Dr. Laura's "N word" Rant

[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?

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.

No, it is not violence...it is hurtfulness. Interesting analogy to Muslims, but IanC, they have not been enslaved and degraded in the US.

 

[MikeK]

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.

The relevant fact is slavery ended long ago and Black Americans presently enjoy total equality. But there are and will remain for some gradually diminishing time a number of racist/hate groups, some of which are represented however informally in the following hate poetry:


"Waiting for the crackers; smuggle; his mug is in the gutters. . . . so we need your participation in the Caucasian assassination; time is wasting. . . . so who is in association with the ****** retaliation; it needs your total cooperation. . . .a confrontation will be fought by the younger generation; because we got determination; all we need is organization." (Purse Snatchers; Rush Associated Labels Recordings.)

"He preys on old white ladies who drive the Mercedes with the windows cracked. . . . you should've heard the bitch screaming. . . . sticking guns in crackers' mouths. . . . the cops can't stop it. . . . remember 4-29-92, come on; Florence and Normandy coming to a corner near you, cracker; we've been through your area, mass hysteria; led by your motherfucking Menace Clan." (Mad Nigga; Menace Clan, Da Hood, Rap-A-Lot Records.)

"I kill a devil right now. . . . I say kill ****** all nightey long. . . . I stabbed a fucking Jew with a steeple... I would kill a cracker for nothing, just for the fuck of it. . . . Menace Clan kill a cracker; jack 'em even quicker. . . . catch that devil sleeping; blow his fucking brains out." (Fuck a Record Deal; Menace Clan, Da Hood, Rap-A-Lot Records, Noo Trybe Records, subsidiaries of Thorn EMI.)

"A fight, a fight, a nigge* and a white, if the ****** don't win then we all jump in...smoking all America's white boys." (A Fight; Apache, Apache Ain't Shit, 1993, Tommy Boy Music, Time Warner, USA.)

"Niggas in the church say: kill ****** all night long. . . . the white man is the devil. . . . the CRIPS and Bloods are soldiers I'm recruiting with no dispute; drive-by shooting on this white genetic mutant. . . . let's go and kill some rednecks. . . . Menace Clan ain't afraid. . . . I got the .380; the homies think I'm crazy because I shot a white baby; I said; I said; I said: kill ****** all night long. . . a nigga dumping on your white ass; fuck this rap shit, nigga, I'm gonna blast. . . . I beat a white boy to the motherfucking ground." (Kill ******; Menace Clan, Da Hood, Rap-A-Lot Records.)

"Kill the white people; we gonna make them hurt; kill the white people; but buy my record first; ha, ha, ha" (Kill d'White People; Apache, Apache Ain't Shit, Tommy Boy Music, Time Warner, USA.)


That's just a few. I could show you dozens more, some as bad, some even worse. The SPLC doesn't pay attention to this relatively disorganized form of racist/hate groups. But nonetheless the hatred exists and is all too real.

So if you wish to dwell in the past and continue picking the scabs off old wounds there is nothing I can say to dissuade you. I'm not a psychiatrist.

 

[Madeline]

I assume you are quoting rap music lyrics. Ya, some are despicable...but the target audience is young, and the young have always enjoyed music that annoyed the shit outta old people, MikeK.

And it is preposterous to claim "blacks have reached equality". You sound like an educated person, and I assume you know this.

 

[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....

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.

so.....my wife is white....was raised for a good part of her young days in the projects in Long Beach....thats a black area.....you dont have to prove nothing to me Zona.....if you say your black...then your black.....i was just busting your balls anyway....but you still post like its Richie Cunningham doing the posting....

 

[taichiliberal]

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.

The relevant fact is slavery ended long ago and Black Americans presently enjoy total equality. But there are and will remain for some gradually diminishing time a number of racist/hate groups, some of which are represented however informally in the following hate poetry:


"Waiting for the crackers; smuggle; his mug is in the gutters. . . . so we need your participation in the Caucasian assassination; time is wasting. . . . so who is in association with the ****** retaliation; it needs your total cooperation. . . .a confrontation will be fought by the younger generation; because we got determination; all we need is organization." (Purse Snatchers; Rush Associated Labels Recordings.)

