Outrage Over "Nigger Brown" Couch

Originally Posted by whinehurst

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa...whoa. Hold the phone. Just noticed something here. Is this chick Canadian? Cause, the story's from Toronto. Now, I'm no expert, but the Canadians didn't have slaves. So, like, that whole, "Nigger" issue, I'm thinking, you know, since it's really from the American South, can it really be a big deal for a Canadian black person? Does it have the same connotations? Do English black people, like black people in Britain, get offended by the word "Nigger"? Really?

That's an interesting angle on it. I'd think they'd only be offended by it from a "that word's an insult; why the fuck are you throwing it at me?" point. Unless, of course, they want to cash in anyway like this woman is doing. Also, I really doubt the blacks here in Guatemala (there are quite a few on the Atlantic coast) would give a fuck about that word.

Originally Posted by Sonic 3

Hmm. Do I type a furious reply and say how many people here don't seem to 'get' racism? Like how they think theres really nothing wrong with the word nigger, it's just a word, a damn word that black people been plugging for years anyway, damn coons they use it themselves? (even though the spelling is with an a)

This is like the tenth time that I know of that this topic's come up. I'm sure most people understand the horrible meaning the word carried originally and the fact that when races outside of a black one use it the word is empowered in almost the same way. Unlike when our friendly black represenatives on BET say "nigga please," which is cool.

Quote:

How people seem to think that every (although some do admitedly) black person who gets offended is just looking for attention and 'overreacting' just 'over a silly little word that school kids and thugs use in the playground'?

You know, me personally, it's not until I start hearing about these fuckers suing (or things of that nature) for "recompensation" that I get irritated. I think she had the right to be angered... How is something like that overlooked by so many people for so many years? But damn, these fuckers are fixing the mistake yet she probably just ignored that fact.

Quote:

How if the story was about a woman getting money over the use of the word bitch, they'd be more sympathetic?

Have their actually been cases like that?

I just wish other races in the world had words with that sort of meaning you could use to insult them. Far worse shit has happened to people around the world than African slavery, yet they never seem to be able to cash in because they don't have a word for themselves as powerful as "nigger."

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by Merv

Wow, dumb people are motherfucking duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuumb.

You should learn how racism works and why it's such a touchy issue.

well, Merv, instead of being useless and just calling me and Sonic 3 dumb (fyi, you spelled it wrong, you've got 76 extra U's and a space in there for some reason), you might make a simple statement to exhibit what we might be misunderstanding about the issue of racism in America... and Canada; something to help explain why we might be incorrect in some fashion. You know, like a fucking point. Not to start flaming, but hey, why not join the discussion?

Now, I get how racism works and that, in this country (being America) I (being white) am not allowed to call a black person "Nigger" because it's hugely offensive, due to the vast history of oppression. That's what I understand, and that's what I agree too. I also understand that black oppression didn't actually happen world wide, which is why I brought up the UK, which is why I asked the question are black people in foreign countries as offended by the word as black people in America are?

Most amazing jew boots

You don't have to explain yourself, this is Merv Burger we're talking about here. The sort of character that throws that random cuntpunch (thanks Elixir) to start a riot before running away, leaving the mess he left for someone else to handle. You should see this guys picture; a real master with racial issues.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by Zio

Yes, that is true but why not sue? Why not do so much and not only waste money but pump the economy? She sues, she wins, her lawyer gets paid and then the company has to raise prices cause they lost the lawsuit!

It's a win win. LOL.

I am pretty sure you're joking? I hope? Because wasting court time on a frivilous lawsuit is kind of not good.

I hate this crap. It's just another way for people to get their panties in a bunch and flip out over nothing. I love the picture though. "O DESPAIR. I bought a nigger brown couch." Pain in her cross eyes and all.

I am also going to ignore Sonic's little tirade, too. "Why don't people get racism?!"

No one is dying over being called a nigger. What happened generations ago by completely different people in a completely different time should end there and then. Enough with the slavery card. It's over. It's BEEN over. The South lost. The end.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by whinehurst

Now, I get how racism works and that, in this country (being America) I (being white) am not allowed to call a black person "Nigger" because it's hugely offensive, due to the vast history of oppression. That's what I understand, and that's what I agree too. I also understand that black oppression didn't actually happen world wide, which is why I brought up the UK, which is why I asked the question are black people in foreign countries as offended by the word as black people in America are?

