tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7850527497873923412.post3547154627334797153..comments2017-08-28T10:59:56.742-04:00Comments on The Quest for Comedic Stardom: My Reaction to the N-WordLucy Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14221491508556265095noreply@blogger.comBlogger48125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7850527497873923412.post-36620659923525321962007-11-29T21:56:00.000-05:002007-11-29T21:56:00.000-05:00Very interesting post. You know. I still use the w...Very interesting post. You know. I still use the word from time to time in the privacy of my own home. Gosh, that made me laugh out loud just writing that. Like I'm talking about smoking a joint from time to time or something. Anyway, I see where you are trying to go, but I think you might feel a little differently about whether or not it matters if someone uses it if some old crust white woman/guy were to say to you, "Get out of my way you dirty nigger!" When I was in college, my friends and I were in the drive-thru at McDonald's one night and a car full of white boys drove by and called us niggers out of their windows. We were all so shocked, after we yelled and screamed back at them, we were silent in that car for about five minutes. All at a loss for words.<BR/><BR/>I don't let general use among Black folks bother me unless it's used around white folks. Hypocritical? Yes, but I can't help it. It's the Southern girl in me. lolAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7850527497873923412.post-15776253710765268822007-11-26T22:02:00.000-05:002007-11-26T22:02:00.000-05:00Lucy, This was a great piece. I really like your s...Lucy, This was a great piece. I really like your style. I'm definitely subscribing to your blog.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7850527497873923412.post-83617716191076844692007-11-25T20:20:00.000-05:002007-11-25T20:20:00.000-05:00Lucy,You have really stirred up a lot of emotions ...Lucy,<BR/>You have really stirred up a lot of emotions and opinions here. I think your way of thinking about this is very insightful, although I recognize that it may be quite difficult for people to actually treat it as "water off of their backs" as you do. <BR/><BR/>I think you should write another post with your insightful practical suggestions that's entitled something like "Steps You Can Take To Depower the N-Word" or something like that.<BR/><BR/>I'm glad I found your blog. You are very talented.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7850527497873923412.post-34886813040994231932007-11-24T21:43:00.000-05:002007-11-24T21:43:00.000-05:00I applaud you because as a black female on the web...I applaud you because as a black female on the web without the support of many African Americans who have the same view point, I finally found my match. Like you, I do not approve of the N word and it does not define me. I have written countless entries on the word and I feel sometimes as if I wear a scarlet letter on my head because people randomly come up to me online asking me how do I feel about the N word. That is why I wrote a blog post too because after awhile you kind of get tired of the misinformation that is put out about the history of the word. <BR/><BR/>One thing though that I tell everyone is a personal experience I had in law school with a white student who wanted "permission" to call me the N word. She thought that it was appropriate to call me the N word because of what she had seen on In Living Color back in early 1990s. I was in law school from 1997-2000. So, when she said this to me, I was shocked. I had to give her a history lesson but she is still oblivious to the plight of African Americans living in America. <BR/><BR/>Great post and glad to see a sister in the comedic game who is on the ball! You have my support! =)SerenityLifehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06554755648505265902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7850527497873923412.post-65992969347825405322007-11-24T16:51:00.000-05:002007-11-24T16:51:00.000-05:00Hi Lucy DeeGreat blog and if I'm ever in NYC I'd c...Hi Lucy Dee<BR/>Great blog and if I'm ever in NYC I'd certainly like to attend one of your shows. In answer to your question and in relation to this post:<BR/>Ok Post first. I live in South Africa, the last country in Africa to attain a majority freedom or universal franchise, everyone has the vote. Though I am actually from Zimbabwe originally and live in here in Economic Exile. In SA the N word is a K word and completely politically incorrect for all due to its derogatory meaning. And by all I do mean everyone, you will never hear it in music or any other medium. If it is ever spoken the meaning is clear and nasty in a bad way, and the speaker will be a firm racist. It has not, and I hope it never will be, been adopted into any alternative slang meaning or even a type of solidarity that might imply other things like the N word can and does today. Hopefully in time it will fade out of use and perhaps revert back to it's true original meaning of unbeliever. Then it could be said in reference to an atheist with no slight.