"He preys on old white ladies who drive the Mercedes with the windows cracked. . . . you should've heard the bitch screaming. . . . sticking guns in crackers' mouths. . . . the cops can't stop it. . . . remember 4-29-92, come on; Florence and Normandy coming to a corner near you, cracker; we've been through your area, mass hysteria; led by your motherfucking Menace Clan." (Mad Nigga; Menace Clan, Da Hood, Rap-A-Lot Records.)

"I kill a devil right now. . . . I say kill ****** all nightey long. . . . I stabbed a fucking Jew with a steeple... I would kill a cracker for nothing, just for the fuck of it. . . . Menace Clan kill a cracker; jack 'em even quicker. . . . catch that devil sleeping; blow his fucking brains out." (Fuck a Record Deal; Menace Clan, Da Hood, Rap-A-Lot Records, Noo Trybe Records, subsidiaries of Thorn EMI.)

"A fight, a fight, a nigge* and a white, if the ****** don't win then we all jump in...smoking all America's white boys." (A Fight; Apache, Apache Ain't Shit, 1993, Tommy Boy Music, Time Warner, USA.)

"Niggas in the church say: kill ****** all night long. . . . the white man is the devil. . . . the CRIPS and Bloods are soldiers I'm recruiting with no dispute; drive-by shooting on this white genetic mutant. . . . let's go and kill some rednecks. . . . Menace Clan ain't afraid. . . . I got the .380; the homies think I'm crazy because I shot a white baby; I said; I said; I said: kill ****** all night long. . . a nigga dumping on your white ass; fuck this rap shit, nigga, I'm gonna blast. . . . I beat a white boy to the motherfucking ground." (Kill ******; Menace Clan, Da Hood, Rap-A-Lot Records.)

"Kill the white people; we gonna make them hurt; kill the white people; but buy my record first; ha, ha, ha" (Kill d'White People; Apache, Apache Ain't Shit, Tommy Boy Music, Time Warner, USA.)


That's just a few. I could show you dozens more, some as bad, some even worse. The SPLC doesn't pay attention to this relatively disorganized form of racist/hate groups. But nonetheless the hatred exists and is all too real.

So if you wish to dwell in the past and continue picking the scabs off old wounds there is nothing I can say to dissuade you. I'm not a psychiatrist.

Hey, you won't get an argument from me about SOME of the abhorent lyrics of gangsta rap and such......folks like Rev. Sharpton, the NAACP, and other leaders/noted spokespeople have all condemned such dreck PUBLICALLY FOR YEARS....and I agree with them 100%. Two wrongs never make a right....and perhaps if owners like Time Warner ( who are NOT owned or run by black folk) wouldn't support/promote such dreck, it would remain a minor event, like skinhead and white power "rock" bands. But it's all about the Benjamins, don't cha know.


What's interesting is how YOU STILL AVOID THE FACTS OF HISTORICALLY DOCUMENTED INSTITUTIONALIZED RACISM AND BIGOTRY, as I laid out above. Unless you're some 20 year old that knows nothing beyond his birthday, ALL the information I listed happened WITHIN MY LIFETIME! My whole point was to show how the legacy of slavery lasted MUCH longer than YOU think.

While SPL center lists and denounces black racist groups, general commercial rap music with sexist/racist lyrics don't get coverage due to the FACT that they are NOT directly connected to a racist organization with a published agenda.

In short, your original assertion was proven wrong...and trying to switch to another venue for discussion won't change that.

 

[sitarro]

Mebbe the funniest movie ever made.

