So It's Perfectly In Order For Him To Use The 'n' Word Is It?

[anotheoldgit]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2316441/Reginald-D-Hunter-repeatedly-used-word-n---PFA-awards-2013.html

[andy-hughes]

We must accept that language is not static, either in its use or its meaning - both of which alter significantly depending on time and place.

is it in order for RDH to use the 'n' word? In the way I know him to use it, then i would say yes it is.

Historically, the word is simply a Southern corruption of the word '***' which, with the Southern accent, became 'nigra; and thence to the 'n' word. In it's original usage, it would have the same use as an adjective as 'black' - it is only with the gradual deterioration of the word in use as an insult that makes it so evocative.

In modern society, it is genreally understood that young black people have reclaimed the word and removed its stigma by using it in common and frequent parlance - and often with a sense of irony, as by RDH.

If the PFA audience was offended, the responsibility rests entirely with the individual or individuals who booked RDH's appearence. He is high-profile enough to be kown for his style of humour, and if that is not suitable for the audience, then it is beholden on the bookers to look elsewhere,not for Mr Hunter to tailor his act to the imagined sensibilities of his audience for the evening.

So the concensus is, AOG, Mr Hunter uses the 'n' word in the same way you use the word 'git' - you would not use it in some circumstances, you would in others, which returns to my point about language having a time and place.

The fact that both have caused a degree of upset is entirely down to people being responsible for booking entertainment who do not have sufficient experience of their subject to do so.

[Sqad]

\\\\So....it would be quite in order for a white comedian to use the word n...er to a black audience. \\\

Would someone please answer my previously asked question as above.......

A simple answer would be nice.....Yes or No?

[jim360]

I think that would again depend on how he said it, and why, and in what context. And it would be for the audience to judge.

[Sqad]

Oh! dear.....I give in at this point.............

[jim360]

I wish I could give a simple answer, but I can't. How cna I?

If he said "you're all a bunch of n..." then bno, it would not be OK. If he was quoting a friend and admonishing that friend, or wondering why Black people use the word all the time, or something similar, then probably yes. But the context will matter.

[andy-hughes]

Sqad - there is no such concept as it being 'in order' - it depends entirely on the commedian, the audience, and what actually was said.

I think you would have a much harder time getting away with this if you were a white commedian! That may seem like double standards, but hey, the world is not a perfect place is it!

[LazyGun]

I will give you a simple answer, Sqad - but I am willing to be corrected by those who have the most right to be offended by the term.

No, it would not be right for a white comedian to use the term.

[Sqad]

jim/andy.......LOL.......OK.

[Sqad]

\\\\\No, it would not be right for a white comedian to use the term. \\\

But it would be acceptable for a black comedian to use the term to a white audience.

Got it.

[anotheoldgit]

The 'N' word is considered offensive on AnswerBank, The Radio, the Newspapers and the TV, no matter who uses it Black or White.

Thanks to all who have joined in this thread in a mature way, it matters not if one agrees or not, that is what debate is all about.

Also my disgust at the usual suspects who cannot seem to answer my posts without their usual childish name calling etc, that they find necessary to add along with their other comments.

[jomifl]

Sqad, It isn't what you mean by what you say that is important, it is what the meaning is as perceived by the listener. I expect that if you referred to a black person as being white you would be accused of being racially ironic or denying their heritage. So, the racism is in the mind of the listener as well as the speaker and as you have no control over that it is best to say nothing.

[andy-hughes]

AOG - "...Also my disgust at the usual suspects who cannot seem to answer my posts without their usual childish name calling etc, that they find necessary to add along with their other comments."

I am not in any way attempting to be provcative here,but I see no examples of 'name calling' in previous posts - to what do you refer please?

[LazyGun]

@AoG - What "childish name calling" have you been subjected to in this thread?

Cannot say I saw any personal abuse being hurled your way - could you point out what offensive names were lobbed in your direction?

[naomi24]

I haven't read all the posts, but I think pussy-footing around banning words is silly. We say 'The N word', but everyone knows what it means. Stupid.

[Sqad]

jomilfl....I understand your point and accept it without reservation, but the question of the OP:

\\\\So It's Perfectly In Order For Him To Use The 'n' Word Is It?\\\

really has been well addressed, but poorly answered, especially my question of the white comedian.

Intonation.........that is what it is all about I suppose.........

[FredPuli43]

You would have liked to use when addressing an audience it in the past, Sqad? Never saw you as a stand up, but we live and learn ! A white comedian runs the risk of being offensive in using it, but it is possible that he could use it without being offensive at all, and not give offence. No word is offensive, or obscene, in itself. It all depends on when and how it is used. Even the word 'bloody' has been thought obscene or offensive in my lifetime and there is no reason why the "n word" should be so regarded in all circumstances either. That this site does not allow us to publish the word, nor the word for black people which Martin Luther King used (as in Andy's recent post), only indicates that the site owners are alive to the word being used to cause offence and that it may do so; the same stricture applies to some words of a sexual nature.

[jomifl]

The word '***' is not banned from all of the web and as I am not using it in a perjorative way there is no reason why it should be removed. There are many words and phrases derived from it as you can see from the following link.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=***%20champagne

[sp1814]

AOG/Sqad

The simple, yet complicated answer is that black comedians can get away with using the 'N' word in the same way that the kid with multiple sclerosis on 'Britain's Got Talent' could get away with handicapped jokes, that an able-bodied comedian would be booed off stage for.

It's the same as when's Jewish comedian tells a Jewish joke. It's to do with the point of view of the comedian and the audience...and how the joke is aimed.

Oh and by the way AOG - Reginald doesn't belong in the same sentence as Lenny Henry. He belongs with Chris Tucker, Chris Rock or Jim Jeffries (who is white, but shares the same comedy DNA).

[jomifl]

As you can see the word police have substituted the word '***' with asterisks although it was not used to cause offence, perhaps this will work 'n i g g e r'

[Old_Geezer]

What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. It would be hypocritical to claim otherwise, so it is either unacceptable for both or for neither. As for what folk will tolerate from one person and not from another, that's a different matter relating to the illogical behaviour of human beings.