Richard Sherman: Banning "N Word" Racist

Of course I do. My uncle, my cousins, multiple co-workers I hang out with outside of work, a few of my roommates from college, people I went to school with.

 

Yeah, I'm not disputing that what you are saying is true but maybe these are older people? All the black people I know say it constantly outside of the work environment

 

I will say I don't think this rule ever gets enacted, but this is by far the worst rule suggestion in NFL history, and that's saying something considering their rulebook is stretching every single year...

They continue to stack on ridiculous rules year after year and wonder why we are seeing some terrible calls. There are so many damn rules that its impossible to keep up with.
Consider a simple down and out pass play caught at the sideline (end of the play only):

In real time, a referee needs to discern whether the receiver got both feet in....
whether he maintained possession "throughout".....
whether the player that knocked him out of bounds did so before he stepped out.....and did so when the receiver wasn't "defenseless" and did so below the head...
Now he will have to do all of that while listening closely to make sure no one said the N-word while all that was going on?????

Are you kidding me? They are making the game so complicated that it ruins it.

I think Sherman's comments are just him drawing more attention to himself - he's good at that, but it is a dumb rule.
How freaking big is the NFL's ego getting though? Just providing entertainment and making ridiculous profits aren't enough? Now they want to make a societal statement about the usage of the n-word?

 

I disagree. it isn't black people's word.

if the argument is that they changed the meaning of the word by their use of it, than the victimized meaning no longer exists and nobody should be afraid of the word. They stripped it of its power for everybody, not just themselves.

but to claim it belongs to a race is a racist claim itself. because it is saying other races are not deserving of the same "rights" as another. there is no both ways on this.

 

^But they are 2 different words, with 2 very different meanings. You can't equate the ER word with the A word. Sorry.

I've said this multiple times already in other threads, but there are 2 versions of the word and to imply they mean the same as the original racist team is absurd. This is the one major point that the media refuses to even acknowledge and most folks who don't understand hip hop culture aren't even aware of that. If they are going to ban the non racist version of the word they might as well ban "Brotha" as well. They both mean the same thing and when 2 black dudes yell it at each other they obviously are not being racist.

If you want to remove racism from the game, that's fine, do it universally with all racial terminology. Banning a single word is beyond stupid. Plus they need to change it from 15 yard penalties to straight up fines, because it is going to be a judgement call on the ref's part 90% of the time, and we don't need more flags. Sure, you want to detriment the racist behavior. If one player makes a racial slur against another on the field (regardless of the term), it should be dealt with. Once again the NFL is going about things the wrong way.

 

Whats worse is the same people that get upset when a white person says it, will turn around and complain that there isnt equality in the United States. If you want the same rules to apply for everyone, THEN PROMOTE it, dont get mad if one person says a word, but then when another says it, its all cool. Its really hypocritical imo.

 

WRONG THREAD, ignore

 

Look as a black man, when I hear a black person say that, all i think is that person is low class and trash. That sounds mean, but I was always taught better. Now I'm vulgar, don't get me wrong, but I don't think that word is something that anyone should throw around. White, black, or Asian. That expands to other words as well. The reason these players are having such a fit is because in spite of all the money they make, many of them are just ghetto, low class idiots who don't have a clue.

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Respect to you, Im tired of hearing people claim they should be allowed to say it because they grew up in the hood. The word doesnt even derive from the hood, no one alive today was alive when the word was born. I dont think anyone should be saying this word, same applies to the word "Redskin". Is the NFL going to penalize players for using the word "Redskin"? its just as offensive. The only reason why Redskin isn't considered as offensive is because all people and populations it offends are for the most part dead.

"redskin":

An offensive and derogatory term referring to Native Americans. Comes from when the government paid for each 'indian' one killed. Instead of carrying the bodies they would take the scalps to prove they had murdered a native american."

 

Its embarrassing, honestly.

