Black and In Effect!
NAACP Puts N-Word to Rest in Mock Funeral
Members of the NAACP from South Carolina are traveling to Detroit for a funeral. But no one has died, instead they're saying goodbye to a word.
Basically the gist is that the NAACP spent time and money putting on fake funerals for the word "Nigger/ah/a". They want it abolished from the general lexicon and you know what, good for them! If black people want to make a conscious effort to stop saying the n-word than more power to them, however I, Sticky A. Keys, will not be one of those black people, and I wish someone would have something to say about it.
Now you all know how I feel about the matter, but I don't know if I've really gone into why I feel that way.
You know after Michael Richards went off on his little tyrade the first thing people did (after trying to remember who Micheal Richards was) was say, "Well black people say it in their music all the time!" And what did black people do? We held meetings, and summits, and talked about our problems and how the word effects black people from black people and Michael did his little pissant apology and slunk into the background making it a black issue.
After Imus ran his mouth very much the same thing happened. "Well rappers call women hoes all the time!" First off, this has little to do with my speech, but a) rappers didn't call Rutger's baskjetball players nappy headed hoes because it's wack, b) rappers usually call hoe acting women hoes. Which, I'm not huge on men calling women anything of the sort, but sometimes are more warranted than others is all, ahem. Moving on.
So it seems to me that everytime some white person goes off it gets put back on black people to fix it, which is so gross it's sickening.
How about Whitefolk, if you just don't say it because a) you know you shouldn't, and b) we said so? Why is that so hard? Is there really a need and desire for white people to want to say that word?
Can we talk about the word for a second? Can we talk about why blacks were using the word in the first place? Now there's all sorts of controversy about the Willie Lynch letter, but I think it's important to note that regardless of the provenance and validity of the letter, it's contents were still in practice in plantations across the country. Calling black people niggers did significant psychological damage, and when coupled with physical abuse a stigma is placed on the word that's long lasting.
When white people use the word it will always invoke the original meaning of being darker, and less than. A nigger is not a "state of mind", a nigger is not a "foolish and dumbminded person" a nigger is "black and less than" and that's all there is too it. Slaves owners didn't call some of their slaves niggers and the rest not, they didn't call the "lazy" slaves (which, whatever) niggers and the hardworking ones "boys" (which, upgrade! (?)), they called everyone who was black a nigger.
Like the whole "white trash" phenomena. Because white people are usually not trash you have to be clear when calling a white person trash, thus the distinction. This myth that white people are the pedestal and are looking down and over us and thus can do what they want is one that has been perpetrated in this country for far too long. White people don't want to say nigger because they want to say it, but because no nigger is going to tell them what they can and can't do, and they run this place, how dare we try to assert any kind of control?
So they shift the blame back on us, and they've gotten good at it to. If we don't want white people to say it then we should stop saying it too, because then when white people see that we've stopped, then they can make the good guy conscious decision not to say it themselves. And won't that be nice of them? And so giving? They love to give, like my 40 acres and a mule they love to give!
Now I will say this. If I'm around blackfolk and they'd rather I'd not say it then I'll respect that. If I'm around whitefolk and there's a black person there who I know is sensitive to the word then I'll make sure to sensor myself. However, I am not responsible for the actions of white people who should know better. It's not a matter of them being able to say it to some black people and not others, it's a matter of them knowing better than to say it. Knowing that there has never been a time when white people saying nigger has had any kind of benefit to anyone.
But how is black people saying it beneficial in any way? Doesn't matter, don't say it.
Well you say it all the time in your music and books! Doesn't matter, don't say it.
I don't think it's fair that-
You know what wasn't fair? And yes, I know the default (and correct) answer is slavery, but what's most unfair was what happened after slavery and no one seemed to notice or care. 400+ years of physical bondage is akin to 400+ years of phychological bondage. The fact that some slaves wanted to stay behind on their plantations, because they had "nice" slave owners, and it was all they knew, that's unfair. That many had no where to go, no foreseeable skills, no hope, no knowledge, no income, no help. The fact that they were thrust into a world that hated them and made to feel like nothing when they survived, that's unfair. The fact that Steppin Fetchit is seen as a minstrel act instead of a pioneer of black cinematic history is unfair. The fact that Tyra Banks was the first black woman on the cover of Sports Illustrated, the fact that they airbrushed her beyond belief, the fact that Halle Berry was the first black woman to win an Oscar, the fact that it was in a role where she has rough sex with a white man is unfair.
Internalized hate, dark skinned, light skinned, those who "talk good", those who are ghetto, paper bag tests, carlos effing mencia, niggers, coons, boys, darkies, forks up asses, strange fruit, discrimination, modern day segregation, those are unfair.
The fact that the one word out of a GAJILLION that I don't want you to say is the one word you'll fight to the death to maintain control over? That's grossly unfair.
So kudos to the NAACP, but I think the time the word will die is the time that white people stop using it. Just stop altogether. Black people using it never gave it any power, but when you erase the aggressor, the source of the power, the lights go out. It's time to turn the lights out Whitefolk, step up and take a personal stand that you're going to stop adding fuel to a fire that should have died out long ago.
bf
On another note:
I must have
!!!
ps. OMG SOMEONE BUY ME SOME PAID TIME! OR THAT SHIRT! WHICHEVER COMES FIRST! ACTUALLY FIRST THE PAID TIME BECAUSE OMG!
