TVSquad

Back in the 80's, my buddy Samm-Art Williams wrote an episode of Cagney & Lacey that explored the impact of words. The lines that had the CBS censors on the edges of their chairs:

Cagney: "Okay, listen up all you crackers, wops, niggers, chinks, spics, micks, kikes and Polacks. Did I leave anybody out? Good, because that's the last time I want to hear those words in this place."

A black detective (derisively); "Thank you, Judge Cagney. What do you know about names that can cut? You like to be called a spoiled honkie bitch? Does that measure up to gook, Hebe or coon?"

But we aren't speaking about the simple use of a word. Richards spoke about going back in time to a pre-Civil Rights era, hanging up Black men, and sticking forks into their anus.

That's material even the best of writers can't make up...

--
dwacon
http://dwacon.blogspot.com

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Disagree.


As TV Squad has noted comedian Paul Mooney, who has casually used "the N word" in the past has stated that he will no longer use it in his writing or acts.

Masada's stand shows a similar awareness as to the power of the word and how terribly offensive it is; beyond any other word we have. I mean, you can't seriously compare "herpes" (or even any other purely derogatory word) to "the N word" (which, as you will note, people are uncomfortable even writing out in full)


This incident has (rightly) brought to light the fact how incredibly offensive the word is and that in today's society, there is absolutely NO CONTEXT what so ever in which the word is appropriate. It doesn't work to shock, it doesn't work for a laugh, it doesn't for any reason, it simply should not be used. Not by whites, not by blacks, not by asians, not by anyone.

It may have had a place in the comedy of the 60's or 70's when it was carefully used to discharge by the likes of Richard Pryor, but we live in a different time.


Not to praise Richards in anyway, but if some good is to come of this, it would the way in which we truly see how terrible that word is in ANY conceivable context.

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To commenter #1, the N-Word is funny. Period.

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Welcome to TV Squad, Jay. Your first post is excellent and leads me to believe you might be overqualified for the job.

I don't understand the stigma over words in our society. What bothered me most about Richards' rant wasn't *what* he said but *how* he said it.

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"Whenever someone describes their act as "stream of consciousness" it means they have no act."

Could mean they have no consciousness either

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Hey Jay Black - whatever your point may be it is far overshadowed by your constant reference to yourself as a comedian. Then why aren't you funny? Never heard a funny guy have to tell us that he is (why would you even try to link yourself to Bruce or Pryor?). If writing this is so far beneath your comic genius, why are you doing this rather than grace the world with your brand of stand up??? you are way too full of yourself.

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Did everyone forget about "Chappelle"??? Uses the word in every show, people laugh, etc....
Don't forget that the use of "Whiteboy" torward's white's is a sublime reverse "Diss", without saying "Honkie" to your face. My black friends filled me in on it's origin.

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I hear young black people use'ing the "N" word ,and in the same breath talk about some one disrespecting them! When asked if they knew what the word ment I am told that it is just a word that everyone used, and he was a black man refering to another black man!"Everybody does it"!
Perhaps my view isnt in accord with the normalities of our so called "modern" society, but I'm sure some people will redily acknowlege the fact that under certian conditions we cannot afford to follow the course of the main stream. I was taught that a nigger was a loathsome person not to be respeted. so if we advertise the contention that we concider ourselves as such we cannot ask for respect.As far asthe statement that everybody does it, I'm sure that other nationalities have used derogatory names for each other, butit is seldom heard in public.
I think that we must use our restrictons to make ourselvs stronger. Minorities did not fight there way up from the back of the bus just to succumb to the original plan of slavery. We must give our destiny a purpose and realize that wearing a Malcom X hat and then disrespecting each other is a contradiction.The progress made so far for black America was achieved by single individuals gaining respect one step at a time. They understood that there was no boarderline between their own personal world and the world in general

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Welcome Jay, glad to have you here and I enjoyed your first article.

But I disagree with you.

I agree with the first poster. This is a different time. I can't think of any context where the n-word would be appropriate. "Herpes" is ok - anyone can get it. The n-word singles out a race and is wholly derogatory.

Richard's rant and his using the n-word was bad enough, but when he started talking about stringing up black people and sticking forks in their ass it went WAY over the line.

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Wearing a Malcom X hat and then Disrespectig each othr by calling each other the "N" word is a contradiction! Right on Paul Moony! Make it uncool for anyone to use the word!

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LB - he's new so he's introducing himself. The fact that he's a comedian is pertinent because he's writing about a comedian. Lighten up.

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I don't understand why this is such big news. Assuming Richards did not say "n***r." Instead he said "f**k you" or "i hope you get herpes" or "c*ck s*ckers" or "p*ssies" or "motherf*ckers" or any other string of offensive words. All of these words would have been said in admittedly irrational anger. But why is the use of "n***r" automatically transforms Richards' outbreak from irrational anger to "hate speech" or "racism?" When you're acting irrationally and in anger, you say things you don't mean. For instance, sometimes I say "don't be such a bitch" in the heat of an argument. Doesn't mean I think it, doesn't mean that my wife is. A white person's use of the word should not immediately brand them as a racist.

