An interesting choice by the television censors

[jayrev]

A few days ago I was watching the Comedy Central tribute to Richard Pryor. The format of the show was that it showed clips from Pryor's act intermingled with clips of other comedians sharing their thoughts and memories of him. If you have seen Richard Pryor's comedy before then you know that he often uses the "N word" in his act, and many of the other comedians on the show also used it. The interesting thing was that when Pryor, or another black comedian used the word it was aired, but when a white comedian used it (the only one I noticed was Colin Quinn) it was censored (replaced with a beep).

I guess I understand the thinking behind this somewhat, but it seems strange to me that a word's acceptability for broadcast is dependent upon who says it. It was a very strange experience. Any thoughts?

 

[hgc]

I've also noticed this. It's really strange because it seems to be trending in some ways in the opposite direction of what some of the typical cultural complainers (Gambling Schoolmarm Bill Bennett) would have us believe. Sure yours is a case of simple PC stupidity, but I've also seen VH1 censoring very tame violence from what was already shown on broadcast TV at other times in their I love the 80's series.

In any case, I'm frustrated that I have anything to contribute to this topic at all. I hate so much what I see on TV, from news crawls to clipped closing credits to pop-up adds during shows that I should stop watching altogether, except for TCM.

Must stop watching, must stop watching, must stop watching, must stop watching, must stop watching (lock me up anytime), must stop watching, must stop watching ...

 

[Soapy Sam]

hgc.

Get rid of it. I have not had a tv set in 20 years and never miss it. It's a habit, like any other and easier to kick than booze or tobacco.

Just take the set to your nearest charity shop and hand it over.

You can do it. You will be amazed how much time you have for browsing the internet!!!

 

[epepke]

A few days ago I was watching the Comedy Central tribute to Richard Pryor. The format of the show was that it showed clips from Pryor's act intermingled with clips of other comedians sharing their thoughts and memories of him. If you have seen Richard Pryor's comedy before then you know that he often uses the "N word" in his act, and many of the other comedians on the show also used it. The interesting thing was that when Pryor, or another black comedian used the word it was aired, but when a white comedian used it (the only one I noticed was Colin Quinn) it was censored (replaced with a beep).

I guess I understand the thinking behind this somewhat, but it seems strange to me that a word's acceptability for broadcast is dependent upon who says it. It was a very strange experience. Any thoughts?

I don't understand the thinking, because when Pryor used the N-word (which I chafe at having to say), it was not the gay little casual toss-off gangsta rap autonym that it is today. It was real, and Pryor was doing real, honest-to-'Bob' burlesque, of the kind that is rarely seen in these sarcasm-impaired times.

 

[bug_girl]

one of the best explainations of this i ever heard was that white folks "lost their N-word privileges."

I'm ok with that.

 

[hgc]

hgc.

Get rid of it. I have not had a tv set in 20 years and never miss it. It's a habit, like any other and easier to kick than booze or tobacco.

Just take the set to your nearest charity shop and hand it over.

You can do it. You will be amazed how much time you have for browsing the internet!!!

[cough][sputter]
What are you saying?
You mean get rid of it? Literally?
That is quite impossible.
How will I live? What will I eat? Who will be my friend?
Are you a Communist? Materialist/Atheist?
Have you no decency?
But I must watch as Larry King asks Sylvia Browne if skunks go to heaven.
I must be ushered into the no spin zone by Bill O'Reilly.
I must see how much under-the-cover-of-news-content advertising for "The Simple Life" FOX can slip in.
I must see the latest episode the yet another crappy "Law & Order" spinoff.
I must watch check on tri-state area traffic every morning, to prepare for my subway ride to work.
I must watch "Speed II" on American Movie "Classics."
I must be crazy.
[/sputter][/cough]

 

[epepke]

one of the best explainations of this i ever heard was that white folks "lost their N-word privileges."

I'm ok with that.

Including Patti Smith?

"Baby, baby, baby was a rock 'n' roll African-American" doesn't quite work.

If it had been anyone other than Pryor, I might have agreed. But, like Patti Smith, Pryor used the word for a fairly clear reason. Censoring references to the N-word with respect to Pryor because they were uttered by white people is like, oh, I don't know, like censoring people saying "Hitler" when talking about Mel Brooks' movies. Or, for that matter, Randy Newman:

"We're rednecks, we're rednecks,
We don't know our posteriors from a hole in the ground,
We're rednecks, we're rednecks,
And we're keeping the African-Americans down."

Rights have nothing to do with it. It's deliberately disrespectful to what Pryor was trying to say to make such a decision.

 

[hgc]

I find it funny the Standards & Practices group at Comedy Central actually had to think up this policy. Usually, you would expect just some stupid, non-thinking implementation of a "no ni**er" policy. But no, they allowed it in some cases and not others. This means that they put their minds to the problem, and came up with an astoudingly brain-dead solution.

 

[Paladin]

Here's an example of what's going on with this issue.

Years ago, at a church meeting I attended, there were two rather obese people joking with each other about their respective weights. Another person they knew, who was not obese, came along and also joked with them about their weight. They politely asked him to stop. When he asked why, they said, "We can joke about it because we're fat; you can't."

Black people can use the N word because they share in the culture, history, and troubles of black people. When white people use it, it has an entirely different connotation, even if that connotation is not intended.