Underaged b&.

FELIPE NO

Whew, Goddamn, my question isn't about racism in other countries, it's about the word Nigger (in other countries), which was kinda the damn topic (and Devo, I'm gonna assume you meant South Africa, and not the entire continent).

I guess nobody really knows, cause all this grief seems to be about shit i'm not even talking about.

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by Sassafrass

No one is dying over being called a nigger. What happened generations ago by completely different people in a completely different time should end there and then. Enough with the slavery card. It's over. It's BEEN over. The South lost. The end.

But it's not the end, Sass. No, black people are not slaves now, but racism is alive and well, and you are either kidding yourself or blind if you don't see it.

Why are you so hell bent on making use of the word nigger okay?

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Midna

Why are you so hell bent on making use of the word nigger okay?

It is okay, or have you not ever heard any mainstream, popular rap music? Oh wait, I forgot there's a double fucking standard.

Racism is alive and well indeed, but the media only seems to pay attention when it involves the word "nigger" or blacks. Meanwhile, we have a Hot Pockets ad campaign with featuring an "old Asian man" caricature and nobody bats an eye. Casual, perhaps subconscious racism against other minority groups and even whites persists, but once there's anything that even remotely involves blacks, the media and Al Sharpton are all over it like lawyers chasing after an ambulance.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by whinehurst

I guess nobody really knows, cause all this grief seems to be about shit i'm not even talking about.

There are those that will care and others who don't give fuck. Neither one represents the opinion of the whole, but the ones that stand out the most are the ones that are the most vocal.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by whinehurst

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa...whoa. Hold the phone. Just noticed something here. Is this chick Canadian? Cause, the story's from Toronto. Now, I'm no expert, but the Canadians didn't have slaves. So, like, that whole, "Nigger" issue, I'm thinking, you know, since it's really from the American South, can it really be a big deal for a Canadian black person? Does it have the same connotations? Do English black people, like black people in Britain, get offended by the word "Nigger"? Really?

Also, Sonic 3, it's up-down-left-right, up-down-left-right till you hear the "ding', then you do A+C (i think it's A+C, might be all three...)

The woman was born in NEW YORK. See the problem?

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by Shaolin Samurai

It is okay, or have you not ever heard any mainstream, popular rap music? Oh wait, I forgot there's a double fucking standard.

Racism is alive and well indeed, but the media only seems to pay attention when it involves the word "nigger" or blacks. Meanwhile, we have a Hot Pockets ad campaign with featuring an "old Asian man" caricature and nobody bats an eye. Casual, perhaps subconscious racism against other minority groups and even whites persists, but once there's anything that even remotely involves blacks, the media and Al Sharpton are all over it like lawyers chasing after an ambulance.

I completely agree with your point. My issue was mainly with Sass specifically, due to her never-ending quest to make the word nigger an acceptable term to throw around.

I was speaking idiomatically.

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=nigger

Originally Posted by Online Etymology Dictionary

Nigger

1786, earlier neger (1568, Scot. and northern England dialect), from Fr. nègre, from Sp. negro (see Negro). From the earliest usage it was "the term that carries with it all the obloquy and contempt and rejection which whites have inflicted on blacks" [cited in Gowers, 1965]. But as black inferiority was at one time a near universal assumption in Eng.-speaking lands, the word in some cases could be used without insult. More sympathetic writers late 18c. and early 19c. seem to have used black (n.) and, after the American Civil War, colored person. Also applied by Eng. settlers to dark-skinned native peoples in India, Australia, Polynesia. The reclamation of the word as a neutral or positive term in black culture, often with a suggestion of "soul" or "style," is attested first in the Amer. South, later (1968) in the Northern, urban-based Black Power movement. Variant niggah, attested from 1925 (without the -h, from 1969), is found usually in situations where blacks use the word. Nigra (1944), on the other hand, reflects a pronunciation in certain circles of Negro, but meant to suggest nigger, and is thus deemed (according to a 1960 slang dictionary) "even more derog. than 'nigger.' " Slang phrase nigger in the woodpile attested by 1800; "A mode of accounting for the disappearance of fuel; an unsolved mystery" [R.H. Thornton, "American Glossary," 1912]. Nigger heaven, "the top gallery in a (segregated) theater" first attested 1878 in ref. to Troy, N.Y.

