Thursday, August 1, 2013

N!ggA vs N!ggER --Aw Lawd! Not This Again :(

I usually don't follow anything sports related at all, but this ended up in my feed. The wide receiver for the Eagles by the name of Riley Cooper was at a concert and he said "I'd fight every n*gger here" while being on camera.  Apparently he was upset because the Black security guard would not let him go backstage. Check the clip and notice how he was called out by emphasizing the e-r at the end of 'n*gger'.
Lets back up for a minute and examine the situation closely:
He was at a concert
He wanted to go backstage and was upset because the Black security guard (who was doing his job, by the way) wouldn't let him go. 

Sure, many people will look at the video and say, "Oh, he's just drunk..bla bla bla...", but let's look at what's going to come out of this situation.

I anticipate a whole lot of people who are going to say things like "Well, Black people say it all the time in their music and around each other, so why can I say it?"  The rebuttal usually goes something like this: That word was used to demean and dehumanize Black people for centuries. That word was accompanied by lynchings, rape, shooting, and various other methods of legalized torture inflicted upon Blacks for many years. For Blacks to take the word and use it themselves while denying the usage for any other races was supposed to be a symbol of power. This is followed up by: Well if you didn't want anyone else to say it, you shouldn't have brought it back. That word would have been forgotten and never would have seen the light of day <<<GET THE FUCK OUTTA HERE WITH THAT BULLSHIT!  Here's why:  That word is spoken in many many households. I'm not saying that it is spoken in every household, whether Black, White, or in between, but I'm speaking overall and in general.  That word was not said in my household growing up regardless of whether there was an e-r or an a at the end of it. My family members (immediate and non immediate)  have never talked to each other like that. We don't even curse around each other. So for someone to tell me that Black people say it all the time in their homes and everywhere else is generalized trash. We are not a monolithic people, where if you see one group of Black people doing something, then you must safely assume that all of us are doing it. <<Using that logic, I could safely say that all Whites must be Klansmen, because I've seen the documentaries.  I could sit up here and say that Johnny Rebel, David Allen Coe, Ted Nugent and Rush Limbaugh are their culture and that all White people are like that. But guess what? I'd get accused as racist and narrow minded if I actually believed that, now wouldn't I? 

Anyway, here comes the next rebuttal: "I can say anything I want and if I want to say that word, then I should be able to because of Freedom of Speech".  Well, go ahead and say it then. Just make sure it's done in the blackest cities and streets in The States and see what happens. I bet they won't do it. They'll just stick to saying it around the only Black person at the party, or or in a classroom setting, or behind closed doors, or one on one with the Black person, or once they feel they know them well enough and feel "comfortable" around them, or if they are "approachable" looking, or blasting it out of their vehicles because they claim to like rap music, or while hiding behind an online profile, or drunk, or ...ok, I'll stop now. ;) 

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