Dr. Laura, word usage, being of African descent in America, and Obama.

[vaberella]

I saw many posts on the Dr. Laura commentary found here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=433&topic_id=409617&mesg_id=409630

Another post this issue is here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=433&topic_id=410062&mesg_id=410062


Now, don't misunderstand me, because nothing in my post is defending Dr. Laura and I will honor her with the title she has obtained even if I believe her to be a quack and a perfect example of what is lacking in understanding between Black people and Whites and just Black's being misunderstood generally. This is of course looking at the word "nigga" versus the "N" word.

I'm tired of it. Dr. Laura obviously is a fool who has not really listened to a Black man use the word. In contemporary culture Black men use the word "nigga." Yes early comics like Paul Mooney (who has stopped saying the word) and Richard Pryor, I even think Eddie Murphy used the word "nigger" in jokes to describe other Black men----Richard Pryor also was another person who rejected the usage late in his comedic career before he died. In any event, in this day and age the word that is used and this has been used since the 80s, I believe, is "NIGGA."

Of course for many outsiders they don't hear "NIGGA" they hear the "N" word. Now I will explain this, because I think this is ignored by some and not explained well enough. I am not defending the usage of Nigga, but providing a bit of understanding of the word...I'll provide some more explanation of this topic for viewers can watch.

This is not used by all Black people---our population total in the US ranges from 10-12%---this is all Blacks, including American's of African descent, Afro-Caribbean's, and African Americans. Not to many. The title of Blacks in America has changed over the years. Coloured at one point was acceptable, Negro, Black, African American or, and I believe this was coined by Amiri Baraka---"Afro-American" (which I prefer), however in this post I will use Black to include all the people. A brief explanation on this is because I have known many Caribbean's who differentiate themselves heavily from Afro-Americans (mainly Haitian's and some Jamaican's from my experience).

So to get back on the word used today. What people think is being said or what they hear is really the word "nigga" not the N word. This is used as a way to take back control of the word. Even Paul Mooney says it in his comedic routine entitled Analyzing Black America---although he keeps it real by using the original word, not the new usage. Here is the routine: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7364vXLSIRU <---Recognize this is for those with a strong stomach, he can be very vicious in his routines and he lets people know, but his point is important. As I said, since this time he's stopped using the word post the Michael Richards incident (Kramer from Seinfeld) here is an article on it: http://spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=54892

In any event, the word usage of Nigga is a way to take back control of who we are and turn a negative into a positive of sorts. So when Blacks and Hispanics are saying it now...some of them don't know the history or care. Other's don't understand where it stems from in popular culture. I remember in regards to Paul Mooney, he stated that the usage of the N word and it's later development into nigga was something of his and Richard Pryor's brain child ---as we see it in the celebrity and public arena that has moved into popular culture. PM had stated that he wanted to use it to take back control and as I said show how when we use it, we lessen the power of the word. Unfortunately, that hasn't been succesful.

As we can see, the word is still divisive because those outside and inside the culture don't get the usage. They don't understand it and it's now seen as a wrong. And Whites get all defensive and say..."well you guys say it", or "it's a double standard" <---well it's origin is not. The racist usage of the N word will always remain. And when a a White person says it, they don't normally say the nigga word, they say the N word and it's like wielding that same power of sorts. That differentiation of we are the White superiors and you are the black inferiors. In the word nigga now, unfortunately (and I will explain why I said unfortunately---entirely my opinion) it hasn't moved passed this original meaning for Whites, and it's not really understood or explained by blacks and I personally would never use it (as a social term) because it's just a hard to explain and when 66% (White population as of 2003/2004---I believe) doesn't get it, it's not worth it.

Let me take a step back to explain unfortunately. As I stated earlier I'm Haitian. We use the word NEG. It stems from the Spanish word Negro-==which translates into the N (ironically enough Negro was used as a proud word--although in Spanish we as Blacks were calling ourselves the N word for decades and in some places, in America, still do) word or just means Black--it's up in the air. In any event, Haitians have had over 200 years of independence from the Spanish, English, France, and the US---all who played a major role in trying to destroy the nation economically (for all intents and purposes they succeeded). We use the word Neg--which stems from Negro, it's equivalent to the transformation of the N word to Nigga in America. Neg means man, or dude, or him...and we use it proudly.

