say that most black people use this word freely. It's not a rallying point.

It's the small percentage of those who use it who are imitated by a much larger group of whites, asians, hispanics, etc, who perpetuate ghetto stereotypes about blacks.

You're correct that many of the black people who use this word probably don't think about it's implications, but neither do many other people. Those who understand the implications of the word, as you do, should understand why it's unacceptable for ANYONE to use it in a hateful manner.

[Holiday Rambler]

It's the small percentage of those who use it who are imitated by a much larger group of whites, asians, hispanics, etc, who perpetuate ghetto stereotypes about blacks.

But you're admitting that the "ghetto stereotype" is, at the very least, initiated by one or more segments of black culture. This is the same force in society that has grown so significantly in popularity on the social level because of the media attraction to it.

"Me me me" "money money money" "keep it real" "stay hard" "reprazent" "fuck dem hoes" and whatever else has exploded into a viable, visible influence on American culture. My point is that "nigga" is tossed around in this highly visible group more often than "yo" or "w3rd up."

If you're free to say it, we're all free to say it. Period. Show me the headlines about the segment of the black community denouncing multi-millionaire rappers who call each other 'niggas' and I'll get on the "Michael Richards is a racist for saying the 'n' word during a comedy routine" wagon.

[Death2all]

Ok so does that make Patti Smith exempt from this argument?

[Holiday Rambler]

Don't even get me going on women!

NYUK NYUK

[Death2all]

Now we have this

http://newsbusters.org/node/9251

[Holiday Rambler]

Now we have this

http://newsbusters.org/node/9251

Right idea, wrong method.