When my phone rings before 10 a.m. and I see WBT on the caller ID, I know it can only be Keith Larson. This morning he wanted to talk about comedian/actor Damon Wayans desire to trademark the term "Nigga" for a new line of clothing. I figured Wayans was just joking until I began reading Internet articles about his effort. He's been in a 14-month battle to trademark the term and he's been turned down by the Trademark Office twice.
For an hour, this morning, Larson and I argued about why some young blacks use the n-word. Larson, I'm happy say, believes the term is bad, bad, bad. I don't use the word and don't let my friends call me the N-word. In fact, those of you who have followed my blog know someone used to post messages signed N-hater. I no longer allow those posts because I find the name offensive.
Still, I also recognize the difference between Damon Wayans using the n-word and a reader using the term to make people angry. As I explained to Keith this morning, there's also generational difference between the hip-hop generation and Baby Boomers when it comes to how openly we use the term. As I told Larson, although the hip-hop generation understands how the term was used to oppress blacks, we gave the term our own meaning.
But that's an old debate. I'm more curious to talk about the idea of trademarking the term. First, I don't think Wayans should be able to trademark "Nigga," but I do think he should he able to trademark "Nigga Jeans" or "Nigga Clothing." The word "nigga" is too much a part of our common vernacular to let one man own it.
The Trademark Office should allow Wayans to trademark the term as it applies to his specific company. And yes, if David Duke wants to trademark "KKK Hoodies," I'll support that too. Let consumers decide if selling clothes with a brand name so closely associated with hate is a bad idea.
Here's my question, regardless of your race, would you buy Nigga jeans and clothes? Would you date someone who wore the brand? Post your replies below. (As always ridiculously racist post will be deleted, so don't bother.)
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
N---- Jeans? No way
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Trademark or not, perpetuating the term by making it your brand's image certainly doesn't advance our racial sophistication, at all. Obviously, if most of our community used it would be offensive. There's a sizable minority, however, that uses it with impunity without a negative response. That has to be a unique phenomenon and it astounding to think about. An effective way to further ingrain this difference is to maintain the impropriety of the first group using the term but to commercialize and nurture the second group's use of it. It really doesn't help anything. Sure, he's got a right. If it were my idea, I'd have the right --even if I am a white guy. It's just not the most racially sophisticated thing I've ever heard of.
By Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson
________________________________________
© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com
Say a hurricane is about to destroy the city you live in. Two questions:
1. What would you do?
2. What would you do if you were black?
Sadly, the two questions don't have the same answer.
To the first: Most of us would take our families out of that city quickly to protect them from danger. Then, able-bodied men would return to help others in need, as wives and others cared for children, elderly, infirm and the like.
For better or worse, Hurricane Katrina has told us the answer to the second question. If you're black and a hurricane is about to destroy your city, then you'll probably wait for the government to save you.
This was not always the case. Prior to 40 years ago, such a pathetic performance by the black community in a time of crisis would have been inconceivable. The first response would have come from black men. They would take care of their families, bring them to safety, and then help the rest of the community. Then local government would come in.
No longer. When 75 percent of New Orleans residents had left the city, it was primarily immoral, welfare-pampered blacks that stayed behind and waited for the government to bail them out. This, as we know, did not turn out good results.
Enter Jesse Jackson and Louis Farrakhan. Jackson and Farrakhan laid blame on "racist" President Bush. Farrakhan actually proposed the idea that the government blew up a levee so as to kill blacks and save whites. The two demanded massive governmental spending to rebuild New Orleans, above and beyond the federal government's proposed $60 billion. Not only that, these two were positioning themselves as the gatekeepers to supervise the dispersion of funds. Perfect: Two of the most dishonest elite blacks in America, "overseeing" billions of dollars. I wonder where that money will end up.
Of course, if these two were really serious about laying blame on government, they should blame the local one. Responsibility to perform – legally and practically – fell first on the mayor of New Orleans. We are now all familiar with Mayor Ray Nagin – the black Democrat who likes to yell at President Bush for failing to do Nagin's job. The facts, unfortunately, do not support Nagin's wailing. As the Washington Times puts it, "recent reports show [Nagin] failed to follow through on his own city's emergency-response plan, which acknowledged that thousands of the city's poorest residents would have no way to evacuate the city."
