somniferum wrote:H-GM, I appreciate where you are coming from, although I do not agree with much of your (original) post in this thread. But thank you for sharing your perspective with the board on this thread. While I think starting a serious, frank, open discussion on here about sensitive racial issues in the US would be interesting, I think it would be a fruitless endeavor that would more likely degenerate into name calling, rather than open dialogue. I do think its interesting, especially in regards to comedy in the US, how it is not okay (and apparently is national news when it happens) if a white comedian uses the "n-word" to refer to a black person during an act, while it is perfectly okay for a black comedian (Chris Rock springs to mind) to refer to whites as "crackers," or for a hispanic comedian to refer to whites as "gringoes." Just some food for thought.
I still don't understand what's not to get about it not being okay for white person to call a black person "nigger." My friends are pretty much in agreement that I usually resort to hyperbole and heavy-handed tactics in order to try and get a point across, so maybe the issue of white people calling black people "niggers" got lost in my original post. I'm also involved in a twenty-eight page thread on another board about this subject so I could just be getting tired of stating the same point over and over again.
In regard to the comedic angle of using racially-charged insults, "cracker," and "gringo (sp)," don't carry the same emotional, historical, and psychological weight as the word "nigger." Also, as stated earlier, Michael Richards wasn't engaged in comedic banter. He was verbally assaulting a black heckler by calling him a "nigger" over and over.
Let me also state that I don't think it's okay for blacks to use this word in regard to ourselves as well. It's ignorant, and well-established by this point that its continued useage doesn't strip any sort of power from it.
It's just a horrible word and I feel so wrecked every time I hear someone say it; even from my own people, but it's one million times worse hearing it used as an insult from someone who isn't black.