As my uncle said...it's to show that we have survived. The Negros that were used as cattle, that were killed, that were seen as less than people have survived and we will use it to show that we are not only still alive, but succeeding and basically showing that the neg kicked their asses. Again this is in reference to Haitian history---African slaves and mixed-culture peoples defeated and then massacred Spanish and French colonizers. So that word lived on and changed to mean something else. Now it's a representation of who are as a people and who lives on within our bloodline. This, I believe, was a similar route that Mooney and Pryor wanted to begin...but unfortunately failed at---mainly because of the demographic of the country they are in. It's virtually impossible.

However, this is not the only word that has changed in connotation in relation to Blacks. Take for instance nappy. Historically "nappy" was an offensive word and is in direct relation to the usage of the N word. However, over time and with the resurrection of natural hair and Black roots in the 70s and the new resurrection of it again within the Black female community in the late 90s and in recent years has made "nappy" moved from being offensive to being a symbol of importance. Happy to be Nappy for instance. I have shirts like that.

I will not go into the details of hair in Black culture, especially for Black women because that is something that deserves it's own post. But those of us who are natural (such as myself---and always has been) nappy headed is who we are and unlike India Arie, we understand how much our Hair is a representation of who we are in this society. In any event, we see the transition and this is what was sort of trying to happen with the word nigga.

Dr. Laura's usage was the typical misuse, and not to mention overtly racist since President Obama really shouldn't have even been brought up. But when he was brought up saying how absurd people are for being more racially sensitive, implying that racism should have been eliminated because of his presidency and that his win shows that White people are not racist. Then she goes on to use the absolutely stupid reverse racism spin to marginalize the concerns of the caller. She's a fool. People should be more racially and gender aware since his presidency because there was a lot of race and gender prejudice spewed before his primary win and after , and since he was sworn in. Her comments were horrendous and I felt the misrepresentation of the word should be given another perspective. I'm not defending it, because it really shouldn't be used in the US--due to our history and the absolute division of the White and non-White culture (this is not to say there is no division between Blacks and other minorities---there is, that needs to be understood, but it's not for this thread and not as big of a deal as compared to the Black/White divide.)


Here is some interesting videos on the discussion on this topic: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Npc_urbgpDY
Dr. Michael Eric Dyson's input on the N-word (get past the word "niggadom" and understand his statement): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHaoZQx-VnE

Let's end it on this note by Dr. Michael Eric Dyson and the legendary Amiri Baraka: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdU86d9hFMY and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuuourbkraE

[wcast]

1. This Quote from your post says it all

"As my uncle said...it's to show that we have survived. The Negros that were used as cattle, that were killed, that were seen as less than people have survived and we will use it to show that we are not only still alive, but succeeding and basically showing that the neg kicked their asses."

The complaints from some whites of it's a double standard is indefensible, just as complaints of they call me ... The system was set for 350 years to deny blacks, and other groups, their rights. As progress happens, these same people are afraid. They lash out and look to justify their feelings, which leads us back to where we started. No word can touch a white person racially the same as the N word. Whites have not been subjected to the dehumanizing effects of the word(or any word), or the treatment the use of the word implied.

On a side note, I got to see Paul Mooney a few years ago at a DC comedy club. He was hysterical, but, as you said, real.

[vaberella]

3. Exactly. I wish I was there...he is funny.

My uncle's words are the words of God for me. He's extremely aware and extremely well read. So when I see the usage of the word Nigga I appreciate it, but at the same time it disgusts me that it will never gain the significance it deserves. And as I've said in the past, Blacks live in two worlds, their own (a created world as the other) and the White world that dominated America, as you said for 350 years. Whites only have their world, and only the few, rarely if ever venture into our own.

[depakid]

2. An interesting bit on Australian usage and controversy

From the wiki:

In 1960, a stand at the stadium in Toowoomba, Australia, was named the “E. S. ‘Nigger’ Brown Stand” honoring 1920s rugby player Edward Stanley Brown, so nicknamed since early life because of his pale white skin; so known all his life, his tombstone is engraved Nigger. (This is a common characteristic of Aussie nicknames- a rehead might be called bluey, a tall person shorty, etc.).

Moreover, Stephen Hagan, a lecturer at the Kumbari/Ngurpai Lag Higher Education Center of the University of Southern Queensland sued the Toowoomba council over the use of nigger in the stand’s name; the district and state courts dismissed his lawsuit. He appealed to the High Court of Australia, who ruled the naming matter beyond federal jurisdiction. At first some local Aborigines did not share Mr Hagan’s opposition to nigger.