" 'You're a fool nigger, and the worst day's work Pa ever did was to buy you,' said Scarlett slowly. ... There, she thought, I've said 'nigger' and Mother wouldn't like that at all." [Margaret Mitchell, "Gone With the Wind," 1936]

Used in combinations (e.g. nigger-brown, nigger-head, nigger-toe) since 1840s for various dark brown or black hues or objects; euphemistic substitutions (e.g. Zulu) began to appear in these senses c.1917.

Hmm... Looks like their Chinese-Engrish dictionary is really out of date, but it's not just a random piece if Engrish.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Midna, I don't think Sass wants to make the word acceptable. Just less of a shocker.

Originally Posted by Shaolin Samurai

Meanwhile, we have a Hot Pockets ad campaign with featuring an "old Asian man" caricature and nobody bats an eye. Casual, perhaps subconscious racism against other minority groups and even whites persists, but once there's anything that even remotely involves blacks, the media and Al Sharpton are all over it like lawyers chasing after an ambulance.

I guess most other races don't have the abundance of characters that are willing to make a media circus out of things like this. I like to think most people realize that you can't change the world by force and realize that human beings are inherently fucked up like this and things like this will never stop or change. Knowing that gives me a great peace because I realize that things are how they are and there's not really much we can do.

Devo's right, though I don't think the word has the same power anywhere else as in the states. Probably because of the freedom of expression. Though it really doesn't seem like the word was a big deal until after the Civil Rights movement.

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by Devoxycontin

Practically the entire continent (several different colonies and countries) has been fucked by the likes of the English, Belgians, Dutch, French, etc. To even imply that the "oppression of blacks" by the word nigger was kept to just the North American continent and used by Americans only is incredibly stupid.

Granted, I have never spent any time studying the history of Africa or it's colonization in the late eighteenth century, thought I was aware that English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, German, Belgian, and Italian colonies existed. Now, I know how bad it sucks to be a colony, I'm an American. But that's another issue, not really based in racism.

Now, not having a degree in African-American studies, or the general nature of Racism at large, I'm going to have to defer to the end-all of knowledge: Wikipedia. I went ahead and typed the word "Nigger" in there and found out some interesting facts that negate your arguments and even answer the questions I was asking.

As it turns out, back in the day, like way back in that late eighteenth century days when those colonies existed, the variations of "nigger" that were used weren't actually considered derogatory. "Nigger", and it's variations, were only used as an identifier, similar to the way we use "black" today. It wasn't until the 1960's, in the American North (as it turns out) that "nigger" became offensive, and it was during the ensuing race war that it gathered all the negativity it now holds today. Listen carefully now, Devo:

Originally Posted by Wikipedia

In the United States, the word was freely used by some whites and blacks, until the Civil Rights Era of the 1960s. It seems that the word acquired a pejorative meaning in the Northern United States before acquiring the same connotation in the South.

The only usage outside the United States that I found was that in a little place called Australia, and its neighbor New Zealand (where's Old Zealand, btw?) where "nigger" is used in casual conversation between good friends, both black and white, though it's considered impolite to use it to refer to a stranger

Originally Posted by Wikipedia

Australians, black or white, do not on the whole have the same sensitivity to the word as Americans, at least when it is used in a lighthearted, non-derogatory fashion among established groups of friends.

So it would seem that, though America doesn't hold a monopoly on oppressing people, it mostly does on the word "nigger" (though it's origins, of course, are foreign). And, as Leknaat pointed out, the woman in question is from New York, which makes all of this irrelevant.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by whinehurst

Now, I know how bad it sucks to be a colony, I'm an American.

Um, modern-day American life is a little different than modern-day African life.

Most amazing jew boots

Originally Posted by a lurker

Um, modern-day American life is a little different than modern-day African life.

I was just making the point that America used to be a colony too, and we hold no aggravation towards the British now-a-days, so i was basically saying Devo's point that the entire continent of Africa was oppressed in the late eighteenth century was not much of a point at all.

True, they were colonized a while after America was, but the idea of colonization is still the same, be it 16th or 18th century.

Plus, in my understanding, a lot of modern-day African life (i'm assuming you mean the absolute horror that it is) is mainly due to Africans.

I'm not wrong in thinking Africa isn't a colony anymore, right?