 

[scribble]

I used to chat with one of the seemingly-homeless folks who hung out in front of a club I frequented, "helping" people find spots to park their cars.

One day he greeted me with a hearty, "What's up, my ni**er?!"

He's black, I'm white. It was really weird.

 

[bug_girl]

Including Patti Smith?
"Baby, baby, baby was a rock 'n' roll African-American" doesn't quite work.
.....Or, for that matter, Randy Newman:
"We're rednecks, we're rednecks,
We don't know our posteriors from a hole in the ground,
We're rednecks, we're rednecks,
And we're keeping the African-Americans down."

Just curious--were either of these examples in the Comedy central special?

 

[Darwin'sGoat]

Black people can use the N word because they share in the culture, history, and troubles of black people. When white people use it, it has an entirely different connotation, even if that connotation is not intended.

You don't see that as an unintentionally racist thing to say? I'm not black, but as a human being a I share in that same culture, history and trouble.

Here's a mish-mosh of quotes that paint a bit of the conflicting spectrum of my inner thoughts.

Geoff Nunberg - http://www-csli.stanford.edu/~nunberg/taboo.html
That's the trouble with sacralizing these epithets -- it risks turning attitudes like racism and homophobia into guilty pleasures. Taboos always confirm the dark power of the ideas they suppress. Describing ni**er as "the N-word" doesn't just mark it as something we're not supposed to say in public -- it also ensures that it will have an intriguingly transgressive force when we say it in private. Not that anyone should ever mention the word for any reason without a sense of its considerable power, but it doesn't deserve the awe that a taboo implies. Let it lie in the sun to rot.

M.C. Beamon
Personally, I think that we should not attempt to own a word, which has never created anything but unnecessary drama for our people. I construe the common usage as a possible step back in civil rights for African-Americans. Because of the diminishment of the significance of the use of the "n" word, the ability of African-Americans and others to link its use to the commission of a hate crimes, its part in racial profiling, its place in the exclusion of minorities from economic opportunities, and the denial of legal recourse for African-Americans, we should refrain from claiming this imposed baggage.

Russell Madden - http://home.earthlink.net/~rdmadden/webdocs/Ni**er_Ni**er_Ni**er.html
"Yankee" was an appellation applied to Americans as an insult by the British. Rather than allow the Brits to set the terms of the debate, as it were, they adopted it as a self-descriptor and did so proudly. The term has stuck for over two centuries to describe the inhabitants of this country.

 

[Tony]

one of the best explainations of this i ever heard was that white folks "lost their N-word privileges."

I'm ok with that.

You're ok with people loosing freedom of speech because of their race?

 

[Paladin]

You don't see that as an unintentionally racist thing to say? I'm not black, but as a human being a I share in that same culture, history and trouble.

We do share in that history, etc., but not in the same way, not from the same point-of-view, not from the same experience.

I'm white; african-american people in the U.S. have made it clear that they do not appreciate it when white people use that word, and I have no problem whatsoever in respecting their wishes.

 

[Darwin'sGoat]

I'm white; african-american people in the U.S. have made it clear that they do not appreciate it when white people use that word, and I have no problem whatsoever in respecting their wishes.

Who has made it clear? That decision hasn't been made. Some people think no one should say it, some people think that only black people should be allowed to say it, some people think everyone should say it.

The problem is the stereotype. Dancing around the political correctness of words isn't solving that problem and is in essence disempowering the people the dancing is trying to protect.

If the 'decision' is a full out "Please, nobody use this word." then I will stand by it without question. If humanity continues to draw imaginary lines and grey areas however I will continue to scratch my head and wonder why.

 

[KelvinG]

We do share in that history, etc., but not in the same way, not from the same point-of-view, not from the same experience.

I'm white; african-american people in the U.S. have made it clear that they do not appreciate it when white people use that word, and I have no problem whatsoever in respecting their wishes.

This is clearly a case of prejudice. We whities deserve a word that is equally as offensive to describe us. That way we can be allowed to say it but no other racial group can.

Remember when George Jefferson used to call Tom Willis a "honkie." We should bring that word back.

I feel really slighted in all of this.

 

[Darwin'sGoat]

I feel really slighted in all of this.

Yeah, whatever Cracker.

 

[KelvinG]

Yeah, whatever Cracker.

You said the "C" word.

 

[bug_girl]

You're ok with people loosing freedom of speech because of their race?

legally, as long as alternative avenues are open for speech, then no "freedom of speech" was lost here.

Use of the N word is an issue of politeness. I don't use it because i wish to not cause my friends discomfort and pain.

Living in the same country is NOT the same as sharing a culture. I shared a house with another professor who was african american, and we didn't dare drive in one town. they would see white woman, black guy in the car and think carjacking.
If i want to get big laughs in class all i have to do is make a reference to "bling bling." it's funny when i say it because i am clearly not a member of the rap culture (or particularly hip). it isn't funny when one of my students says it--different context.

 

[Snide]

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Russell Madden - http://home.earthlink.net/~rdmadden...*er_Ni**er.html
"Yankee" was an appellation applied to Americans as an insult by the British. Rather than allow the Brits to set the terms of the debate, as it were, they adopted it as a self-descriptor and did so proudly. The term has stuck for over two centuries to describe the inhabitants of this country.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wasn't this the premise of the book, "The N***er Bible?"

I'd look it up now, but you never know when someone is looking over your shoulder here at work.