<BR/><BR/>Your question: Yes I call myself an Economic Slave, wherever you might find my profile online etc. The reason is a simply reality check. In today's world for the average person; No work = no money = death or a really short somewhat unpleasant life. Therefore we are all economic slaves bound to our countries economy (and thereby the world's economy, no country stands entirely alone) from the moment we step out of school or university. In this we have no choice, not really, as the sixties hippies found out starving to death while trying to plant seeds in winter by the roadside (an image from a movie but I can't recall which one). But and this is a big butt, no-one seems to be comming up with any viable alternatives, including myself. So we are kinda stuck with it and it does work better than any other system we have had so far. One of the dangers however is, to quote L. E. Modesitt, JR. for "The Ethos Effect" a sci-fi book set in a distant future: "In a sense the economic system worked. What eventually brought the system down was the perception that, for all appearances, there was no ethical basis to the system, the feeling that ethics were relative to wealth, and that the wealthy had no ethics and bought their way out of being ethical"...Ivor W. Hartmannhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04747901380659798898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7850527497873923412.post-90632957658182148702007-11-24T14:49:00.000-05:002007-11-24T14:49:00.000-05:00As long as people refer to themselves as the N wor...As long as people refer to themselves as the N word, others will also refer to them as so. Having no reaction sounds good, but many of us know that when someone spews it out of hate, it's very hard not to react... that is something I'd have to work real hard at... that and of course trying to hide the weapon after the fact. ;o)HeyShae!https://www.blogger.com/profile/16137710283277856211noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7850527497873923412.post-11291949835315446652007-11-24T12:55:00.000-05:002007-11-24T12:55:00.000-05:00This is thoughtful stuff. Thank you for linking m...This is thoughtful stuff. Thank you for linking me, Lucy.whatsernamehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15731411057968563416noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7850527497873923412.post-16145877434210109362007-11-23T22:13:00.000-05:002007-11-23T22:13:00.000-05:00There is one aspect (at least) of racism you have ...There is one aspect (at least) of racism you have not commented on; the power of the hater to turn the hated invisible. I want to believe change is going to come.GoldenBoyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03105310512944585865noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7850527497873923412.post-71916920530508581312007-11-23T13:26:00.000-05:002007-11-23T13:26:00.000-05:00...I say give it time and the word will change aga......I say give it time and the word will change again. Words only have power because we assign them meaning. As people change, meaning changes -- thats the nature of language. The N-word is not an enterprise, a business or a company - it can't suffer losses. The only thing that kills language is a new language.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16117778722415359223noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7850527497873923412.post-26646924691609437882007-11-21T20:30:00.000-05:002007-11-21T20:30:00.000-05:00"A colored is a very frightened-to-death Afro-Amer..."A colored is a very frightened-to-death Afro-American. A Negro is one that makes it in the system, and he wants to be white. A nigger, he's loud and boisterous, wants to be seen. Nobody likes a nigger. A black man has pride. He wants to build, he wants to make his race mean something. Wants to have a culture and art forms. And he's not prejudiced. I am a black American man. Now you go ahead and print it." - James Brown, 1982William Hammethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10585504782573062946noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7850527497873923412.post-71999121280815834362007-11-21T13:33:00.000-05:002007-11-21T13:33:00.000-05:00I read your blog entry and thought it was great. I...I read your blog entry and thought it was great. I must admit that when I originally heard that from Chris Rock I dismissed it and thought it was problematic because he was reinforcing a racialized image of blacks, however the way you analyzed it in your piece you made me question my assumptions. So I am now thinking that maybe I am wrong