Just like Jesse Jackson's use of "hymietown" and Al Sharpton's anti-semitic rhetoric shouldn't immediately brand them as anti-semites...oh wait, their comment were not said in irrational anger but in thought-out and planned speeches. Interesting.

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To be fair, he didn't say "I'm a comedian therefore I'm going to write a routine about how this incident was bad"


I think it's all funny, a case of a mad man making a really bad judgement call and I love that Mel has jumped to his defense!

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Whoa LB -

Did you read the same post I did? He mentions the fact that he is a comedian because that's why he was hired by TVSquad - an insider's point of view. He never once compared himself to Bruce or Pryor, only tried to put the issue in context with the work they did. And I don't know where you pulled this idea that he felt writing this was beneath him. Re-read the post and try again.

Jay - I think you're on point with this. Banning the word outright does seem to me to be a knee-jerk reaction, but it's Masada's club and he can do what he wants. Only thing is it really doesn't address anything, just kinda tucks it away in hopes it doesn't rear its face again.

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First of all, great column. One thing coming out of this that I find interesting is that the n-word has changed for black comics as well. Is Paul Mooney's dropping of the word really because he feels ashamed for using it, or is it because it will now stick out and make the audience remember such an uncomfortable incident? It will be impossible for the next few months to hear any comic of any race say "nigger" without an audience questioning its use and their response.

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Michael Richard's is a bigot. Pure and simple; When some people use the word "nigger", they mean that persons of African descent are less than people, less than dogs and deserve to be treated that way; when many persons of African descent use the term "niggah", they are expressing a subcultural reclaimation of a derogatory term to illustrate a feeling of camaradirie with others who might feel disenfranchised by the Euro American plutocratic "majority". Michael Richards was talking about hanging niggers and sticking forks up their anuses. Yep, I'm sure the Ku Klux Klan wants this guy to do stand up at their next negro roast, and why is he apologizing ? Because now he won't be able to get a job at a Coney Island washing dishes, because he can't keep his hate to himself. When you have a word for people to distinquish them from your group/faith/clan/tribe, you're just human, when you're verbally saluting the treatment of African Americans like plague rats ? you're a bigot. I have prejudices, it's a universal human xenophobic quality, but I don't believe everyone of any group deserves to be treated like African American are still treated in this country. I wish he (Michael Richards) would do an encore of that meltdown in a penitentary, or a bar in Detroit... Now, the end result of that would be comedy...

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RE: Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, there is no reason for "Christian" clerics to be using ANY derogatory terms to describe any ethnicity. And their flocks are obliged to get in their butts about it; failure to do so is a condoning of such uncivilized behavior. And I've met Jesse Jackson; if you are not a Brooks Brothers suit wearing brotha, or have some cause Rev JJ can rally behind, he won't speak to you or shake your hand... UofM A2 MI

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This incident has been getting very annoying. Michael Richards did something very bad (and stupid), but its over. He made his horrible apology and i personally think everyone should just move on. I mean, did people even mourn Steve Irwin for this long? (just a reference) He said nigger, which said wrongly can be (and is) a very derogatory (is that the word?) term. No he shouldnt have, but he did, and now his career is probably ruined (or horribly crumpled). There must be soo much better things to talk about than this (Not that this was a bad article, just...late)

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Well said, Captain Obvious. I'd like to buy you a drink.

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I reckon Paul Mooney is right...and Jay Black is also right about Jamie Masada being wrong.

When Pryor and Mooney claimed "that word" as their own, their intention was to defang the word and remove its power to hurt -- to make it a word that could only be laughed at and be considered ridiculous. This was a noble goal and it was worth trying. But it had to be tried for us to find out, all these years later, the experiment had the exact opposite effect from what they intended. Instead of killing the word, it perpetuated the word and indeed resurrected its power. It was right on the verge of becoming archaic and dying out altogether, but now it's become a staple. And when a non-standup who had no business being on a stage in the first place (Richards) gets heckled and doesn't know how to handle it, the word was right there for him to throw back as the most hurtful thing he could say at that moment. And Paul Mooney, a really thoughtful and sensitive guy, is shaken to see this final evidence that his good intent utterly failed. So for him to renounce that word and say he was wrong all these years is a big deal.

The problem is, you can't legislate or enforce your insights onto other people. As Dwayne Conyers points out above, how can you erase bad intent by banning one word? And why only that one word? Are wops and chinks and gooks and kikes less entitled to protection? Pretty soon we're all being marched off to the Death Camp of Tolerance...

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