In 1926 Carl van Vechten – a well-connected white NY writer who had been instrumental in getting most of the “Harlem Renaissance” poets and novelists published, as well as introducing Harlem intellectuals into downtown “society” – put out his fifth or sixth novel, entitled Nigger Heaven.
About half of the country’s black deep-thinkers and celebrities said “Hey, fuck this ofay fucker.”
The other half were “meh, he got my book published and my play staged off Broadway and my poems into the slick magazines and introduced me to Charlie Chaplin, he can do what he wants.”
The problem with saying the word is okay in some situations and not in other is that morons won’t understand the distinction. The more it’s used, the more the morons will think it’s okay to use all the time. “Why can’t I call a guy on the street a ***, Bill Maher said it on TV!”
The word can be used in some very offensive contexts. It’s better for society if the word goes away than we try to decide which contexts it’s okay and which it’s not.
I’m sorry but I don’t agree that “it’s better for society if the word goes away” because it’s not going to go away.
We already know when the word should not be used: don’t call someone a nigger. That’s it. You can say things like “I have a question about the word ‘nigger’” or “I’d like to talk about the word ‘nigger’” or “I’m sure glad we don’t have some people calling other people niggers”. You should not say things like “That guy is a nigger” or “Those people are niggers” or “That’s something that a nigger would do”.
Bill Maher’s comment was over-the-top and distasteful, but he didn’t use it as a slur against a person, a group of people, or even himself.
I like Bill. I like him because he is controversial, not in spite of it. There are lots of comedians out there who shun controversy and play it safe. There aren’t many who confront controversy in a humorous and intelligent manner.
I liked Carlin for the exact same reasons.
ETA: And then I hit post, instead of return. I thought the comment was funny; he didn’t specifically insult anyone.
I like Bill Maher and sometimes agree with him and sometimes think he is funny but it was stupid for him to say it and it really stupid for you to put it in the thread title.
I agree with many of the posts here, especially El Kabong.
the OP is all “yay” someone can say the n word and now I can use it too. deserves a pitting, but I haven’t had enough coffee yet.
Bill Maher is a comedian trying to make funny jokes on a live show. He called himself a nigger. The horror! Looking around the web, it’s hilarious to see the feigned outrage from right-wingers who use that word everyday, among themselves. Context and nuance are relics of the 20th century, apparently.
The use of the word in the thread title is more gratuitous and “offensive” then Maher’s dumb joke.
“Slur”? How is it that someone so politically liberal who has long stood up for black people and for racial equality is suddenly going around making slurs against them?
What bugs me about this kind of PC backlash is that Maher’s comment is being shallowly judged by his use of a particular word rather than by the innocent spirit in which it was said and the true nature of the person who said it. Maher is clearly no bigot and was clearly not intending to cause offense. Sasse’s rather odd invitation to come to Nebraska and “work in the fields with us” seemed like a perfect opening for some kind of comedic comeback, and Maher came up with a pretty good one in terms of the allusion to “field Negro” versus “house Negro” that entered the vernacular after Malcolm X used the terms in a speech in the 60s, with the n-word frequently substituted in subsequent usage.
I suspect that many of the folks dumping on Maher aren’t familiar with his style of humor or the nature of the show, which is unique IMHO in the way it combines intelligent dialog with uninhibited and sometimes edgy humor. Perhaps not everyone thought the comment was funny, but watering down the phrase to “house slave” would have completely lost the association with the original and while it may not have offended anyone, it would also have been totally lame. One of the advantages of a show like Real Time being on HBO is that adults can be adults, speak intelligently with each other and maybe even be a little risqué once in a while. I watched the show and the heard the comment and it didn’t even register as anything remotely offensive. I’m surprised at the reaction it’s getting, but I admit that I’m used to Maher’s style and I tend to be defensive of him.
If you go to Huffpo right now, there’s a giant headline stating: “Maher: Unmasked!”
Talk about ridiculous hyperbole! And for fuck’s sake, Maher has been a friend to Huffpo for many years. And these fuckers just turned on him like a rabid dog.
Michael Richards was trying to be funny when he used “nigger” in his jokes. That didn’t make it okay.
Also, given the way Maher acts, it is unlikely he will apologize or even think he did anything possibly wrong. He’s an arrogant asshole. That actually makes it worse than Richards.
It would be different if it were a joke about the word. But it wasn’t. As pointed out, many other words would have fit. He just used the word that was designed to offend as many people as he could.
Apologies are what make things potentially okay. If you don’t give them, then people have every right to think you are just an awful person who doesn’t care about anyone else but yourself.
See, when I read the comment, my first thought was the line from Gone With The Wind, in the scene where Scarlett has returned to find Tara a shambles and no one in the fields. “We not field hands, Miz Scarlett, we house n…”.
I wonder if Maher was thinking about the line too?
Well meaning people can still make poor decisions and mistakes. This isn’t a huge deal, but I think Maher shouldn’t have said this. I’m still a fan and I’ll still watch his show (as I have for decades since Politically Incorrect). I thought the joke was crap and wouldn’t have been any less crap without the slur, but at least then it wouldn’t have been a pointless use of a slur.
It’s okay to criticize. Criticism isn’t a death sentence. Maher’s a bit of a snowflake about liberal criticism, but nobody’s perfect. I still think he’s a funny comedian most of the time, and I enjoy his show.
This is what put Richards in the headlines. Read it. He went on an extended out-of-control racist tirade against a black man who had heckled him. Maher, who has long stood up for black people, made an innocent joke as cited in the OP. But according to you, Maher is “worse than Richards”! Yeah, that’s how ridiculous this stupid thing has become.
Words aren’t reserved for so-called social constructs. Words should be used whenever the person who wants to use the word wants to. Voldemort isn’t coming and assigning words this much power is silly.
I’m not protesting in the streets about it or crying in my cornflakes about it, but I think he deserves whatever tomatoes get lobbed his way. Free speech goes in both directions.