And in todays liberal lead PC world it could never be put in theaters, makes my point perfectly. The word ****** had absolutely no power over Sheriff Bart played masterfully by Cleavon Little in this movie, he knows it's coming from ignorant fools that he can easily outsmart........ this movie from 1974 would be dumbed down with colored or something even dumber like black to replace ****** if it could even get the funding to be made today. It's all about attitude, that's why I laugh when I hear some idiot call me a racist or a cracker, those words are meaningless today.

 

[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.

No, it is not violence...it is hurtfulness. Interesting analogy to Muslims, but IanC, they have not been enslaved and degraded in the US.

Enslaved and degraded Madeline? Perhaps by welfare and entitlement programs. I think we should keep some affirmative action for those INDIVIDUALS that show promise by achievement but treating a group differently simply for being born into a certain race is wrong. Its time to expect everyone to live by the same rules and take personal responsibility.

 

[sitarro]

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.

The relevant fact is slavery ended long ago and Black Americans presently enjoy total equality. But there are and will remain for some gradually diminishing time a number of racist/hate groups, some of which are represented however informally in the following hate poetry:


"Waiting for the crackers; smuggle; his mug is in the gutters. . . . so we need your participation in the Caucasian assassination; time is wasting. . . . so who is in association with the ****** retaliation; it needs your total cooperation. . . .a confrontation will be fought by the younger generation; because we got determination; all we need is organization." (Purse Snatchers; Rush Associated Labels Recordings.)

"He preys on old white ladies who drive the Mercedes with the windows cracked. . . . you should've heard the bitch screaming. . . . sticking guns in crackers' mouths. . . . the cops can't stop it. . . . remember 4-29-92, come on; Florence and Normandy coming to a corner near you, cracker; we've been through your area, mass hysteria; led by your motherfucking Menace Clan." (Mad Nigga; Menace Clan, Da Hood, Rap-A-Lot Records.)

"I kill a devil right now. . . . I say kill ****** all nightey long. . . . I stabbed a fucking Jew with a steeple... I would kill a cracker for nothing, just for the fuck of it. . . . Menace Clan kill a cracker; jack 'em even quicker. . . . catch that devil sleeping; blow his fucking brains out." (Fuck a Record Deal; Menace Clan, Da Hood, Rap-A-Lot Records, Noo Trybe Records, subsidiaries of Thorn EMI.)

"A fight, a fight, a nigge* and a white, if the ****** don't win then we all jump in...smoking all America's white boys." (A Fight; Apache, Apache Ain't Shit, 1993, Tommy Boy Music, Time Warner, USA.)

"Niggas in the church say: kill ****** all night long. . . . the white man is the devil. . . . the CRIPS and Bloods are soldiers I'm recruiting with no dispute; drive-by shooting on this white genetic mutant. . . . let's go and kill some rednecks. . . . Menace Clan ain't afraid. . . . I got the .380; the homies think I'm crazy because I shot a white baby; I said; I said; I said: kill ****** all night long. . . a nigga dumping on your white ass; fuck this rap shit, nigga, I'm gonna blast. . . . I beat a white boy to the motherfucking ground." (Kill ******; Menace Clan, Da Hood, Rap-A-Lot Records.)

"Kill the white people; we gonna make them hurt; kill the white people; but buy my record first; ha, ha, ha" (Kill d'White People; Apache, Apache Ain't Shit, Tommy Boy Music, Time Warner, USA.)


That's just a few. I could show you dozens more, some as bad, some even worse. The SPLC doesn't pay attention to this relatively disorganized form of racist/hate groups. But nonetheless the hatred exists and is all too real.

So if you wish to dwell in the past and continue picking the scabs off old wounds there is nothing I can say to dissuade you. I'm not a psychiatrist.

Hey, you won't get an argument from me about SOME of the abhorent lyrics of gangsta rap and such......folks like Rev. Sharpton, the NAACP, and other leaders/noted spokespeople have all condemned such dreck PUBLICALLY FOR YEARS....and I agree with them 100%. Two wrongs never make a right....and perhaps if owners like Time Warner ( who are NOT owned or run by black folk) wouldn't support/promote such dreck, it would remain a minor event, like skinhead and white power "rock" bands. But it's all about the Benjamins, don't cha know.