 

are they really two different words? the reason I ask is because black people do call other black people "nigga" derogatorily as well, so the broad claim that it is a positive or affectionate term of brotherhood completely different than the word nigger is not totally accurate IMO. it has two meanings itself -- one an affectionate use and another demeaning.

so the question is is there a difference between the demeaning "nigga," "nigger," and positive "nigga?"

to answer that you have to consider the intent of when the use was first adopted among blacks. Nigga wasn't used as a deliberate attempt to create a new, different word from nigger, it was a matter of pronunciation of the word nigger. but it was the same word.

the other difference would be was it used to inherently be positive with a different meaning, or was it simply used mockingly amongst black friends, and thus was a friendly joke by calling each other niggers and its actual meaning as a form of good natured harassment? same as friends today calling each other dummy. they mean the actuall meaning of dummy, they just aren't serious about it. they aren't giving it a different meaning.

if those are both true, than it can't be claimed it does not mean the same thing as nigger simply because it was pronounced differently, or that it was used jokingly.

but even more condemning is the fact that "nigga" is also used negatively, or more accurately, it is the same word but they just aren't joking anymore. it isn't a case of the word "nigga" having two meanings based on context, it is that the context simply dictated whether you were joking about its actual meaning or not.

to me that shows that the word "nigga" is still connected to nigger and its historically negative use, and just because today's blacks are ignorant of that doesn't mean it has evolved a new meaning, it means they are simply imitating what they heard out of ignorance.

the demeaning use of "nigga" is really condemning of any positive spin that is attempted to be made about the word "nigga" as an affectionate term IMO.

 

I'll just leave this here. KRS is a smart dude.

Even if you try to make the argument that they are spelled the same, it still has multiple meanings. You are equivocating the 2 meanings. Think of the word "lead". 1. I will lead you up the trail. 2. Some people get lead poisoning. 2 meanings, same spelling. You don't treat the 2 uses of the word equally because they are not equal. Hip hop culture is what really popularized the use of the 'friendly' version. The word became almost romanticized and can mean almost any type of person. It can be used detrimentally, it can mean just an average person, it can mean a poor person, it can mean a friend, it can mean literally anyone. I am white but have both white and black friends that call me that from time to time. Context is everything.

I'd be all for banning the word, if it is indeed used in a racist context, but in the same sense, they should ban all racial slurs used in a racist context. You might eat crackers, but are you one? If I yell to the coach on the sidelines for a cracker when I'm hungry am I getting a flag? Hopefully they think this thing through thoroughly and do it right.

 

that's actually incorrect. equivocation only arises when a word has multiple meanings that are ambiguous, not in regards to words that have totally distinct meanings that cannot be confused. the noun lead (as in pencil lead) would never be confused with the verb lead, as in the action of leading, just because they are spelled the same, when in use. the spelling of a word is not what leads to equivocation anymore than saying red, the color, and read, the act of reading.

beyond that, the claim is that nigga and nigger are two different words, so equivocation wouldn't even apply to that dynamic anyways.

 

As far as I'm concerned it can be their word. Lets face it other races haven't exactly had the best track record with the use of it in the past so why try to continue using it in the future, even if the community that was once (and still is) a victim of that word wants to use it amongst themselves as a term of endearment?

I have a few black friends that will say "what's up nigga?" to me, but I never throw it back at them. Even if they're cool with it (which i would have no idea cause I'd never ask them) I still wouldn't use it. Is it a double standard? Yes. But why would you care unless you really want to use the word for whatever reason?

IMHO I'm steering clear of it. I just don't see the point in a white person trying to use it, or in this case having the NFL trying to penalize the use of it.

 

It all boils down to the pussification our society that started in the 90's. Everybody has feelings and we should tread lightly around everyone for fear of a unintentional transgression.

 

"It is okay to say nigger, but bad to say nigga." -Mike Francesser

 

Even Hoyt knows better

 

The N word to many black people is like a white guy saying to another white guy "DUDE." When a black person saids this to a another black person, 9/10 it isnt to degrade or to belittle and this is something White people will never understand. White people need to stop worrying why they arent allowed to use the word even though they know damn well why they shouldnt (which is pretty f'in annoying).

I personally hate the word. This goes way back growing up in Brooklyn, whenever someone calls me that I get mad. Same happened when someone made a joke here some months ago and I called them out.

Also Puerto Ricans and Dominicans (those who identify themselves as black) use that shit regularly too.

If you grew up in NYC you hear that shit daily but never from a white guy because 9/10 they use it to degrade and to belittle and will get checked for it (but hipsters are taking over so we'll see).