It is always of interest to me to see how social media is used to justify racism.
It is also always of interest to me that, for the most part, white people can look HOWEVER much of a hot mess they want and STILL have the audacity to justify using racist terms.
Would the words in this video be received differently if they were spoken by a straight white guy in a suit? Probably. But, because this person is clearly eccentric, no one really pays attention – they’re focused on his persona instead. The comments go under the radar of most folks and are seen as “harmless”.
Wednesday, May 13th 2009 at 4:57 pm |
@jlawson – I don’t know that I agree that no one should use the N word. I’ll have to think about that. I’m very leery of speaking in absolutes. I do agree that it’s roots are ugly and demeaning. Thanks for reading and commenting.
Monday, May 11th 2009 at 8:02 am |
It is not that white people should not use the “N” word.
It is that no one should use the “N” word. It’s roots are ugly
and demeaning and nothing can change it into a colloquialism of brotherhood or ignorance.
Wednesday, May 6th 2009 at 5:50 pm |
@Jim:
You’re welcome.
It would seem that white folks are hell-bent on finding a way to be able to say the N-word, instead of finding reasons NOT to say the N-word.
Even in Chris Crocker’s video, he feels that he, as a white person, to whom the N-word doesn’t even apply – has the RIGHT to justify why others should be able to say it. An amazing display of cajones…or, well, I’ll just leave it there.
You say: “f you accept that most whites don’t understand why the n-word is off limits, and that they are not (of their own initiative) going to go looking for an answer…”
I don’t accept this. This is a problem. As my mentor, Harry Allen, has taught me, if someone can start doing something, they can stop. Period.
You ask: “what’s the most effective way to change their understanding of this (or any other) racial issue? How do you light a candle in the darkness?”
Other white people are critical to this mission.
You ask: “How do we make sure this discussion is not just the sound of one hand clapping?”
I don’t know about we. I can only speak for me – and I’m doing it right now.
Wednesday, May 6th 2009 at 4:55 pm |
Thanks for the response, Lena. Yes, I absolutely understood the point of your post to be that Crocker’s comments *should* be taken seriously, and I agree.
I also agree with you that whites have no business using the n-word, but only because I’ve *gone looking* for answers to that question, and found several that make good sense to me. You provide one of them here.
To our discredit, most whites won’t go looking. Too many instead use this a manufactured grievance (see Crocker, Chris).
I guess my question was: If you accept that most whites don’t understand why the n-word is off limits, and that they are not (of their own initiative) going to go looking for an answer… then what’s the most effective way to change their understanding of this (or any other) racial issue? How do you light a candle in the darkness?
I’m asking the question seriously, not rhetorically. If progress looks like more whites truly understanding what it is like to be a person of color in this country or in this world… how do we get there?
It is an especially serious question in the realm of social media, which, to my mind, primarily serves to draw people to reinforcements of ideas they already hold dear.
How do we make sure this discussion is not just the sound of one hand clapping?
Wednesday, May 6th 2009 at 3:31 pm |
@Jim:
Oh, I agree. That his comments should be taken VERY seriously is the whole point of my blog post.
You ask why white people can’t say the N-word?
Because, by the mere presence of racism, white people are the ones in power.
Put another way, if one marginalized person calls another marginalized person a derogatory name, it stings, but it’s not the end of the world. If someone in power – as white people are in this world – calls a marginalized person a derogatory name, it’s about to be on and poppin’.
This is but one reason.
Personally, I think that white people have gotten off VEEERRRRY easy in this world – especially in America. Things could have very easily GONE. LEFT. IN. A. MAJOR. WAY. Think Israel. After all, why do you think the KKK doesn’t march through Brownsville, Brooklyn? ‘Cause they know the deal.
Thanks for reading and commenting.
Wednesday, May 6th 2009 at 11:33 am |
You’re right: Crocker’s a clown, but that doesn’t mean his comments shouldn’t be taken seriously.
But here’s the thing: However ineffectively, Crocker gives voice to an issue that’s confusing to a lot of white people. “How come they can say it and we can’t?”
Now, that may be ignorance… but isn’t more effective to light a candle than curse my darkness?