Yea, once again it's ******'s fault that millions of blacks buy, listen to and have sex to shit like that, sure! The mere fact that you would grace an asshole like Sharpton with the Reverend label tells me just what kind of fool you are. ****** forces blacks to smoke crack and black fathers to impregnate as many women as they can and then leave them....... your President even comes from one of those useless, low life, irresponsible wasters of air....... no wonder he hates whites, they made his daddy leave him.

Grow up!

What's interesting is how YOU STILL AVOID THE FACTS OF HISTORICALLY DOCUMENTED INSTITUTIONALIZED RACISM AND BIGOTRY, as I laid out above. Unless you're some 20 year old that knows nothing beyond his birthday, ALL the information I listed happened WITHIN MY LIFETIME! My whole point was to show how the legacy of slavery lasted MUCH longer than YOU think.

While SPL center lists and denounces black racist groups, general commercial rap music with sexist/racist lyrics don't get coverage due to the FACT that they are NOT directly connected to a racist organization with a published agenda.

In short, your original assertion was proven wrong...and trying to switch to another venue for discussion won't change that.

What you don't seem to get, is that it's over, you have what you wanted in the White House
you can become anything you want with a bunch of monetary help from the taxpayers who are mostly white people ......... you have won and you still want to whine.

Let's get down to it, what's the figure, how much do you want to never bore us with the "oh poor me" bullshit, "my ancestors were enslaved by other Africans and sold around the world by Arabs........ you white devils owe me some money!".

Why aren't you bitching about all of the guilty parties, why don't you demand reparations from the descendants of Arab slave traders?

It's because you hate white people, why? Because you're a racist and you know that you can use the true goodness of today's majority of whites to get some kind of free ride, Arabs and Africans would tell you to go fuck yourselves. Hell, your President and his jerk wife have done it all their lives and look where it's gotten them.

Go tell your pitiful ancestral story to an American Indian living on a hot, fucked up reservation, see how much pity you get from him. The fact is, we all have had shit pasts, some get over it and move on, others allow their history to rule every facet of their lives....... look at the victims that insist on labeling themselves with hyphenated names....... pathetic. Africa couldn't give a shit about American blacks and yet you insist on calling yourself African first, then American, that's beyond pathetic. My ancestors on my fathers side fled France and ended up in Nova Scotia where they lived for a while before the British came in and took over. Being French, they were lower than shit to the British so they were raped, beaten and enslaved by them...... the homes they had built torched. They were finally separated and thrown on junky old boats to go back to France, if they could actually make it, many sunk and drowned. Not only do I not care to be referred to as French-American, I don't want anything from the British and blame them for nothing, it's the past and I won't let it have any power over me.

 

[MikeK]

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.

That observation obliquely suggests that I have said or implied the opposite is true when in fact I have stated more than once in this thread that addressing someone as a ****** is offensive.

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?

The word is being used in this thread because someone called a radio talk show and a controversy arose over its use. This has been an academic discussion which should not have caused any pain for or inflamed the passion of any rational individual.

 

[Madeline]

I think it is presumptuous and short sighted to dismiss someone else's life experience. IMO, it'd be the rare bird who was black and didn't find that the central fact of his or her life. Race in America is as much a dividing line now as ever, at least for poor and working class folks.

 

[nia588]

the n-word wasn't the worst thing that she said in her rant. i mean she said some really stereo typical things that bothered me. like the story she told about telling her body guard on the team because he is black and white men can't jump. then she went on saying Obama was a black thing (I'm black and I voted for Hilary Clinton during the primary season).

and laughed at the fact she thought just because black comics use the n-word it's OK. you have to be an idiot to take what is OK and not OK to say from HBO.

saying the n-word is not OK. I remember growing up my father never let me and my brother say that word.