about Chris Rock. I can't commit now to that idea however I will be thinking about it and what you wrote over the coming weeks. <BR/><BR/>What I think is the novel angle in your take on race in reference to the Chris Rock thing I mentioned is that there is this reductionist approach to race with Cosby on one end and Michel Eric Dyson on the other. The way you interpret Rock's definitions and descriptions of "niggas" I think is rather unique in that you are not influenced by either poles of the race debate. I think moving beyond dichotomies and binomials is really what is need. The race debate in this country is still too 20th century. <BR/><BR/>Here is the annotated version..;-)<BR/><BR/>RobertRobert Cassanellohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11524646747823341158noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7850527497873923412.post-56505920126538207802007-11-21T11:59:00.000-05:002007-11-21T11:59:00.000-05:00I believe that a word is a word, and the powers th...I believe that a word is a word, and the powers that be will never allow those lines of segregation go away. They need them, just as they need their ill-gotten money. These are scared, old, racist white men in positions of inscrutable power. I think it is within our power to change the world by a simple shift of our opinions of things like this. Let's completely change the world. From now on, a Nigger is a brand of butter crackers, similar to Ritz. Honky, Cracker, Whitey and White Devil are all brands of Saltines; and so on. Fuck it, let us, as one race (the only one there is, human) agree to change the meanings of these words, and stick to it until the oldheads die in a pile of their own diseased opulence, and then, the new meaning of the word will have become reality.<BR/><BR/>As far as my reaction to - and use of - the word "nigger"? I use it the way I use "motherfucker", to describe something or someone that really pisses me off. I don't use it as a racial slur, but I still use it in a hateful way, and that's really just as bad. That's what it comes down to: hate.<BR/><BR/>Hate is a product of fear, and fear is an initial reaction to growth and learning; the confrontation of one's fears is always harrowing. I think many people tend to get stuck on that fear, and turn it into hate, rather than charge head on into the fear and explore it, understand it.<BR/><BR/>A downside, I find, is that when you try not to hate others, you become aware that most hate is of the self. You see things you don't like about yourself in others, and it makes you hate them, but you're really hating on yourself. So getting rid of hate is a good thing for you AND everyone else.<BR/><BR/>I don't have an answer. The world is fucked right now, no doubt, but people are waking up. There's more of us than you'd think, and there are more joining us every day. We know that something is just around the corner, but we don't know what. I think it's the day that the critical mass shifts in our favor. The Generations X's and Y's (I hate those terms, by the way) are coming of age, we've got our hands in the market now. We're soon going be able to change the status quo, and as these skeletal old bastards in government the world over start to die out like flies during the winter, this will truly become a new world.<BR/><BR/>Will it be a good one? A bad one? I have no idea, but I don't think any of us have a choice anymore.Tom Cashhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01516434558803143966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7850527497873923412.post-76531000256754154612007-11-21T07:38:00.000-05:002007-11-21T07:38:00.000-05:00I disagree. I think the word "nigger" should be sa...I disagree. <BR/><BR/>I think the word "nigger" should be said all the time. Just like "fuck", "shit", "cunt", "spic", "faggot", "dyke", and anything else we've got on reserve as a term of disdain for any one group, or a word just to irritate. Because words only have power if they are given power, just like you said. But you've also given "nigger" way too much power by treating like this great glass thing, it's the "n-word", it's something we shouldn't say.<BR/><BR/>As a comedian, or an aspiring one, I'm not sure which as I just sort of stumbled upon your blog entry and if I have the context completely wrong then I am sorry, but as a person who wants to get paid for their use of the language as a weapon on a room full of people SURELY you come across a thousand things which work similar to a word like 'nigger', maybe it's not a word, but a string of words which taken by themselves are inoffensive, but taken together can cause a riot. Topics which are taboo. Surely, the best way to cure the disease of certain words is to ridicule them, instead of whispering them and not saying them out of fear of offending someone?ajhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18013954032209613814noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7850527497873923412.post-86571439750371790152007-11-19T02:44:00.000-05:002007-11-19T02:44:00.000-05:00Good I love you and want to have your babies. You...Good I love you and want to have your babies. <BR/><BR/>You've hit the nail on the head and said what needs to be said. No matter who uses the N word, you are an idiot.