# Bill Maher drops the nigger bomb **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 3, 2017, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-drops-the-nigger-bomb/787991 "2017-06-03T10:21:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2017, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-drops-the-nigger-bomb/787991/201 "2017-06-07T00:05:14Z")
> [@Cartooniverse](#): > > Mr. Pryor had, shall we say, prior experience with the use and abuses of this particular word. On December 13th, 1975 when [this skit aired live, but for a much- contested 7-second delay](http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/word-association/n8615?snl=1), Richard Pryor was less than a year from recording a live concert in L.A. that would comprise the L.P. [“Bicentennial Nigger”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicentennial_Nigger). > > Now, it seems obvious to me that it’s thin gruel to compare Mr. Maher to Mr. Pryor. Richard Pryor was African-American. No doubt he’d had to listen to a list of inflammatory insults longer than the list that he and the SNL writers came up with in creating the skit linked above. > > In October 1980, Ebony magazine published an interview with Mr. Pryor. [His thoughts on a trip to Kenya and on who he saw during his trip](https://keyamsha.com/2013/03/14/richard-pryor-there-are-no-niers-in-africa/) seem to represent a remarkable epiphany. > > Mr. Pryor wasn’t appropriating an entire race’s brutal history for a cheap joke. He went from using the word for brutal effect ( including, it seemed to me at the time when watching his concert films, self-anger ) to moving his view of life and of himself to a point where he no longer used that word. > > Mr. Maher has nothing to do with the journey that Mr. Pryor took vis a vis that particular word. > > My two cents. > > Now then, for a strange personal experience with that word. I’m a 54 year-old white guy. I used to shoot " MTV Cribs ". In May of 2001, I was hired to go to Star Island in Miami to shoot an episode of Cribs. It was, so I was told, a shoot at Ja Rule’s crib, situated on this very exclusive island in Biscayne Bay. > > It was my third of fourth time working with Ja Rule. Now, as a cameraman I was right in the face of the people I was shooting. ( still am ) He did his thing, I did mine, everyone got along on those shoots, all was good. > > I stood in the large driveway in front of the house [featured in this article on the MTV Cribs episode and the mayhem that ensued](http://hiphopdx.com/news/id.2683/title.ja-rules-mtv-crib-not-really-his#), setting up my Steadicam. I had plenty of time, the weather was gorgeous, etc. As I’m working, a large limo pulls up. Out pops Ja Rule ( who is fairly short, and I’m 6’ 2" ) and a few bodyguards and hangers-on. > > He is smoking what may be one of the largest joints I’ve ever seen in my life. It was an obscenity. He seems me, trots over and yells out loudly, " Hey wassup niggah?? " and gives me a hug. His bodyguards were…confused. He then offered me a hit, which I declined as politely as I could. Off they went. > > It was a hell of a day and night of shooting before I packed up and left. I’ve told this story a handful of times since that day and I’ve always given fair notice that I was going to use the N Word. Why tell the story if the stinger is removed? I laughed when he said it, he laughed and I knew what he was saying by way of using that word. > > I’m not sure I could tell that story now. Not even with a disclaimer. Not even though it’s true and happened to me. > > I respect the destructive nature of the N word. And although a variation of it was applied TO me, I don’t get to own any of it. > > [Here’s the MTV Cribs episode on Star Island.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUGtXb-MdOs) Also in 1975 people could fly the Confederate flag in part black neighborhoods and it doesn’t mean anything other than “I’m a rebel!!!..ok my soviet flag and ecology flag is at the cleaners” And i could get into a fourth grade argument with a classmate that had us hurling the most vile of racial insults at each other without anyone even raising an eyebrow nevertheless being suspended a month. so…different times y’all. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2017, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-drops-the-nigger-bomb/787991/202 "2017-06-07T00:13:19Z")
I wonder if those in this thread supporting Bill Maher would side with a Republican talk-show host saying the exact same thing. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2017, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-drops-the-nigger-bomb/787991/203 "2017-06-07T00:17:04Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > I wonder if those in this thread supporting Bill Maher would side with a Republican talk-show host saying the exact same thing. A Republican talk show host would not have made a joke about the about the racist history of southern states. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2017, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-drops-the-nigger-bomb/787991/204 "2017-06-07T00:38:15Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > Now me, joking on some talk show that I’m a ''lipstick dyke" when I know that word has the potential to hurt people? Not gonna happen. Hey, yeah, same here. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2017, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-drops-the-nigger-bomb/787991/205 "2017-06-07T01:22:32Z")
