Damon Wayans has been struggling for over a year now to get the word
"Nigga" trademarked for a line of clothing. Not surprisingly, his applications have been routinely rejected
due to a law which states trademarked names must not be "immoral or scandalous." This, of course, opens up a
whole philosophical can of worms. Is it okay for the name to be used on clothing if the man behind the clothing is
black? Do opinions matter if they're from outside the target demographic? If Wayans ever does manage to
launch his clothing line, I think the scandal alone could make it a very lucrative venture, something that surely isn't
lost on him.Wayans wants to trademark "Nigga"
Damon Wayans has been struggling for over a year now to get the word
"Nigga" trademarked for a line of clothing. Not surprisingly, his applications have been routinely rejected
due to a law which states trademarked names must not be "immoral or scandalous." This, of course, opens up a
whole philosophical can of worms. Is it okay for the name to be used on clothing if the man behind the clothing is
black? Do opinions matter if they're from outside the target demographic? If Wayans ever does manage to
launch his clothing line, I think the scandal alone could make it a very lucrative venture, something that surely isn't
lost on him.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-01-2006 @ 1:29PM
Keith McDuffee said...
"Is it okay for the name to be used on clothing if the man behind the clothing is black?"
Well I dunno about the rest of you, but I wouldn't want to be caught wearing Simon Cowell's "Asshole" line of clothing.
Reply
3-01-2006 @ 2:08PM
karen anslinger said...
I think it is really sad that Damon Wayans needs to stoop as low as attempting to name his "clothing line" after one of the most controversial and scandelous words in history - clearly for publicity ONLY.
I'm sorry Mr. Wayans, but if you do not have enough faith in your (so called) clothing line's designs, maybe you should redirect your time on trying to revamp your fledgling comedy career, or at least what is left of it. Hmm...I wonder what older brother Keenan has to say about his former Homey the Clown now? No Damon, homey don't play that!
Reply
3-01-2006 @ 2:52PM
mayorjimmy said...
is it me or has that whole family gone the way of the jacksons? some of them gay, none of them entertaining, ALL of them crazy.
Reply
3-01-2006 @ 3:32PM
Canton said...
Actually, this kind of makes me wonder whether Damon Wayans is working towards trying to "reclaim" the word.
But, really, the word's beyond reclamation. It's a deplorable word, and trying to reclaim it would be like western-hemisphere Buddhists trying to reclaim the Swastika.
Reply
3-01-2006 @ 3:43PM
Jeff said...
Maybe it would be O.K., as long as his picture was placed under each area the Phrase was written.......hmmmmmm?
Reply
3-30-2006 @ 1:26PM
amber pride said...
I think it is a great idea to use the word as a clothing line. It might shed more positive light on the word. Now is the time to look at the word and how it is used today. Yes it was used in a bad way in the past as well as in some cases today but it is also used as a greeting or affectionate term umong african-americans. I believe it is time for american to learn the term, remember the term, and embrace it so that maybe we can apply a new meaning to the term.
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