 

[Middleman]

the n-word wasn't the worst thing that she said in her rant. i mean she said some really stereo typical things that bothered me. like the story she told about telling her body guard on the team because he is black and white men can't jump. then she went on saying Obama was a black thing (I'm black and I voted for Hilary Clinton during the primary season).

and laughed at the fact she thought just because black comics use the n-word it's OK. you have to be an idiot to take what is OK and not OK to say from HBO.

saying the n-word is not OK. I remember growing up my father never let me and my brother say that word.

You make some good points. The whole bodyguard story was obnoxious and patronizing. I wonder what he REALLY thinks about her?

 

[Toome]

So her second statement was wrong.

She gave into Da Man.

I think so.

Hearing the radio program excerpt, it seems to me that she was making a point that had nothing to do with being insensitive or insulting. She was trying to argue with the caller why we have such double-standards when it comes to the word "******."

When she turned around and apologized for it, it's very clear to me that she caved in by admitting that the term was insensitive and that she was wrong for saying it.

Now, if Chris Rock, Dave Chappelle, Jaime Foxx or any other angry black comedians were to offer similar apologies for unintended offense someone somewhere may have taken to their use of the word "******," then Schlessinger's apology would make sense. However, what we have here is a White woman being pressured into issuing this apology because when she said the word "******" it was racist. Had Oprah said it, there would be no pressure for an apology.

That's the double standard we tolerate today.

Why did Quentin Tarantino not apologize for using the term ****** extensively in Pulp Fiction? Or John Travolta in the same movie?

And I don't think that Oprah would have used the term in the first place...and likely would apologize if she said it. There is a time and place for it do be used.

In standup comedy: yes. In movies: yes. On primetime TV: no. On talk radio: no. One must gauge their audience. Dr. Laura did not.

Sorry, friend, but I have to call bullshit on that. If the word is offensive or considered a racial slur, then it shouldn't matter who says it nor under which context. If a movie is going to be rated R due to language, then the word "******" by itself should be enough to constitute an R rating.

However, the reality is, no matter you slice it, that one little word polarizes any real attempt to discuss racial relations. And that's too damn bad. It is a double standard. And just to make one point clear: no, I don't use the word. That's not the point. It should not carry with it such a stigma. In other words, it should be no different than the words "son-of-bitch" or "bitch" or "whore" or "asshole" or "wetback" or "jew" (as in, "he jewed me out of my money") etc.

Blacks don't get special status in my book. They're no different than the rest of us.

 

[CurveLight]

I think so.

Hearing the radio program excerpt, it seems to me that she was making a point that had nothing to do with being insensitive or insulting. She was trying to argue with the caller why we have such double-standards when it comes to the word "******."

When she turned around and apologized for it, it's very clear to me that she caved in by admitting that the term was insensitive and that she was wrong for saying it.

Now, if Chris Rock, Dave Chappelle, Jaime Foxx or any other angry black comedians were to offer similar apologies for unintended offense someone somewhere may have taken to their use of the word "******," then Schlessinger's apology would make sense. However, what we have here is a White woman being pressured into issuing this apology because when she said the word "******" it was racist. Had Oprah said it, there would be no pressure for an apology.

That's the double standard we tolerate today.

Why did Quentin Tarantino not apologize for using the term ****** extensively in Pulp Fiction? Or John Travolta in the same movie?

And I don't think that Oprah would have used the term in the first place...and likely would apologize if she said it. There is a time and place for it do be used.

In standup comedy: yes. In movies: yes. On primetime TV: no. On talk radio: no. One must gauge their audience. Dr. Laura did not.

Sorry, friend, but I have to call bullshit on that. If the word is offensive or considered a racial slur, then it shouldn't matter who says it nor under which context. If a movie is going to be rated R due to language, then the word "******" by itself should be enough to constitute an R rating.

However, the reality is, no matter you slice it, that one little word polarizes any real attempt to discuss racial relations. And that's too damn bad. It is a double standard. And just to make one point clear: no, I don't use the word. That's not the point. It should not carry with it such a stigma. In other words, it should be no different than the words "son-of-bitch" or "bitch" or "whore" or "asshole" or "wetback" or "jew" (as in, "he jewed me out of my money") etc.

