Sorry so many of my postings are about race lately. But lots of things seem to be popping up lately, and I gotta write about what I'm experiencing, right?
The latest target of my anger is John Ridley. He's a screenwriter who has decided that he is the newest black intellectual. And he's airing his opinions in some pretty impressive forums.
Unfortunately, I think he sounds like a moron. (Cornel West would probably call him a nihilist, but I'm not as classy as he is.)
He wrote an article for last week's issue of TIME, called "Why I'm Good With The N-Word". I found it ridiculous.
Then, as I was flipping through my December '06 issue of Esquire (one of my favorite magazines), I found another essay by Mr. Ridley, entitled "The Manifesto of the Ascendancy for the Modern American Nigger". This one just pissed me off.
(I was even more disappointed when I found out that this was the man behind the genius of Undercover Brother, which is a severely underrated movie - though the ending kind of sucks.)
Anyway, the Esquire essay made me so angry that I'm actually contemplating writing a letter to the magazine, something that I rarely do.
The main thing this clown doesn't get? It's a lesson I learned as a child, and again as a teenager (see the bottom half of this post). It doesn't matter how smart, or articulate, or clever you are. You can try to disassociate yourself from "Blacktivists" and "niggers". You can even write them off, turn your back on them.
But to the people that truly are racists, to those who are uncomfortable with black people...guess what?
You are, and always were, and always will be just another nigger to them.
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2 comments:
Some people just don't understand that you can't change everyone's perception.
In the case of the old man with the question... seasoned people are similar to small children who freely speak their mind. The way i see it, he:
1. was asking sincerely
2. didn't know any better
3. was trying to start trouble
Sorry you had to go through that. :(
Well I think this editorialist has one really good point...it is hard to erase a word like the N-word from our culture. It really is a powerful word. I suspect that its pervasive use in certain aspect of black culture (ie: hip hop) have lulled some white folks that would other wise never dream of using such a complicated and potentially hurtful word into thinking that the N-word is becoming ok. I think that Erasing the word is silly, but I would get behind a campaign to re-enforce the potency of this word. We whites need a good reminder every now and then of the terrible things our ancestors have done and this word has the power to do that. I agree with the Rover that some people will just never get it...but what can you do about those people? In fact those people help to maitain the potency of this slur...
I am not an authority on the N-word...I don't think I have ever even used it (except perhaps in singing along to a Tribe Called Quest song or two), you can tell that I don't even like to type it out. Maybe I am all wrong with what I have said, but it is just one white guys inexpereinced position.
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