# 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:** 5
**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 3, 2017, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-drops-the-nigger-bomb/787991/81 "2017-06-03T21:23:36Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > [Bill Maher has apologized:](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/03/arts/television/bill-maher-n-word.html?_r=0) Glad to see this. It was worthy of criticism, and IMO worthy of an apology, and this seems like a decent one. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2017, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-drops-the-nigger-bomb/787991/82 "2017-06-03T21:39:19Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Glad to see this. It was worthy of criticism, and IMO worthy of an apology, and this seems like a decent one. Yes. I honestly didn’t think he had it in him. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2017, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-drops-the-nigger-bomb/787991/83 "2017-06-03T21:44:11Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Glad to see this. It was worthy of criticism, and IMO worthy of an apology, and this seems like a decent one. Exactly. Case closed. …and if there are still those on the right who are opposed to his politics who insist on flinging poo concerning this bad joke that has been apologized for, then it now reflects more on them then it does on Mahr. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2017, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-drops-the-nigger-bomb/787991/84 "2017-06-03T21:57:09Z")
He was speaking spontaneously. Are the whiners and complainers? He apologized. Time to say that I think the writing on his show is some of the best anywhere on TV right now. Reminds me of the days of cavett and carson. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Sanchez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e19adc/32.png) [@Rick\_Sanchez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Sanchez)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2017, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-drops-the-nigger-bomb/787991/85 "2017-06-03T21:57:32Z")
Plenty of SJWs out there basically saying “Fuck the apology. _BRING ME HIS HEAD!_” ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2017, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-drops-the-nigger-bomb/787991/86 "2017-06-03T22:00:21Z")
… ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Sanchez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e19adc/32.png) [@Rick\_Sanchez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Sanchez)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2017, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-drops-the-nigger-bomb/787991/87 "2017-06-03T22:04:05Z")
> [@Rick\_Sanchez](#): > > Plenty of SJWs out there basically saying “Fuck the apology. _BRING ME HIS HEAD!_” “And get Kathy Griffin to do it!” ---
**Author:** ![Reluctant\_A](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@Reluctant\_A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reluctant_A)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2017, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-drops-the-nigger-bomb/787991/88 "2017-06-03T22:30:05Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > One thing I can think of offhand is that Maher has been very vocal about all the police shootings of young black men; I’ve seen it on his show often – there’s a brief article [here](http://www.salon.com/2016/09/24/bill-maher-to-officer-in-tulsa-police-shooting-if-youre-that-nervous-you-cant-do-this-job/). Okaaaay… Your mileage obviously varies, but my read on that article (as well as the embedded video therein) was that Maher’s thesis is that police need better training. While true, and something that _would_ benefit black people, I don’t really interpret that as an example of black advocacy. Like I said, if that’s the bar, then the bar be low. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2017, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-drops-the-nigger-bomb/787991/89 "2017-06-03T23:02:48Z")
> [@Reluctant\_A](#): > > Okaaaay… Your mileage obviously varies, but my read on that article (as well as the embedded video therein) was that Maher’s thesis is that police need better training. While true, and something that _would_ benefit black people, I don’t really interpret that as an example of black advocacy. Like I said, if that’s the bar, then the bar be low. You may consider that a “low bar” for some reason, but many of us consider it a major social issue. I don’t really know what you’re looking for. Maher has taken a principled stand on many, many civil rights issues like this. [Here](http://archives.politicususa.com/tag/bill-maher-pennsylvania-voter-id-law), for instance, is Maher eviscerating voter ID laws for the way they target black voters. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2017, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-drops-the-nigger-bomb/787991/90 "2017-06-03T23:44:26Z")
Frankly, I think Bill deliberately said something provocative in order to deflect heat and attention away from Kathy Griffin ---