<BR/><BR/>Oh, and the word only has power because people keep giving it power...just friggin' ignore it like people ignore cracker, gringo, kike, spic, etc...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7850527497873923412.post-51790863588101531092007-11-19T02:31:00.000-05:002007-11-19T02:31:00.000-05:00yet once again from your response, you present you...yet once again from your response, you present your self as a lost, nomadic soul, you seem not to analyze and understnad before you react, instead you make knee jerk assumptions and replies, if you had read and comprehended my question to you, you wouldnt have went on to explain the obivous differences with martin luther king and malcolm x, i suggest u reread what i posted, so i wouldnt bother to repeat the question or clarify it for you, ultimately it seems the persons chris rock was referring to with the "N" word is you! your the "N" person, that black person who is ignorant and fighting against there own race, and iam disgusted by that, you should be empowering them to rise above the "N" word, not bash and ridicule them into submission by pointing out to them they are stupid! like i said before iam NOT OFFENDED BY THE "N" BUT I DO FEEL OFFENDED BY THIS POST! i hold no guilt in telling you how backward you are! in trying to belittle your own race, so my fellow black brethren you dont tell me i need to get my facts, cause martin luther's fight for freedom did not go in vain, cause evidently you are here posting a blog with out a whip over your back!, you must be blinded by racism against your own skin, not to see how revered mr kings teachings were to uplift the black african americans, its people like you who preach hatred amongst our race, instead of trying to uplift! you want us to bury our heads in sand, out of shame, my emotions are in order so is my facts, but i would anticipate your response to this would be more constructed, instead of headlessly thought ofAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7850527497873923412.post-52339058095696198312007-11-18T22:58:00.000-05:002007-11-18T22:58:00.000-05:00What a lively discussion this has become. I see ...What a lively discussion this has become. I see your point when you compare it to the xmas fruitcake no one actually wants. And I will think about it some more.Libdronehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11484871168552005274noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7850527497873923412.post-27733020978025941672007-11-18T19:24:00.000-05:002007-11-18T19:24:00.000-05:00A few quick thoughts on "race relations":1. One of...A few quick thoughts on "race relations":<BR/><BR/>1. One of my best friends is a polish-Haitian mix. We always have a good laugh when someone calls him "African-American", and then point to the map. <BR/><BR/>2. I myself am an Irish-German-Jewish mix. We came to the USA about 40 years after the Civil War. My family never owned a slave, but a few of us were slaves once upon a time. Point being: the "nigger-Irish" and "dirty Jews" are about as far away from slave-owners as white people can get. <BR/><BR/>3. I really find the entire concept of "race" to be absurd. What was the name of your great-great-great grandmother? What color was she? I'd wager 99% of people couldn't answer this question. Everyone I've ever met is a mix of something or other. <BR/><BR/>4. By the content of character, not the color of skin. Amen, MLK Jr. <BR/><BR/>Signed,<BR/><BR/>A kike, nigger-irish, cracker who is not defined by his lack of a tan.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01250234404788970922noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7850527497873923412.post-82922388670814472662007-11-18T14:33:00.000-05:002007-11-18T14:33:00.000-05:00Bravo, Lucy. And thank you for writing the post. ...Bravo, Lucy. And thank you for writing the post. I'm subscribing to your feed, because I want to hear more.AmyLhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07475456982036428156noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7850527497873923412.post-64673599713899406452007-11-18T01:31:00.000-05:002007-11-18T01:31:00.000-05:00I would love to comment on this post. I think it ...I would love to comment on this post. I think it says a lot of things that would be completely misconstrued coming out of my Irish-descended ass. So I'll just shut up, and say: I thank you, for