Undaunted, Mr Hagan appealed to the United Nations, winning their recommendation to the Australian federal government, that it force the Queensland state government to remove the word nigger from the “E. S. ‘Nigger’ Brown Stand” name. The Australian federal government, however, thwarted Hagan and the UN recommendation, by citing the High Court’s jurisdiction ruling. In September 2008, the stand was demolished. The Queensland Sports Minister, Judy Spence, said that using Nigger would be unacceptable, either for the stand or on any commemorative plaque.

The book The N Word: One Man’s Stand (2005), by Stephen Hagan, includes this episode in law and the language. Moreover, Hagan is writing a doctoral thesis titled The Origin, Maintenance, and Legitimization of the Word ‘Nigger’ in the Australian Vernacular; and he has restarted his linguistic legal reform efforts against the Coon cheese brand name.

(btw: 99% of Aussies have no idea what a "coon" means -or meant, since it's now an archaic term even in the states)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coon_cheese

[vaberella]

5. That's interesting. But then this can also go into the debate about the usage of "Black Irish"

in Ireland that was later spread to the US. There are three or so different aspects of what it can mean. Some have said it refers to Black slaves that were brought to Ireland and found themselves sort of integrated into the culture. My Irish teacher told me his grandfather was my coloring due to mixing and of having African ancestry. Other have said it's to describe those with Black hair---and that's the most dominant. Another I heard was to represent the Irish who didn't use shoes and I think there was another idea. However, these don't directly relate to anything in the US since the term is used by the Irish themselves, although it was transferred over as the Irish immigration happened.

[depakid]

7. The story around my house was that it came from the survivors of the Spanish Armada

That was a of course a folk tale, and the historical facts are the there were too few of them to make a difference in the population.

Genetic studies do link to far earlier Spanish origins, though and over in Wales, the closest language that Welsh would have evolved with a common root from was Berber, spoken in present day North Africa.

[vaberella]

8. Yes I did hear that one too.

And then someone said..no it referred only to those with Black hair---and we kind of dumped the conversation because it was going no where and no one was really sure. In any event, the N word has a distinct and clear founded evolution of sorts in the US.

[Igel]

9. Probably not Berber.

There was a lot of comparisons between Welsh and other languages because Welsh was close to British amateur linguists and "exotic."

Languages tend to pattern in very specific ways. Welsh has verb-subject order, possessives follow the noun ("book-my", not "my book"), and a bunch of other traits that look Berber--or Hebrew, or like Classical Mayan. There was a pretty popular book that "proved" Welsh was Berber; another tried to show that Welsh was some Amerindian language--Cherokee? Cree? In the 1800s and early 1900s it was sometimes though these traits were important in identifying related languages. They're not, really, mostly because the traits cluster in really obvious ways. You just have to look at a few hundred different languages to see the patterns. It also took more sophisticated views of syntax to spot these kinds of changes happening in English, German, Hebrew, Georgian (of all things) and, yes, even Gaelic and Spanish and French.

Still, it was also hard to show that Welsh was really Indo-European. Albanian was a tougher nut to crack, as was Armenian. Still, the problems worked out really well in the end.

We can't show that Welsh is related to Berber or Turkish or Navajo. Attempts have been made, but while suggestive they're not really taken as proof. It's been so long and so much information's been lost they they were the same language that all you're left with are single consonants as "roots" occurring with just about chance frequency.

As for the Spanish/Irish genetic similarities, most people tend to think it's because of migrations--either in prehistory or Celtiberians in Roman times. They discount the idea that those genes cover a widespread, continguous area in prehistory, one that was largely swamped by peoples moving in and rendering NW/N Spain and W Ireland relic areas. This view would have been acceptable in the 1800s but in the 1900s it was argued that people didn't really engage in large-scale migrations/genocides until modern times. That view's stuck, even as they show that much of Spain and Ireland bears little genetic resemblance to what it was in prehistory and so there *were* fairly large-scale migrations or genocides--and then they have to argue for migration from Spain to Ireland. That question has no answer until they do enough DNA studies on old human remains from much of Spain, Ireland, and France.

[LatteLibertine]

4. Either

she's pulling a BecKK Limbaugh stunt to get free publicity and to possibly become more relevant or she's actually that ignorant. It could be a combination.

I've never listened to her and sure as hell won't be starting now.

[vaberella]

6. Maybe. n/t