Bill Maher, like many comedians on the Left, has long assumed that he gets a pass to be edgy… cause hey, everybody knows THEY’RE not racist! Only Republicans are. Thus, morons like Stephen Coal-burt think they can safely make “ching chong” jokes without getting any flack from Asians. Don’t those insensitive minorities understand that liberals are the Good Guys? ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2017, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-drops-the-nigger-bomb/787991/206 "2017-06-07T02:04:47Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > I’m sorry. It’s difficult to tell these things over the internet. ☹ > > LOL. > > Seriously, though. Have you ever walked up to a complete stranger and called them a ‘‘nigger’’ and/or ''nigga"? If not, why not? > > I’m going to WAG that you used this language with people you knew, in a specific social context, because you had already established yourself as trustworthy. You established some kind of ‘‘in’’ by nature of being from that neighborhood, or in that social group, or whatever. I suspect that if you walked up to some random black guy in some other city and referred to him that way, it wouldn’t go so well. > > It’s the reason I could refer to myself as a ‘‘fag hag’’ in high school. But despite the unique relationship I have to my gay friends, ‘‘fag’’ still remains a derogatory term that can hurt the people I love. My use of the term in a casual, trusting setting doesn’t cancel out other people’s use of term coming from a place of ignorance or even hate. And when you are used to being on the receiving end of so much hate, and that word comes up from someone whose motives you _don’t_ know, you unconsciously brace yourself for the hate. Which is why I don’t use it around people I don’t know. I also only use it around _some_ of my gay friends, because it is a more charged word for some than others. It really just depends on the context. > > Now me, joking on some talk show that I’m a ''lipstick dyke" when I know that word has the potential to hurt people? Not gonna happen. Same reason I don’t go up to a random woman and call her bitch. Or go up to a random anything and call them a worm or anything else that could be interpreted negatively. Why start an unnecessary conflict? ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2017, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-drops-the-nigger-bomb/787991/207 "2017-06-07T02:42:39Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Thus, morons like Stephen Coal-burt think they can safely make “ching chong” jokes without getting any flack from Asians. Don’t those insensitive minorities understand that liberals are the Good Guys? In fairness that was a deliberate parody of racial insensitivity. Yes misjudged. But it’s not in the same ballpark as Jesse Watters wandering around chinatown making fun of the local people (especially those who couldn’t speak English, so couldn’t answer back) to the soundtrack of “kung fu fighting”. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2017, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-drops-the-nigger-bomb/787991/208 "2017-06-07T21:34:08Z")
Stephen Colbert’s “ching chong” thing was explicitly anti-racist. He’s a satirist, and he was playing a character that you are supposed to ridicule and thus, by extension, ridicule who he represents. I am glad to hear that Maher apologized. I am quite surprised. There may be some hope for him yet. Kinda like how I think Howard Stern became a much better guy, without losing that edge in his comedy. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2017, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-drops-the-nigger-bomb/787991/209 "2017-06-07T21:42:00Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Stephen Colbert’s “ching chong” thing was explicitly anti-racist. He’s a satirist, and he was playing a character that you are supposed to ridicule and thus, by extension, ridicule who he represents. I like Colbert, but that doesn’t excuse it. He knew better than to have a satirical “jive-talking” character that enjoyed watermelon and fried chicken – the ching-chong character may not have seemed as bad, but they’re both using racist tropes for laughs, and deserve criticism. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2017, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-drops-the-nigger-bomb/787991/210 "2017-06-07T22:14:33Z")
Colbert’s ching-chong was very different from Rosie O’Donnell’s ching-chong. Rosie was being racist for laughs. Colbert was attributing a racist use of the phrase to a racist character. The laughs came from the satire, not for the racism. Was Randy Newman advocating slavery in “Sail Away”? ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2017, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-drops-the-nigger-bomb/787991/211 "2017-06-07T22:24:08Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Colbert’s ching-chong was very different from Rosie O’Donnell’s ching-chong. Rosie was being racist for laughs. Colbert was attributing a racist use of the phrase to a racist character. The laughs came from the satire, not for the racism. Was Randy Newman advocating slavery in “Sail Away”? My memory may be off, but I thought Colbert did the ching-chong shtick himself… which to me is little different (and still worth criticizing) than doing a quasi-blackface character eating watermelon, even if it’s followed up with denunciation or some other context to make it clear that it’s undesirable. But it was a long time ago. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2017, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-drops-the-nigger-bomb/787991/212 "2017-06-07T22:37:51Z")
