the debate rages on in the US with most people oblivious – it seems – to the reality that it is not going on anywhere else.
nigger. the power of it mobilizes schools of thoughts. rappers who consider it in all its variations (with an “a” or and “er” ) to have meanings that they are privy to using to express themselves. oprah who, idealisticly speaking, thinks it should be banned from spoken written words… and possibly thought as well.
and i can see both sides. typically my emotional radar is low key despite having opinions…like, uing it casually opens it up to anyone to use or that you cannot ban words. and even in that thought process i wonder at the notion of free speech…and it gets complicated.
but what rages me is not this argument in the US, it is the lack of this argument in the rest of the world.
there is a young auckland band that just got a record deal. i love their music and they are amazing on stage. made up of 8 pacific isalnd guys and a loan white guy, they use nigga/nigger in their language. footage of them in LA for the first time showed them on the balcony of their hotel pretending they were on mtv yelling out “we’re here on cribs nigger, what”.
and i cringed.
and in south africa, i was greeted with “what’s up my nigger?” and variations of that PAINTED on the fronts of the local taxis.
and its only a word…its only a word…but in the context of an international world that seems to have embraced a very narrow vision of the US it makes my skin crawl.
Tags: soapbox