[UTROD03]

GZIRE,

i didn't want to have everyone read your post plus mine combined, so i decided i'd start a new one.

my apologies for the negative characterization of your questions. my first reaction to them was that the answers are quite obvious. yes there's a double standard. so what. is this the first thing you've encountered in life that wasn't fair? do you really not grasp why the double standard exists with this? true, me walking up to a white guy and calling him a "cracker" is racist. i completely agree. here's why that same guy on stage or some random guy calling me a "nigger" is worse...

say what you want, but this country is run by rich, old, white guys. it always has been, and it will for the forseeable future. those guys hire me, fire me, promote me, make the laws i have to abide by, etc. how many places in america am "i", let alone minorities, in that powerful of a position in large numbers? NONE. therefore, unfortunately, the white man who calls a black man "nigger" carries more weight than a black man calling a white man a "cracker." the white guy, in general's, opinions and beliefs of certain stereotypes are of much more consequence in the overall makeup of society due to his position within it. think about it. when you use the phrase "The Man," what does "The Man" look like? i gaurantee you he's not black. regardless, i'm not afraid of the guy calling me a nigger to my face; it's the one who calls me that when i'm not around that worries me. he's the guy i have to watch out for. the fact that people can't understand that is beyond me. that's an argument for another day though, and this paragraph would require a lot of elaboration to fully explain my point.

your responses to the things i brought up completely prove my point. you even took the chappelle thing the exact opposite of the way i meant it...especially what i said at the end about the people i don't like. the part at the end about who i don't like was to get a reaction. it was sarcasm EXCEPT for what i said about my boy. i'm VERY angry about that.

in response to your post, my comments about chappelle were made to make the point that there's intelligence behind the word, for the most part, when he uses it versus the rediculous ignorance richards' use of it was accompanied by. it generally takes more than only listening to what you hear on the surface to understand the word's meaning when he uses it. orwell didn't write animal farm to tell a story about bunch of farm animals who talked, nor did chappelle do skits about how much he loved saying the word "nigger." i'm not trying to put orwell and chappelle on the same level by any means, but the relationship is still valid. the meaning of his work wasn't being understood correctly, he feared that, took issue with it, and he quit. some of that was his fault for believing that the general viewing public would be smart enough to understand him, but i believe most of it was his pride in who he is. he didn't sell out. he cared about his race and the consequences of his words too much to take the money.

as for some guy getting mad at my boy for saying, "nigga," i don't worry about it. my friends are smart enough not to walk in to a bar, see me, and say "what's up nigga?" in front of a bunch of black people. he'd be stupid. if one comes to my door, and they say that, it's completely different. i don't get mad. i shake his hand and show him in.

lastly, f damon. quit picking at inconsequential issues, and stick to the point. censorship is wrong. no one is arguing with you there. blatant, and explicit ignorance with no regard for its consequences is a totally different animal. remember the "yelling fire in a crowded theater" exception to our law in our country's history? richards yelled fire.

i've said this before, and i maintain my opinion that, when used in the right context, the word doesn't bother me. if that word is in a sentence, and it's preceeded or followed by one that refers to my ancestors and trees, it's on. no questions asked.

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