One wonders how there was "no way" for these people to evacuate the city. We have photographic evidence telling us otherwise. You've probably seen it by now – the photo showing 200 parked school buses, unused and underwater. How much planning does it require to put people on a bus and leave town, Mayor Nagin?
Instead of doing the obvious, Mayor Nagin (with no positive contribution from Democratic Gov. Kathleen Blanco, the other major leader vested with responsibility to address the hurricane disaster) loaded remaining New Orleans residents into the Superdome and the city's convention center. We know how that plan turned out.
About five years ago, in a debate before the National Association of Black Journalists, I stated that if whites were to just leave the United States and let blacks run the country, they would turn America into a ghetto within 10 years. The audience, shall we say, disagreed with me strongly. Now I have to disagree with me. I gave blacks too much credit. It took a mere three days for blacks to turn the Superdome and the convention center into ghettos, rampant with theft, rape and murder.
President Bush is not to blame for the rampant immorality of blacks. Had New Orleans' black community taken action, most would have been out of harm's way. But most were too lazy, immoral and trifling to do anything productive for themselves.
All Americans must tell blacks this truth. It was blacks' moral poverty – not their material poverty – that cost them dearly in New Orleans. Farrakhan, Jackson, and other race hustlers are to be repudiated – they will only perpetuate this problem by stirring up hatred and applauding moral corruption. New Orleans, to the extent it is to be rebuilt, should be remade into a dependency-free, morally strong city where corruption is opposed and success is applauded. Blacks are obligated to help themselves and not depend on the government to care for them. We are all obligated to tell them so.
^Well, that'll turn this into a goat rodeo in no time.
Unfortunately, there was a point buried within Rev. Peterson's screed, but I think it's irretrievably lost.
A MINORITY VIEW
BY WALTER E. WILLIAMS
RELEASE: WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2005, AND THEREAFTER
BETRAYAL OF THE STRUGGLE
Last month, when Rosa Parks was laid to rest in Detroit, her eulogy contained well-deserved praise for her brave defiance of segregation laws that led to the 1955 Montgomery, Ala., bus boycott and later the 1956 Supreme Court ruling that banned public transportation segregation. The passing and remembrance of her generation of blacks, who made sacrifices to deliver today's opportunities, might also be an occasion for condemnation of what's no less than a gross betrayal of that generation's struggle.
Having lived just about one-third of our nation's existence, I know, as well as experienced, the uglier parts of our history. During the '30s, '40s and '50s, civil rights progress meant yearly black lynchings were down to single digits, as opposed to 50 or more in previous decades. In 1954, when I graduated from Philadelphia's Benjamin Franklin High School, rare was the opportunity for a black student to go off to college. While segregation was mostly in the South, it nonetheless existed in northern cities. There were entire Philadelphia neighborhoods where, regardless of socioeconomic status, blacks could not rent or buy. There were business establishments, including movie theaters and restaurants, where black patronage was not welcomed.
While not every vestige of racial discrimination has been eliminated, it is nowhere near the barrier it was yesteryear, but you'd think discrimination is everywhere listening to some of today's black politicians and civil rights leaders. One wonders what those blacks, who lived during the era of gross discrimination and are now deceased, would think about so much of today's behavior, rhetoric and excuses.
What would they think about black neighborhoods, once thriving economic centers that have been turned into economic wastelands by a level of criminal activity previously unknown? During my youth, walking through some of Philadelphia's predominantly white neighborhoods, one felt a sense of relief as we approached a black neighborhood. Today, it might be the other way around. What would they think about predominantly black schools where violence and intimidation are the order of the day, with police cars outside and metal detectors inside? What would they think about black students who seek academic excellence being mocked, intimidated and assaulted by their peers for "acting white"?
By any assessment, black Americans have made the greatest progress, over some of the highest hurdles and in the shortest span of time than any other racial group in the history of mankind. If one added the earnings of black Americans and thought of us as a nation, we'd be the 14th richest nation. Black Americans have held some of the nation's highest positions, such as secretaries of State, Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services and Education; chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and mayors of some of our largest cities. Blacks are some of the world's most famous personalities, and a few blacks rank among the world's richest people. In 1865, neither a slave nor a slave owner would have believed these gains possible in a little over a century, if ever. As such, it not only speaks well of the determination and intestinal fortitude of a people, but also of a nation in which such gains were possible.
