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| New York City bans use of the word "nigger" |
| 2007-03-02 |
| New York City symbolically banned use of the word nigger on Wednesday, the latest step in a campaign that hopes to expunge the most vile of racial slurs from hip hop music and television. The City Council unanimously declared a moratorium that carries no penalty but aims to stop youth from casually using the word, considered by most Americans to be the most offensive in the English language. The New York City measure follows similar resolutions this month by the New York state assembly and state senate, and supporters of the ban are taking their campaign to The Recording Academy, asking it not to nominate musicians for Grammy awards if they use the word in their lyrics. Many rap artists and young New Yorkers toss the word around as a term of endearment or as a substitute for black, angering some black leaders who consider those who use it as ignorant of the word's hate-filled history in slavery and segregation. "This could be the beginning of a movement," councilman Albert Vann said. Councilman Leroy Comrie, a sponsor of the moratorium, said the campaign against the word has gained strength since comedian Michael Richards spewed it in a racially charged tirade in Los Angeles. The Laugh Factory club where Richards performed has since banned comedians from using the word there and the former "Seinfeld" television star has apologized. "The Michael Richards incident really brought it to another level. It has forced people to express their outrage. Many people had been seething quietly," Comrie said. Comrie also asked TV network Black Entertainment Television to stop using the word in its shows. Representatives of BET did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A Grammy spokesman said he doubted the academy's 11,000 voting members would support any measure that might censor artists. "They are not going to be supportive of something that excludes someone simply because they are using a word that is offensive," said Ron Roecker, vice president of communication for the Recording Academy. The city resolution calling for the moratorium traces the etymology of the word from the Latin "niger," meaning black, to its first documented written use in 1786 as a term slave masters used to label their African slaves. Use of the word by blacks exploded with the rise of rap music in recent years, and some black comedians like Chris Rock continue to use it in their routines. "What, is there a fine? Am I going to get a ticket?" Rock mocked in a Reuters interview when asked about the City Council move. "Do judges say, '10 years, nigger!"' Rock said politicians were trying to divert attention from real problems: "Enough real bad things happen in this city to worry about how I am going to use the word." |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #28 Talk about giving someone power over you! All this furor over a WORD? If anyone is wondering why there's still contempt for, and anger with blacks everywhere they live, they could start with reviewing what happened to innocent whites in Wichita and Knoxville at the hands of blacks. A little of that kind of savagery goes one hell of a long way. |
| Posted by: mac 2007-03-02 18:30 |
| #27 And they're banning Huckleberry Finn in the public schools, I bet. |
| Posted by: Eric Jablow 2007-03-02 18:14 |
| #26 Comrie also asked TV network Black Entertainment Television to stop using the word in its shows. Representatives of BET did not immediately respond to a request for comment. That's because they're too busy laughing. Oh, and too smart to get involved. |
| Posted by: Secret Master 2007-03-02 16:42 |
| #25 Word, Obviously it makes a difference when and where you grew up and how you were raised. For the most part I grew up on the West Coast in the 50s and 60s. The word nigger wasn't used at home at all and not very often by us kids in the streets. During WWII allot of Black folks moved up from the South and worked in the Bay Area for Kaiser and the Navy etc. There didn't seem to be any problems, there were no special lines or bathrooms for Black people, they were like any other group around but no one made too big a deal out of it until the "civil rights" movement then things changed, for the worse. On TV you could see separate toilet facilities in Washington DC. and folks sitting on the back of the bus but you never saw it out here. Negro was the PC and Proper word to describe folks that had African heritage when I grew up. Occasionally you heard the word colored but my folks didn't want me or my sister to use the word. I went to school with all races although the majority were white kids like me. I played foot ball and sports with other black kids and worked part time jobs with them later during my college years in the early-mid 60s. As I said things began to change.... One day maybe 1964 or 65 my sister was jumped by 4 black girls in front of Mt. Zion Hospital. Luckily they only used their knives to cut off her long blond hair. That's when things changed for me forever, you see because my good hearted sister would never treat anyone that way, and yet she was attacked because she was white and had blond hair. If only I could have been there... Whats in a word. If you think banishing the word will make it go away you are wrong. It will only become a more powerful word and it will never fade away like colored or negro almost have. The word police just invite circumlocution, folks will use funny and/or mean spirited workarounds in writing etc. or inflection in their speech or affected syntax My step-father used Mulunyan, I sorta have a soft spot for that one but I rarely use it even privately. The very word racism seems a commonly used word describing ( In America): A bias that white people have against blacks. Which is in reverse as far as i can tell, of the most practiced racism that I witness anyway. Whites are the most slurred and targeted folks on the planet most likely, just in case, you might want to keep track if you want waste some of your precious time counting...that is.. |
| Posted by: RD 2007-03-02 16:28 |
| #24 My guess is someone will scream the word in front of a cop and get arrested or fined so they can challenge the stupid law and get some publicity. Luckily for rap and hip-hop they exchanged the "er" for "a" a long time ago. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2007-03-02 16:13 |
| #23 What's missing here ? It's just a word, for Christ's sake. A word is just a sound with intended meaning. How backward are we when we outlaw a sound ? I have less hope every day for the human race. I would much prefer 'nigger' be used commonly with an understood meaning than any word outlawed for any reason. The way rap has watered down it's use, the words nigger, dude, and bud could be described as pronoun-like references to peers. The real problem is the possibility that the thought police will lose one of their tools. And we all know thought police are self-appointed leftist, communist intent on destroying America. Point your guns at the real enemy. |
