I suppose everything that could be said has been said regarding the proposed removal of the word "nigger" from Twain's "Huckleberry Finn." Most editorials I have read denounce the removal of the word as needless censorship and an attempt to sanitize the past and conform a representative piece of work to the current era's feeble sensibilities and sensitivities.
This is all well and good, but what I find intensely interesting is the refusal of most editorials to actually use the word "nigger" to defend it's use in Huck Finn. Take good 'ole Rich Lowry's piece in the NY post today. While making a surprisingly eloquent argument, Lowry just can't bring himself to use the actual word, "nigger," instead relying on the safe euphemism we've all come to know and love, "N- word." He even takes the hangman approach, quoting a passage of the book by exchanging "nigger" with "n_ _ _ _ _." Incidentally, Lowry has no issue with spelling out the term "injun."
Really? Is there any recognition or understanding of the concept of "context" anywhere in the media, or society as a whole? Are we that pathetic that we have to be protected from seeing the word "nigger" written, even in a newspaper and under these circumstances? Sheesh.
Is there any hope for us? On a hunch, I took a look at the current Billboard 100 chart. Currently sitting at #17 - 'Lil Wayne's newest gem, "6 Foot, 7 Foot." Here's an excerpt of the lyrics...
black and white diamonds, f-ck segregation
f-ck that shit, my money up, you niggas just Honey Nut
Young Money running shit and you niggas just runner-ups
Am I missing something?
The reason the Twain book is being "redacted" of the word nigger is because the book has become a relic moldering on the shelves of libraries and no longer taught in the schools. This means no book sales and no telling of the story Twain told.
ReplyDeleteI never heard this word until I was out of the house at 18 and then I heard it amongst my fellow students in a northern southern college. My grandmother, who was born 20 years after the end of the Civil War in talking for the Confederacy, never used the word. The reason the rapper is using fuck and shit in music is it draws attention and get young people to buy the music in a feeling of rebellion.
I believe in doing what is right no matter the cost. This is not a universal belief. Most often any social, political, business or religious thing involves money or power; getting more of it.
Blacks have monopolized the word "nigger" in much the same way the homosexual community has usurped the word "gay", the Greek letter delta, and the rainbow.
ReplyDeleteI don't use the word "nigger" myself, but I certainly have no qualms in using it in a sentence of something I've written. Lowry is just afraid of being seen as racist if he does because he isn't a liberal.
BTW those lyrics are just plain shit. No wonder I can't stand rap music.
AJ,
ReplyDeleteAs I think you know...
No matter the context, if Lowry actually used the N-word, he would be at risk of losing his job. Or, barring that, the Far Left would forever more take that quote out of context in a never ending smear campaign.
This is a sad testament to just how deeply Cultural Marxism has become embedded into our culture.
Charlene - u nailed the rap lyrics. or lyric$.
ReplyDeleteCube - u nailed the lyric$ as well, but give a man credit who knows what sells.
sbvor - i suppose you wouldn't be surprised to know that editorials in the NY Times used "nigger" freely
"i suppose you wouldn't be surprised to know that editorials in the NY Times used "nigger" freely"
ReplyDeleteThe editorial page is the one NYT page I almost never read -- I can predict what it says without even reading it. But, no, that would not surprise me. The PC police don't go after their own.