Randy Newman also performed the song himself. They were both playing racist characters. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2017, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-drops-the-nigger-bomb/787991/213 "2017-06-07T22:40:49Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Randy Newman also performed the song himself. They were both playing racist characters. From my memory, the ching chong thing was acting out an ugly stereotype. I don’t think that fits Newman. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2017, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-drops-the-nigger-bomb/787991/214 "2017-06-07T23:04:07Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > I like Colbert, but that doesn’t excuse it. He knew better than to have a satirical “jive-talking” character that enjoyed watermelon and fried chicken – the ching-chong character may not have seemed as bad, but they’re both using racist tropes for laughs, and deserve criticism. That wasn’t Stephen Colbert’s character at all. (And yes, he played it himself) His act was playing an insensitive, racist buffoon – mostly based on Bill O’Reilly. Didn’t you ever watch his show? ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2017, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-drops-the-nigger-bomb/787991/215 "2017-06-08T01:21:35Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > That wasn’t Stephen Colbert’s character at all. (And yes, he played it himself) His act was playing an insensitive, racist buffoon – mostly based on Bill O’Reilly. Didn’t you ever watch his show? I watched pretty much every episode of the entire run – I’m talking about the single ching-chong bit/thing/character he did (just once, I think). I object to that particular instance, while still admiring and being a fan of Colbert. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2017, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-drops-the-nigger-bomb/787991/216 "2017-06-08T07:17:54Z")
Why that one in particular? His whole schtick was playing someone who was an insensitive moron, so that was completely within character. He did that as “Stephen Colbert”, the host of the show. Dude was mocking people who use those kinds of words sincerely. It’s kind of like people who freaked out over the black face episode of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” episode. The whole point of the show is that the characters are total douchebags with few, if any, redeemable qualities. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2017, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-drops-the-nigger-bomb/787991/217 "2017-06-08T07:23:55Z")
Damn time limits! He never created any kind of Asian character. [That’s not how it happened at all.](http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/events/cancelcolbert) The whole thing was a dig at Dan Snyder, the owner of the Washington Redskins, for starting a charity for Native Americans while still insisting that there was nothing wrong with the term “redskins”. No offense, but if you’re going to criticize his actions, at least get the circumstances right. ---
**Author:** ![Miles\_Standoffish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/54ee81/32.png) [@Miles\_Standoffish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miles_Standoffish)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2017, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-drops-the-nigger-bomb/787991/218 "2017-06-08T08:35:37Z")
Bill Maher joins the ranks of white people who don’t understand that they don’t get to say that word. And yet… it’s so _enticing_ to try. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2017, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-drops-the-nigger-bomb/787991/219 "2017-06-08T09:52:22Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Damn time limits! > He never created any kind of Asian character. [That’s not how it happened at all.](http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/events/cancelcolbert) The whole thing was a dig at Dan Snyder, the owner of the Washington Redskins, for starting a charity for Native Americans while still insisting that there was nothing wrong with the term “redskins”. > > No offense, but if you’re going to criticize his actions, at least get the circumstances right. He really did a video bit (in 2005) acting out the ching chong stereotype thing. Can’t link to it right now, but it’s a real thing he did on his show. And I find it ugly. Not the end of the world, and I adored his show, but I think it’s worth criticizing. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2017, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-drops-the-nigger-bomb/787991/220 "2017-06-08T10:16:15Z")
Here’s a snippet of the 2005 Asian character: I'll look for more. Again, this isn't the end of the world -- I just think it's a bit ugly, similar to doing a stereotypically black jive talking and watermelon loving character, and worth criticizing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-drops-the-nigger-bomb/787991.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-drops-the-nigger-bomb/787991.md?page=12)