| Posted by: wxjames 2007-03-02 14:27 |
| #22 First, they came for the word "nigger", then it was spear chucker, tar baby, blue gums, boot lips, shines...etc. Where has the freedom gone? |
| Posted by: Chiper Threreger8956 2007-03-02 14:08 |
| #21 I call for a ban on all Symbolical Moratoriums and Non-Binding Resolutions. The effect of “Governance by Grievance Groups” creates obfuscation for those that don’t possess the courage to make decisions. However altruistic in their intent, the ineffectiveness of these resolutions encourages ridicule and eventually they breed contempt. In the end, this allows for increased acceptance for enforceable laws that would not otherwise have been contemplated as necessity. For Instance: On January 5, 2007 Representative Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX) introduced a piece of legislation (H.R. 254). The bill is called the “David Ray Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007” (or “David’s Law,” for short). The introduction of David’s Law threatens the constitutionally protected right of freedom of speech by mandating federal criminal prosecution for crimes motivated by “the actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, or disability of any person.” |
| Posted by: DepotGuy 2007-03-02 13:56 |
| #20 My (Southern, racially prejudiced) Mama taught me when I was very young that only trash uses such language, and she wasn't raising any trash. Therefore, even though I grew up in the mountains of Virginia in the 1950's, and heard that word (and worse) a lot, I've never used it in my memory, nor would I. And yes, in my opinion, Mama's belief about that word and trash still stands. For ALL races. Now if we could just get non-whites to stop using it.... |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2007-03-02 13:55 |
| #19 So from now on I'll have to remember never to use the word 'Nigger' on Wednesday in New York (That's what it says. read for yourself) banned use of the word nigger on Wednesday, |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2007-03-02 13:10 |
| #18 I hear fat people now want be referred to as "overly nourished"... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2007-03-02 12:48 |
| #17 We like the term folically challenged or pate enhanced. |
| Posted by: BrerRabbit 2007-03-02 12:47 |
| #16 Y'know, when I was a kid, I was taught to respond "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me" when ever someone called me a name. |
| Posted by: Rambler 2007-03-02 12:36 |
| #15 But Norwegians don't like to be called Bald, do they BrerRabbit? |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2007-03-02 12:12 |
| #14 When I was growing up, it was a collocial ABBREVIATION. Probably very NOT PC today as well. Have not used it in man decades and doubt I ever will again. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2007-03-02 12:06 |
| #13 And in related news... Music sales overall are down, but rap sales in particular have dropped 21 percent from 2005 to 2006. For the first time in 12 years, the top ten best-selling albums of the year did not include a rap album. A poll of black Americans by The Associated Press and AOL-Black Voices last year revealed 50 percent of respondents said hip-hop was a negative force in American society. Jawn Kerry will be crushed... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2007-03-02 12:05 |
| #12 But... but... but.... it is free speech! I think people should be free to say it, just like the people that are target of the word are free to punch said offender in the mouth. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2007-03-02 11:09 |
| #11 Funny, in France, the PCness is so overbearing and smothering, that the word noir ("black" cannot be used for black people; instead, the word to be used in social life, media,... is "BLACK" (in english); it was a very funny evolution; first, nègre ("negro") was deemed deprecating, while it was the usual and accepted word, used in literature even by black writers; from there it indeed became a racist word (new meaning is "nigger"); then, "noir", which is simply a color denomination, was too strong; the Enlightened Elites just had to resort to an english (read US) word, since the 90's I'd say, because, well, black americans are hip, they're cool, when you say BLACK, you imply this. All this is the semantics of PCness; sometimes, it has strange results; quite a few years ago, I was watching an animation "stick" (short 5 mn program between series", before the Sopranos IIRC) in a very PC satellite chanel, with subtitled original version programs; the english dialog, with a young black girl lamenting her lack of sportive proefficiency and saying something like "I felt like I was a shame to the whole black race"... subtitles were (in french) "I felt like I was a shame to the whole 'BLACK' COMMUNITY". That innocent US carton had two taboo words : "noir" and "race". That just an insignificant detail but it stuck to me, because it was so stereotyped about french PCness (on the same channel and on the same program, "you're a racist" became "you're a dirty racist", lol). |
| Posted by: anonymous5089 2007-03-02 11:04 |
| #10 I don't see the problem here. Many of my best friends and acquaintances are... |
| Posted by: Robert Byrd 2007-03-02 11:03 |
| #9 I am just glad that NY City does not have any problems more serious than the use or misuse of the English language. Perhaps there is a shortage of English teachers or ministers. |
| Posted by: whatadeal 2007-03-02 10:58 |
| #8 Dinges. |
| Posted by: mojo 2007-03-02 10:51 |
| #7 We like noir. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2007-03-02 10:02 |
| #6 I refer to them as Norwegians. Sounds different but means the same thing. And Norwegians dont care. |
| Posted by: BrerRabbit 2007-03-02 10:01 |
| #5 Why not throw in that other 'n' word which has lost its original connotation and is just another pejorative hurled in hate - nazi? |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2007-03-02 10:00 |
| #4 From my experience in London it is allowed for black people to call each others niggers but the white man cant!!!! I guess US is the same!!!! |
| Posted by: Ebbolump Glomotle9608 2007-03-02 09:59 |
| #3 the word, considered by most Americans to be the most offensive in the English language. I don't think so. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2007-03-02 09:44 |
| #2 I am happy to say I've never used teh N-word. But I have used the N-wizzle. So much for my political carizzle. |
| Posted by: eLarson 2007-03-02 09:39 |
| #1 |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2007-03-02 09:03 |