Blacks don't get special status in my book. They're no different than the rest of us.

If they're no different why do you call them "blacks?"

 

[Madeline]

I think so.

Hearing the radio program excerpt, it seems to me that she was making a point that had nothing to do with being insensitive or insulting. She was trying to argue with the caller why we have such double-standards when it comes to the word "******."

When she turned around and apologized for it, it's very clear to me that she caved in by admitting that the term was insensitive and that she was wrong for saying it.

Now, if Chris Rock, Dave Chappelle, Jaime Foxx or any other angry black comedians were to offer similar apologies for unintended offense someone somewhere may have taken to their use of the word "******," then Schlessinger's apology would make sense. However, what we have here is a White woman being pressured into issuing this apology because when she said the word "******" it was racist. Had Oprah said it, there would be no pressure for an apology.

That's the double standard we tolerate today.

Why did Quentin Tarantino not apologize for using the term ****** extensively in Pulp Fiction? Or John Travolta in the same movie?

And I don't think that Oprah would have used the term in the first place...and likely would apologize if she said it. There is a time and place for it do be used.

In standup comedy: yes. In movies: yes. On primetime TV: no. On talk radio: no. One must gauge their audience. Dr. Laura did not.

Sorry, friend, but I have to call bullshit on that. If the word is offensive or considered a racial slur, then it shouldn't matter who says it nor under which context. If a movie is going to be rated R due to language, then the word "******" by itself should be enough to constitute an R rating.

However, the reality is, no matter you slice it, that one little word polarizes any real attempt to discuss racial relations. And that's too damn bad. It is a double standard. And just to make one point clear: no, I don't use the word. That's not the point. It should not carry with it such a stigma. In other words, it should be no different than the words "son-of-bitch" or "bitch" or "whore" or "asshole" or "wetback" or "jew" (as in, "he jewed me out of my money") etc.

Blacks don't get special status in my book. They're no different than the rest of us.

Toome, using the phrase "jewed me down" is about as anti-semetic as it gets. You must be one insensitive, oblivious jackass not to know this.

 

[Mad Scientist]

Toome, using the phrase "jewed me down" is about as anti-semetic as it gets. You must be one insensitive, oblivious jackass not to know this.

I remember one of Chris Rocks early standup routines where he said people only get upset at the negative stereotypes but like and agree with the positive ones.

He said someday he want's hear someone say: "Yeah, I got me a niggah doin' my taxes".

 

[Toome]

Why did Quentin Tarantino not apologize for using the term ****** extensively in Pulp Fiction? Or John Travolta in the same movie?

And I don't think that Oprah would have used the term in the first place...and likely would apologize if she said it. There is a time and place for it do be used.

In standup comedy: yes. In movies: yes. On primetime TV: no. On talk radio: no. One must gauge their audience. Dr. Laura did not.

Sorry, friend, but I have to call bullshit on that. If the word is offensive or considered a racial slur, then it shouldn't matter who says it nor under which context. If a movie is going to be rated R due to language, then the word "******" by itself should be enough to constitute an R rating.

However, the reality is, no matter you slice it, that one little word polarizes any real attempt to discuss racial relations. And that's too damn bad. It is a double standard. And just to make one point clear: no, I don't use the word. That's not the point. It should not carry with it such a stigma. In other words, it should be no different than the words "son-of-bitch" or "bitch" or "whore" or "asshole" or "wetback" or "jew" (as in, "he jewed me out of my money") etc.

Blacks don't get special status in my book. They're no different than the rest of us.

Toome, using the phrase "jewed me down" is about as anti-semetic as it gets. You must be one insensitive, oblivious jackass not to know this.

So do you think it should be referred to as the "J-word" instead? If so, then how does one correctly refer to a person of the Hebrew faith? When is "Jew" a reference to one's religion and when is it a slur?