this..https://www.blogger.com/profile/10056016654585988995noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7850527497873923412.post-10587369090527697282007-11-18T00:03:00.000-05:002007-11-18T00:03:00.000-05:00A lot of people get obsessed. They can get obsesse...A lot of people get obsessed. They can get obsessed with anything - even words. What are words anyway? Seems they are used to describe experiences with things, people or events. The key here is the word "experience". Words themselves are nothing. They are kindof like a thought. It doesn't affect anything outside of oneself. All experience occurs individually with each of us. So when we become obsessed w are only obsessed with our own experience. The compulsion comes with the revisits. I don't think anyone's experience of people, things and events are particularly unique. The obsession to revisit may be unique and contagious for the brainwashed an entertained!<BR/><BR/>Blog at http://merivingian.wordpress.com/<BR/>and http://urbanblackops.blogspot.com/keymakerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12001068591183723359noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7850527497873923412.post-89904697881529270452007-11-17T21:06:00.000-05:002007-11-17T21:06:00.000-05:00I truly appreciate a post that actually dares to s...I truly appreciate a post that actually dares to say something meaningful. <BR/><BR/>It’s nice to know that the majority of people don’t believe or act like the corporate owned media would have us all believe.<BR/><BR/>We should all know by now that corporate worlds goal is to make decisions for us. They would love to take our choices away.<BR/><BR/>In a culture that is over saturated with garbage television and phony reality shows, which are full of negative images and situations that degrade, humiliate and take all power away from the individual so does this word. <BR/><BR/>Only the ignorant continue to use it and if you don’t know that by now you fell for the con. Wake up and live a happy life, it’s way too short.<BR/><BR/>Peace<BR/>xoxoAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05638754322551651119noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7850527497873923412.post-46651305246447903132007-11-17T20:48:00.000-05:002007-11-17T20:48:00.000-05:00Heya. I'm from Germany and always wondered about a...Heya. I'm from Germany and always wondered about all the single-letter-words in the US...<BR/><BR/>If anyone knows what the F-Word or the N-Word is, what's the matter with replacing it?<BR/><BR/>On the one hand you give it more power this way, on the other you weaken it. <BR/><BR/>If you want people to not call you Nigger, tell them. "Do not call me the N-word again." is just playing it down, isn't it?<BR/><BR/>F-word this stupid racism anyway :-)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7850527497873923412.post-85288744406675792602007-11-17T20:41:00.000-05:002007-11-17T20:41:00.000-05:00Kris - I was actually thinking of using the word, ...Kris - I was actually thinking of using the word, "Digg'er" instead. (Whoo-hoo! Front Page, ya'll!)<BR/><BR/>I'll quote me first: Would it make a difference if I wrote/used "F-Word" instead, and wrote an entire post about that? No, I think not. The meaning would still be the same. <BR/><BR/>CatsAndBeer.com - That's an AWESOME fact. Thank you! Really, thanks! I love nuggets of truth like that. But you do know now that I have to ask for some references and two forms of ID as well as a birth certificate to accept that information.Lucy Deehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14221491508556265095noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7850527497873923412.post-65511258170977984602007-11-17T20:25:00.000-05:002007-11-17T20:25:00.000-05:00The Chris Rock 'niggers vs. black people' bit was ...The Chris Rock 'niggers vs. black people' bit was written by a white guy (at least according to that guy - I think he is one of the creators of wonder showzen) - just a fun (maybe) factCatsandbeer.comhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07962144481243702920noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7850527497873923412.post-57691783752201644182007-11-17T20:07:00.000-05:002007-11-17T20:07:00.000-05:00I'll Quote you first: I think people give the wor...I'll Quote you first: I think people give the word more power than it deserves."<BR/><BR/>Now I'm going to tell you that you are one of those people. You do it by referring to the word Nigger as 'the N-Word' <BR/><BR/>I mean really, every time you say 'The N-word' or hear 'the N-word' your mind automatically fills in the blank and in your head you THINK -Nigger- <BR/><BR/>Take a point from Rock, or Chappell and use the actual word if thats what your talking about. Saying 'N-word' just empowers it further. Think about it. <BR/><BR/>http://stealthfiction.com/the-n-word/Erikhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06929101848751671502noreply@blogger.com