Of course, we all know of the Michael Richards incident where he flew off the handle and called some guy the "N-word", which I think is negligible when compared with the fact that he said "Fifty years ago we'd have you upside down with a fucking fork up your ass."
I was reading some posts made by everyday Americans about the use of the word Nigger and their opinion on the situation as a whole. Needless to say, I was a tad surprised at what people were saying. Soon the debate grew from the use of the N-word to American programmes such as "Affirmative Action" or AA. Not to be confused with Alcoholics Anonymous. Not to be confused with Lindsey Lohan.
That was when the real shit started. Here are some examples of what people were posting:
51. I haven't missed your point at all. You're proving my point from post #28 about not being able to see beyond your personal situation. Tell me how you paying for the sins of your forefathers? Because you got denied a job or two for being a white male. You can't possibly compare that to what I have to go through as a black man DAILY because of the System set up by your forefathers. To answer the Conservative, rap could be a powerful voice for good but good doesn't sell records. The only people that benefit from rap music today are the people who own the recording companies who I'm sorry to say are mostly white. A friend of mine said that "Hip-Hop has helped us to finally realize the Jezebel and Big Black Buck stereotypes that were the tools of a racist imagination years ago" but it all connects back to slavery and its aftereffects. People tend to remember that slavery ended in the 1800's but forget that the system of apartheid in the US didnt really end until about 40 years ago.
Comment by Willy Bobo — 11.22.2006 @ 10:10 am
52. # 43 No your understanding does not differ from mine. I am simply making a comparison with heriditary based advantages and AA, why does no one complain about that but will complain about AA in a heartbeat. # 44 I also do not think that any one group should have an advantage over another but you just can't erase over 200 years of privelige without AA. If there is a better way to do it other than AA I wish someone would say it. As for the connection of heridtary based advantages with AA.They are both advantage based on either privelige or race so they are similar.
Comment by BC — 11.22.2006 @ 10:10 am
53. There is a difference between being PC and out and out trashing someone. Especially if it's a race issue. I also disagree that these offensive words that have been thrown about aren't "scary" or "frightening". They absolutely can be frightening because of the violence that is associated with them. We still, today, have people being killed just because they are black. Anon1...you have stated before that you have a gay relative. You don't think he would take offense at being called "fag" or "flamer" or any of the other offensively creative names they are called? And if it were spewed at him in such a rage in front of a crowd, you don't think he and the group he was with would ALL be offended? You don't think that there could be other situations where he might fear for his life if someone is calling him offensive names for being what he is? Gays have been targeted for hate crimes just as blacks have. It can see where it WOULD be frightening. The word "nigger" carries a whole lot of violent history behind it.
Comment by Anonymous — 11.22.2006 @ 10:18 am
54. Affirmative Action is a crock of $hit! Earn a job! Don't expect to be offered one based on your race. Its just another way to separate people and classify them.
Comment by Anonymous — 11.22.2006 @ 10:31 am
55. #52 - We agree that there are certain advantages some people are born with. What (if anything) we do about it highlights a major difference between liberal and conservative philosophy. The liberal perceives an injustice and wants to fix it on behalf of the victim. The conservative trusts people to make the best of their situation and believes that the liberal's governmental solution is almost always worse than the problem it is intended to fix. I honestly believe that any type of government-sponsored, race-based quota system for *anything* is in itself racist and discriminatory by definition. I will always oppose any such system. #51 - I happen to believe that the HipHop/Rap culture is a serious threat to race relations *and* the future earning potential of young black kids who follow it. Frankly, I was surprised to see you thought otherwise.
Comment by Anonymous Conservative — 11.22.2006 @ 10:57 am
56. I think the whole thing that we need to realize here is simple, just like blacks need to realize that because one a..hole white person mouths off and uses the n word that does NOT mean the whole white race needs to be crucified for it, it was only ONE guy not the world. On the other hand white people need to take it in stride when Black people do similar things to cause issues, like Rev, Al Sharpton with the Tawana Brawley issue that was bogus but got him headlines, Jesse Jackson and his unkind comments towards the Jews, and so on... However, we apparently live in a society were an apology is no longer enough to ease pain for certain things? Hey, when I watch a black comedian make comments about white people during his act i don't let it bother me, so therefore 1 ignorant white guy should not set an example for all white people.
Comment by anon1 — 11.22.2006 @ 12:34 pm
57. I believe american from african decent are currently the most racist set of people on this earth. If you watch comic view on any given night, you find the most politically incorrect set on racial stereotypes for all other races of people on television. Take the pepsi challenge on that. Michael Richards feelings against the cultural blanketed disrespect of black people to anyone not black are true. He just relayed them to the AA audience members in an uncontrolled and ignorant manner.
I wanted to add 2 pence, but for some reason the server would not accept my comment. Then I thought, hey! I have my own forum. Why not use it:
"I am genuinely concerned that Americans believe AA to be a "crock of $hit" as someone so eloquently put it. AA is "racist" in that it discriminates through race, but this does not make it inherently wrong. Slavery ended hundreds of years ago but still reverberates today because when it did end, it was not as if Blacks were put on an equal footing as Whites. While Whites lived in relative comfort, Blacks were deposited in slums and ghettos, living in squalor, with no or limited access to any education or amenities considered the norm to Whites. Up to 40/50 years ago, Blacks were still not allowed to attend the same schools as Whites. Even to today, some employers prefer White candidates over equally qualified Blacks. This considered, which race do you believe would have accumulated more wealth for his family? AA recognises that MOST minorities do not have access to the financial and educational resources which MOST Whites enjoy, and therefore MOST minorities would have lower qualifications than MOST Whites. YES THE BLACK MAN IS LESS QUALIFIED - TAKE A TRIP TO A SCHOOL IN THE PROJECTS TO FIND OUT WHY. So what do you prefer? To get a job on your first try while the cycle of poverty continues? Or to get a job on your third try so that there's one less unemployed N*****?"