The issue here, cupcake, is that while certain words are certainly offensive, branding Dr. Laura as a racist simply because she said the word "******" in an attempt to address the double-standard society has is simply an over-reaction by people, perhaps like yourself, who thrive on making race a divisive issue rather than working towards a solution.

 

[Toome]

Why did Quentin Tarantino not apologize for using the term ****** extensively in Pulp Fiction? Or John Travolta in the same movie?

And I don't think that Oprah would have used the term in the first place...and likely would apologize if she said it. There is a time and place for it do be used.

In standup comedy: yes. In movies: yes. On primetime TV: no. On talk radio: no. One must gauge their audience. Dr. Laura did not.

Sorry, friend, but I have to call bullshit on that. If the word is offensive or considered a racial slur, then it shouldn't matter who says it nor under which context. If a movie is going to be rated R due to language, then the word "******" by itself should be enough to constitute an R rating.

However, the reality is, no matter you slice it, that one little word polarizes any real attempt to discuss racial relations. And that's too damn bad. It is a double standard. And just to make one point clear: no, I don't use the word. That's not the point. It should not carry with it such a stigma. In other words, it should be no different than the words "son-of-bitch" or "bitch" or "whore" or "asshole" or "wetback" or "jew" (as in, "he jewed me out of my money") etc.

Blacks don't get special status in my book. They're no different than the rest of us.

If they're no different why do you call them "blacks?"

I grew up in the 70's and the whole Black Pride movement. The message was that they weren't negros or colored folk but Blacks and proud of it. (Negro, by the way, means Black in Spanish.) This whole African-American thing strikes me as pretty silly since, when you get right down to it, we're all African-American at some point, or at least Asian-American, depending on your view of history.

A good friend of mine explained that he preferred to be called Black because he was not from Africa. I only know of one real African-American at my workplace; she immigrated from Nigeria.

She prefers to be called a Texan.

 

[Madeline]

Sorry, friend, but I have to call bullshit on that. If the word is offensive or considered a racial slur, then it shouldn't matter who says it nor under which context. If a movie is going to be rated R due to language, then the word "******" by itself should be enough to constitute an R rating.

However, the reality is, no matter you slice it, that one little word polarizes any real attempt to discuss racial relations. And that's too damn bad. It is a double standard. And just to make one point clear: no, I don't use the word. That's not the point. It should not carry with it such a stigma. In other words, it should be no different than the words "son-of-bitch" or "bitch" or "whore" or "asshole" or "wetback" or "jew" (as in, "he jewed me out of my money") etc.

Blacks don't get special status in my book. They're no different than the rest of us.

Toome, using the phrase "jewed me down" is about as anti-semetic as it gets. You must be one insensitive, oblivious jackass not to know this.

So do you think it should be referred to as the "J-word" instead? If so, then how does one correctly refer to a person of the Hebrew faith? When is "Jew" a reference to one's religion and when is it a slur?

The issue here, cupcake, is that while certain words are certainly offensive, branding Dr. Laura as a racist simply because she said the word "******" in an attempt to address the double-standard society has is simply an over-reaction by people, perhaps like yourself, who thrive on making race a divisive issue rather than working towards a solution.

I wonder what the "problem" is then, that the "solution" would be haphazardly tossing around racial epithets? I kinda sorta thought giving up the use of racial epithets was a step towards harmony.

To refer to a person who is Jewish as "a Jew" is perfectly acceptable.

To refer to a bargain hunter as someone trying to "jew you down" is unacceptable.

The reason that these two usages are different is that one is respectful and the other is not. It implies that Jews are sneaky, money hungry and relentless...and if you cannot figure out why Jews might find that offensive, mebbe you need to bone up a little on your WW II history.

Whatever your ethnic background, Toome, I assure you there's some derogatory nickname for you. Mebbe you'd enjoy hearing it addressed more often to you? To your family?

The Racial Slur Database

 

[RadiomanATL]

I'm a redneck wop.

Means I can make a awesome catfish primavera.