Carol Thatch

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shanshee_allures S
shanshee_allures Feb 11, 2009 14:09:36
Replying to Merrick

Merrick wrote:
shanshee_allures wrote:
Then along come the white middle classes speaking on behalf of an entire people and say 'oh it's ok for THEM to say that word'... What do they mean by THEM?
I think that's pretty clear. 'Them' refers to the people who were denigrated by the word in question.

As a white person my use of nigger is totally different that a black person using it.

I read that Nina Simone could not STAND the use of the word nigger by black people. She saw it as retarted and negative and counter to all she and her generation were trying to achieve. She saw the use of it in hip hop as one way of keeping undereducated and under confident young black men 'in their place' so to speak, sort of guaranteeing an audience and achieveing nothing. She saw some anger but a self serving type that justs wafts into infinity. Wish I could find an article on that.

She's not 'right' and neither are they, there can only be one 'right' answer here surely.

As for the dolly that caused all this...I remember them being on jam jars and in shops, and I swear on me kid's life I always saw them as the double of this guy

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m104/markbc79/MartinShaw_Pros.jpg

Yes, I did watch that cheesy nonsense as a kid

:-)

I didn't connect the rag dolls with black people at all. That was done for me later on unfortunately.


TBH, one phrase I find more offensive than most others is 'Uncle Tom'. It suggests there are ways us 'whites' expect black people to behave.

Bit like the stick Cond Rice got for using hair straighteners. Bloody shocking I'd say.

x

S stray
stray Feb 11, 2009 15:29:26
Replying to shanshee_allures

shanshee_allures wrote:
TBH, one phrase I find more offensive than most others is 'Uncle Tom'. It suggests there are ways us 'whites' expect black people to behave.
It doesnt mean that though, but it is an offensive term. Its an insult black people use against other black people who are acting subservient to whites in order to better themselves in some way. It comes from Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel 'Uncle Toms Cabin'. The character isn't like that, but he gets portrayed that way.

Edit : What I'm saying is, it's use doesn't deconstruct to saying that there is a way white people expect black people to behave. It points to a time when the subservient role was accepted, sure, but it's usage is more of an accusation of erm... selling out. Although it can be seen as being derogatory to whites, in that it kinda says we have expectations of being superior, that to me is a big stretch.

The one that bugs me, even if it is a US term I've heard it used here is 'White Trash'. The history and use of that term basically suggests that Black people are lower than trash. Edit : But then I'm probably on a stretch there too.

The Professionals is a guilty pleasure in this house, you're not alone in that, "You doing anything later when you finish here love ?"