How ya doing, buddy?

All right, Devo, until you actually provide some evidence to support that claim, I'm going to have to go ahead and say you're wrong. Did you even read the post where i pointed out where you are wrong on that? Let me say it again, since you have some sort of reading disorder. "Nigger" didn't become offensive until the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960's in the NORTHERN UNITED STATES. Until then it was used as an IDENTIFIER, like we used the word Black today. This whole fucking argument is over the WORD. Not oppression. There's plenty of oppressed people that have shit to do with the word "nigger".

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by whinehurst

I was just making the point that America used to be a colony too, and we hold no aggravation towards the British now-a-days, so i was basically saying Devo's point that the entire continent of Africa was oppressed in the late eighteenth century was not much of a point at all.

You already said you don't know much about Africa's history, so I don't think it's fair for you to say those dirty niggers are blaming innocents because Americans don't hold a grudge against England.

perhaps you forgotten the freedom fries BS from a few years ago?

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by Devoxycontin

What history books have you been reading?

did you actually read this? cause i did something like support my fucking argument. You should try it some time, before talking out your ass again. In case you really do have some kind of reading disability, i was using a Wikipedia Entry on "Nigger"

Originally Posted by a lurker

You already said you don't know much about Africa's history, so I don't think it's fair for you to say those dirty niggers are blaming innocents because Americans don't hold a grudge against England.

Okay, fair enough. Since that definitely wasn't the point i was trying to make, and since i don't really know what you're talking about, then, you win.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Did you even read your own post. You said America used to be a colony and Africa used to be a colony (lol), and America doesn't hold a grudge with England anymore so why are blacks so uppity?

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

oh my god. this has gotten way out of control, and i'm washing my hands of it. I tried my best to make a sound argument, but evidently, something went horribly wrong. Have fun rambling incoherently about whatever it is you're trying to talk about.

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by Devoxycontin

Are you seriously using wikipedia for your etymology points? I guess the word is only offensive when whites suddenly become outraged at the usage.

Actually, Wikipedia is quite right in this regard, at least in the word's use in the United States. At one point in time the word "nigger" (derived from the Latin niger, meaning "black") was commonly used as an identifier for various dark-skinned peoples. It did not carry the overt hostility and offensiveness that it does today.

Look at the American novel "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain, released in 1884, and is regarded as one of the most eloquent attacks on racism ever written. The book also happens to contain the word "nigger" 212 times. The word is casually used as a racial identifier, like the words "colored" or "black" and as a satire on the boorish nature of the white characters in the novel. At any rate, the word certainly was not as outright offensive then as it is today.

Most amazing jew boots

Disregard this post. Point is, it's not offensive, and never should be.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Sassafrass

I am pretty sure you're joking? I hope? Because wasting court time on a frivilous lawsuit is kind of not good.

Yes, I was joking. >_>;

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by Devoxycontin

We got over Yank, why can't they get over nigger.

LOL! This is why I never take internet forums seriously! What sort of history has Yank to it? How many people call you Yank in order to demean you? Again, look at the HISTORY. I know you want to wipe it under the carpet, hey maybe people in Germany are upset because they (sometimes) get labeled as nazis, when that whole Hitler misunderstanding happened before their time. And they get blamed for both world wars, when really you'll see it was all economical. That plus politics, you know it's always politics.

So I can sort of see where you are comming from. I mean, if everyone wants to be equal, why ever have a Black parade, or Black rights, because if a white person did them, that'd be racist. Why can't decent white people have a White Power parade, being proud of and trying to promote more white-only groups? That group the JJJ, is it? They've got the right idea. I understand entirely. That whole segregation incedent happened hundreds of years ago. Damn jigs. Why can't they just let go of the past? Hey they use it themselves, so they can't complain if a white guy calls them a nigger maybe at work or in the street. And besides, dont you know at least one black who's ok with you calling him a nigger and all? So if that one guy can see, why can't they all see? PLUS!!! If you go over many posts here, including my own, you'll see that I describe many situations as 'gay', so just who am I to try to preach? How dare I try stick up for 'those damn dirty choco-faces' when I don't lend a hand to the homosexual community? AND!! You don't see chinese people getting worked up every time the word 'chink' is used, do ya?

Seriously man, I swear some people are so duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuumb.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.