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2017, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-drops-the-nigger-bomb/787991/91 "2017-06-04T00:08:20Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > It seems that, even here, people don’t really understand [the distinction between using a word and mentioning it](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Use%E2%80%93mention_distinction). Bill Maher used the word “nigger”. Nobody in this thread has, though, and if anyone had, I’d be moderating it. A number of people in this thread (including myself in this sentence) have mentioned the word “nigger”, which is acceptable. I think I would have preferred if the OP had left even the mention out of the subject line of the thread, but that’s not something I’m going to moderate over, because it is an accurate description of what Maher actually did. > > Now, then, back to the topic. As many have mentioned, Maher, like a number of comedians, has as his schtick that he goes right up to the line of what’s acceptable. It’s inherent in the nature of such comedy that sometimes, in an effort to get as close to that line as possible, you sometimes go over (after all, if you don’t occasionally go over, you’re not going as close as you can). He did so in this instance. Calling himself a “house slave” would have been (barely) acceptable (though certainly still in poor taste). Calling himself a “house nigger” was not. > > Does this take away all of Maher’s previous and future humor? No. Will this end his career? Probably not. But it does diminish him, by some nonzero amount. excellent moderating and post, good on ya ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2017, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-drops-the-nigger-bomb/787991/92 "2017-06-04T00:19:20Z")
It really looks like the Red Guards are out in force and after Maher’s blood. He’s already been forced to apologize, rare for Maher, but that may not be enough. Public humiliation and self-shaming could be next and perhaps even a directive for a few years of labor with the peasantry in the fields and a long course of re-education. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2017, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-drops-the-nigger-bomb/787991/93 "2017-06-04T00:33:44Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > … and perhaps even a directive for a few years of labor with the peasantry in the fields … Maher doesn’t work in the fields, he’s a house ni\*\*\*\* … Wait! You know what? Never mind. Seriously, this whole thing is so stupid. Yeah, his comment was _ **so offensive** _ that practically every news outlet in the world is running video clips so you can watch it for yourself, toxic and corrupting material that it is! :rolleyes: ---
**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 4, 2017, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-drops-the-nigger-bomb/787991/94 "2017-06-04T00:55:52Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > It really looks like the Red Guards are out in force and after Maher’s blood. He’s already been forced to apologize, rare for Maher, but that may not be enough. Public humiliation and self-shaming could be next and perhaps even a directive for a few years of labor with the peasantry in the fields and a long course of re-education. Or he recognized that he made a mistake and apologized for it. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2017, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-drops-the-nigger-bomb/787991/95 "2017-06-04T00:57:30Z")
I just can’t see how anyone has the energy to be bunched up about this these days. And I’m a SJW all the way. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Terrific](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tom_terrific/32/342_2.png) [@Tom\_Terrific](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Terrific)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2017, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-drops-the-nigger-bomb/787991/96 "2017-06-04T01:04:02Z")
Would there have been any outrage if Maher had said, I’m not a field hand, I’m a house boy. The word boy has some pretty serious baggage in this kind of context. Personally I don’t watch Maher, the little I saw of him years ago just convinced me he was a very arrogant man. ---
**Author:** ![Okrahoma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90db22/32.png) [@Okrahoma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Okrahoma)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2017, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-drops-the-nigger-bomb/787991/97 "2017-06-04T01:16:57Z")
> [@Count\_Blucher](#): > > Exactly. Case closed. > > …and if there are still those on the right who are opposed to his politics who insist on flinging poo concerning this bad joke that has been apologized for, then it now reflects more on them then it does on Mahr. I haven’t heard one person on the right says anything bad about Maher in relation to this. Can you cite me a few? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2017, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-drops-the-nigger-bomb/787991/98 "2017-06-04T01:22:13Z")
> [@](#): > > Would there have been any outrage if Maher had said, I’m not a field hand, I’m a house boy. Any outrage? Probably. It’s a big world, and there are some people who get outraged if you say “Good morning” to them. But it wouldn’t be nearly as much. ---
