THE NIGGER TRAP
Nigger. It’s just a word, right? It can’t cut you, break a bone, steal your money or take your life…unless you’re white.
If you are white and you use that word in the wrong context and you will lose your job. You can be banned from television and radio. Use that word in the wrong neighborhood, it will get you killed.
Now if you’re black, you can use the word in any circumstance without fear. You can use it jokingly. You can use it in anger. It doesn’t really matter. The fact that you are black means you can say it and get a free pass because of the color of your skin.
That pretty much sums up the debate that has emerged after Jesse Jackson was caught on tape by Fox News calling Barack Obama a nigger and saying he would like to cut his nuts off. Mind you, this is the same Jesse Jackson who beat the drums so loudly after Don Imus called a bunch of girls, jokingly, nappy headed hos, that Imus got fired. CBS was so scared of retribution from Jackson and his ilk that they fired Imus and ended up losing the lawsuit he filed. That fear cost them millions, but they figured it was worth it.
I don’t see anybody threatening to fire or ban Jesse Jackson, do you?
I watched excerpts from the view as Whoopi Goldberg explained that the black community has co-opted the word, originally meant as an insult, and turned it into something less vicious…but, she added, if you’re white, you still can’t say it. I can say it, because I’m black. You can’t because you are white, so get over it. I can understand this concept to a degree. It’s the same thing for fat people. I can joke about me being overweight, but if you joke about me being overweight, it’s hurtful. I get it.
The problem is, sometimes, very rarely, but sometimes even white people can get a pass on using the word. I have seen and heard white comedians, in front of black and mixed race audiences, use the word nigger and get howls of laughter. It’s the context I suppose. The comedian was making a joke, it was funny, everybody laughed, no harm no foul, right? Let that same comedian walk outside of the comedy club and call one of the black audience members, in anger, a nigger and he is very close to committing a hate crime.
If Don Imus was black. Would there have been any controversy? Of course not. And he didn’t even use the N-word. He just made a stupid observation using language that some people, in some circumstances MIGHT find offensive. I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard girls, white and black, call each other ho and laugh about it.
The only reason white people can’t say the word is because the black activist community is struggling to find anything that they can point at to prove that racism is still a scourge on society that requires your donation to fight. In other words, white people saying the word nigger keeps Al Sharpton in business. That should be reason enough to stop using it.
Rappers sing it, comedians shout it and people use it every day…but if you’re white and conservative you better back off. It’s a trap.
Tyra Says: July 28th, 2008 at 4:08 pm
Words are powerful and have a “life” to them. The bible has a lot to say about bringing the power of life or death in our words. Black people are essentially “cursing” themselves by choosing to use that word. It should be removed from their vocabulary.
JonathanJonathan Says: August 26th, 2008 at 3:01 am
Why do you want to say that word?
JonathanJonathan Says: August 26th, 2008 at 3:02 am
“stumbled” here.
FarSide Says: August 26th, 2008 at 5:29 am
First, I’m 50. My parents used that word, especially my dad. It was common. So, I heard it often. Dad also used burr-head, coon. Mom, more refined, used darkey. In short, is there any difference in these words and nigger? No, of course not.
Political Correctness and laws may enforce a person’s free, hateful speech. You can ban the use of the word nigger, but you cannot stop a person’s thought or attitude of the heart. That is where the intention, the thought, and the word’s use begins. They may not say the n-word on the outside, but they are thinking it on the inside.
Kiwi Says: September 7th, 2008 at 11:16 pm
You say: “The only reason white people can’t say the word is because the black activist community is struggling to find anything that they can point at to prove that racism is still a scourge on society that requires your donation to fight.”
And people are still using racial slurs and getting upset when they’re told not to so apparently WE DO STILL HAVE A PROBLEM WITH RACISM. And if you’re so worked up about why you can’t say it, then you have a problem too. How dare you try to make this a political issue and how dare you blame it on the black community. Who the hell cares if you’re black, white, liberal, conservative… JUST DON’T SAY IT. It’s disrespectful, in bad taste, clearly racist, hurtful, and outrageously offensive in every possible way. Its not a trap if you already know how to avoid it.
Dave Says: April 15th, 2009 at 10:50 pm
All this flack over a word. Come on, get a life! Those who get “all bent-out-of-shape” need to quit being so myopic. I know the “a word from slavery” by-line…. When is this going to stop. Every class, ethic, was once in the scrounges of slavery (read your history). Damn, now I going to offend the “next group” (flavor of the month).