Members of the NAACP from South Carolina are traveling to Detroit for a funeral. But no one has died, instead they're saying goodbye to a word.
Basically the gist is that the NAACP spent time and money putting on fake funerals for the word "Nigger/ah/a". They want it abolished from the general lexicon and you know what, good for them! If black people want to make a conscious effort to stop saying the n-word than more power to them, however I, Sticky A. Keys, will not be one of those black people, and I wish someone would have something to say about it.
Now you all know how I feel about the matter, but I don't know if I've really gone into why I feel that way.
You know after Michael Richards went off on his little tyrade the first thing people did (after trying to remember who Micheal Richards was) was say, "Well black people say it in their music all the time!" And what did black people do? We held meetings, and summits, and talked about our problems and how the word effects black people from black people and Michael did his little pissant apology and slunk into the background making it a black issue.
After Imus ran his mouth very much the same thing happened. "Well rappers call women hoes all the time!" First off, this has little to do with my speech, but a) rappers didn't call Rutger's baskjetball players nappy headed hoes because it's wack, b) rappers usually call hoe acting women hoes. Which, I'm not huge on men calling women anything of the sort, but sometimes are more warranted than others is all, ahem. Moving on.
So it seems to me that everytime some white person goes off it gets put back on black people to fix it, which is so gross it's sickening.
How about Whitefolk, if you just don't say it because a) you know you shouldn't, and b) we said so? Why is that so hard? Is there really a need and desire for white people to want to say that word?
Can we talk about the word for a second? Can we talk about why blacks were using the word in the first place? Now there's all sorts of controversy about the Willie Lynch letter, but I think it's important to note that regardless of the provenance and validity of the letter, it's contents were still in practice in plantations across the country. Calling black people niggers did significant psychological damage, and when coupled with physical abuse a stigma is placed on the word that's long lasting.
When white people use the word it will always invoke the original meaning of being darker, and less than. A nigger is not a "state of mind", a nigger is not a "foolish and dumbminded person" a nigger is "black and less than" and that's all there is too it. Slaves owners didn't call some of their slaves niggers and the rest not, they didn't call the "lazy" slaves (which, whatever) niggers and the hardworking ones "boys" (which, upgrade! (?)), they called everyone who was black a nigger.
Like the whole "white trash" phenomena. Because white people are usually not trash you have to be clear when calling a white person trash, thus the distinction. This myth that white people are the pedestal and are looking down and over us and thus can do what they want is one that has been perpetrated in this country for far too long. White people don't want to say nigger because they want to say it, but because no nigger is going to tell them what they can and can't do, and they run this place, how dare we try to assert any kind of control?
So they shift the blame back on us, and they've gotten good at it to. If we don't want white people to say it then we should stop saying it too, because then when white people see that we've stopped, then they can make the good guy conscious decision not to say it themselves. And won't that be nice of them? And so giving? They love to give, like my 40 acres and a mule they love to give!
Now I will say this. If I'm around blackfolk and they'd rather I'd not say it then I'll respect that. If I'm around whitefolk and there's a black person there who I know is sensitive to the word then I'll make sure to sensor myself. However, I am not responsible for the actions of white people who should know better. It's not a matter of them being able to say it to some black people and not others, it's a matter of them knowing better than to say it. Knowing that there has never been a time when white people saying nigger has had any kind of benefit to anyone.
But how is black people saying it beneficial in any way? Doesn't matter, don't say it.
Well you say it all the time in your music and books! Doesn't matter, don't say it.
I don't think it's fair that-
You know what wasn't fair? And yes, I know the default (and correct) answer is slavery, but what's most unfair was what happened after slavery and no one seemed to notice or care. 400+ years of physical bondage is akin to 400+ years of phychological bondage. The fact that some slaves wanted to stay behind on their plantations, because they had "nice" slave owners, and it was all they knew, that's unfair. That many had no where to go, no foreseeable skills, no hope, no knowledge, no income, no help. The fact that they were thrust into a world that hated them and made to feel like nothing when they survived, that's unfair. The fact that Steppin Fetchit is seen as a minstrel act instead of a pioneer of black cinematic history is unfair. The fact that Tyra Banks was the first black woman on the cover of Sports Illustrated, the fact that they airbrushed her beyond belief, the fact that Halle Berry was the first black woman to win an Oscar, the fact that it was in a role where she has rough sex with a white man is unfair.
Internalized hate, dark skinned, light skinned, those who "talk good", those who are ghetto, paper bag tests, carlos effing mencia, niggers, coons, boys, darkies, forks up asses, strange fruit, discrimination, modern day segregation, those are unfair.
The fact that the one word out of a GAJILLION that I don't want you to say is the one word you'll fight to the death to maintain control over? That's grossly unfair.
So kudos to the NAACP, but I think the time the word will die is the time that white people stop using it. Just stop altogether. Black people using it never gave it any power, but when you erase the aggressor, the source of the power, the lights go out. It's time to turn the lights out Whitefolk, step up and take a personal stand that you're going to stop adding fuel to a fire that should have died out long ago.
bf
On another note:
I must have
!!!
ps. OMG SOMEONE BUY ME SOME PAID TIME! OR THAT SHIRT! WHICHEVER COMES FIRST! ACTUALLY FIRST THE PAID TIME BECAUSE OMG!