**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 4, 2017, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-drops-the-nigger-bomb/787991/99 "2017-06-04T02:08:24Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > **aldiboronti** , it really seems to me you think people using the word ‘‘nigger’’ for any reason (other than as a direct racial slur) is objectively good. For one thing, I’m not sure you really understand, as an Englishman, the power that word has and what it means to people on a visceral level. I was raised to _never_ say that word, which might be the opposite extreme in a not-good way, but it should tell you something about the social context we’re dealing with. Where I grew up, in the rural Midwest, the only people who ever used that word were racist shitheads. White people using that word just screams ‘‘I am a racist shithead’’ to a fairly large contingent of white people. My grandparents are racist and fuck as even they won’t use that word. I’m only comfortable using that word in conversation after years of studying stuff like that in an academic context, and I still won’t say it out loud. Almost never. > > I am not saying Bill Maher is an anti-black shithead. He might just be a regular old shithead. But anyone with any sense knows what the connotation is. > Who says he can’t? I just said he’s an asshole for doing so, in that particular way, in that particular context. I don’t care for his shock comedy, or his pseudo-intellectual political analysis, or anything he does or says. He is the lowest common denominator of humor, posing as someone with something meaningful to say. I could go on but I think you get the gist. I don’t see it that way. As someone who has been called that word at least 100 times and have heard it several thousand times playing sports and just hanging out with black people not to mention how prevalent it is in pop culture I think the outrage is selective and disingenuous. > [@BigT](#): > > It’s not really that different than why it’s wrong for you or me. Black people have told us it is offensive, and connected to a racist history. The word carries no legitimate meaning. It just means “you black people are inferior.” > > However, we can (in some contexts) mention the word, which is different from using it. For a comedian, that may take the form of using it in a joke to condemn those who would think the word is acceptable. Neither Maher nor Richards did this, however. > > Sure, we can add that Richards’ use was unplanned, while Maher’s probably was planned. But I’d argue that both can mean bad things–the former because it means it’s a word you use, the latter because you had time to think about it. > [@BigT](#): > > There was nothing innocent about Maher’s joke. He used a word to deliberately cause offense to black people so that he would get in the news, without regard to the people involved. He enjoys offending people, and this time chose to try to offend black people. > > And, yes, apologizing and meaning it (as shown by not doing it again) makes things a whole lot better than if you don’t. That was the specific point I made. He could surprise me and apologize (and mean it), and then it wouldn’t be as bad. > > People need to get out of this idea that how racist you are has anything to do with whether slurs are offensive. The little kid who says “nigger” still gets told to stop, even if they don’t know what it means. That’s ridiculous. > [@Chronos](#): > > It seems that, even here, people don’t really understand [the distinction between using a word and mentioning it](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Use%E2%80%93mention_distinction). Bill Maher used the word “nigger”. Nobody in this thread has, though, and if anyone had, I’d be moderating it. A number of people in this thread (including myself in this sentence) have mentioned the word “nigger”, which is acceptable. I think I would have preferred if the OP had left even the mention out of the subject line of the thread, but that’s not something I’m going to moderate over, because it is an accurate description of what Maher actually did. > > Now, then, back to the topic. As many have mentioned, Maher, like a number of comedians, has as his schtick that he goes right up to the line of what’s acceptable. It’s inherent in the nature of such comedy that sometimes, in an effort to get as close to that line as possible, you sometimes go over (after all, if you don’t occasionally go over, you’re not going as close as you can). He did so in this instance. Calling himself a “house slave” would have been (barely) acceptable (though certainly still in poor taste). Calling himself a “house nigger” was not. > > Does this take away all of Maher’s previous and future humor? No. Will this end his career? Probably not. But it does diminish him, by some nonzero amount. I don’t see this as relevant at all to Maher’s career. And nor should it be. The real problem is the deference shown to the professional “That’s outrageous!!1!” crowd. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2017, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-drops-the-nigger-bomb/787991/100 "2017-06-04T02:09:22Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > Is there anyone here looking to sanction Maher?.. Maybe not in this thread, but apparently there at least twenty of them out there: > [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > …I know about twenty people who would be calling for his job either way. mmm [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-drops-the-nigger-bomb/787991.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-drops-the-nigger-bomb/787991.md?page=6)