For a large segment of the black community, these gains remain elusive. The gains will remain elusive so long as black civil rights and political leadership blame and focus their energies on discrimination. While discrimination exists, the relevant question is how much of what we see can be explained by it. A 70 percent illegitimacy rate, 60 percent of black children raised in female-headed households, high crime and poor school performance have devastating consequences. This level of pathology cannot be attributed to discrimination, considering that much of it was absent in earlier times when there was far more discrimination, greater poverty and fewer opportunities.
It's time that black people hold fellow blacks accountable for squandering opportunities won at a high cost by our ancestors. Failing to do so makes all blacks complicit in the betray
Come on people! Tonya, go back and do some research on Damon-the person- and try to get a feel of what this guy is about outside of the movies.
Bottom line.
Hes not going to make a clothing line called "N....", thats his excuse for the trademark. His purpose is for nobody else to be able to use the word.
Try to find a quote were he talks about the clothing line.... you wont.
Amen to the person who posted the whole thing about New Orleans..
What Bush and FEMA director Brown got faulted for is that they could never comprehend that whole group of people would behave the way the IDIOTS in New Orleans did.
Sadly, stupdity and laziness was something that no one would have figured would happen. Despite the fact Florida got hit by FOUR WORSE hurricanes the year before, WHITE, able-bodied people worked together and EVACUATED!!!
Now, N-word clothing?
Fine, glorify your stupidity even more. The "disaster" in New Orleans was made through this type of glorification of lifestyle where it is "cool" to be a gangsta and a welfare layabout...
All I can say is I've already bought my gun. When a nuke goes off in a big city in 5 years (and it most likely will through a terrorist act), then every N and Gangsta in the country will use it as an excuse (a la New Orleans) to grab whatever they want. It will be New Orleans all over again -- all over the county... Get ready.
Look - bad is bad, I don't care who uses it.
It's not the first time that a minority has taken a horrible symbol and turned it for their good. The gay community has taken the upside down pink triangle, a symbol taken from the Nazi concentration camps, and made it a good thing. The difference is that everyone can use it. It doesn't seperate society, it bonds them. It just represents gay people.
Being a straight white guy, I could hold up an upside down pink triangle in a crowd and get cheered. Heck, who would know that I was straight? Most bigots wouldn't know what it meant, and the people that did know would be OK with it.
If I yelled the "N" word in a crowd I would have the potential to get lynched.
I believe that the "N" word is reprehensible and that there is nobody that can or should use it. NOBODY.
Are we not disrespecting all the people that got killed for the simple reason that they were a "N"? Are we not disrespecting all of the people that fought for racial equality? Why hasn't society come past this? Why does society allow this to happen?
I think the idea of selling a line of clothing or any line of product that specifically targets one group of people by using a racially charged word or phrase is a cheap and unintelligent way to do business. Its surprising though, if someone wanted to produce a line of clothing that was labled "Faggot Jeans", or some other phrase that when used in the wrong crowd could turn into a bad situation, anti this and anti that groups and media stations would be all over it and before anyone realized the case would be in the supreme court. The following month there would be a law named after the case in which a clothing company won the right to manufacture clothing that is made by what ever racially charged and/or disrespectful word that they can come up with. So, the idea of someone using the unfortunate events, that labeled the word "nigger", to their profitable advantage is very unprofessional and disrespectful to the very people that endured such an event. I must gather and suspect that the person that is wanting to do such a thing is black him/her self. I cant amagine being this person in his/her community and thinking that this doing something good to benifit others. I believe that if this person respected his/her community and heritage that the time and effort spent on trying to get a trademark should be spent getting money for schools and gathering other benifical resources to prepair the youth for the future so that they can also make a difference.
WHERE DID ALL OF THIS COME FROM, WHO CARES THAT IS NOT THE QUESTION???????????
Interesting comments, even though the longer ones don't really pertain to the subject. Anyway, I wouldn't buy Nigga Jeans...that word would not be on my behind. If I don't want to be called that word, why walk around with it on my clothes? What's next, tattooing it on my forehead? Please! Would I date someone who wore the clothes? Hmmm....I don't know.
What does Katrina, Bush, Mike Brown,and FEMA have to do with ANY OF THIS??? personally, i wouldn't wear that line of clothing and i would look down on ANYONE who did; white or black! and I agree that he is not doing this for a clothing line, he career is in the toilet right? just some PR move, and a stupid one at that!
Jessie Peterson has his head so far up the Republican partys behind that he can probably taste what Karl Rove or Pres. Bush ate!
As for the use of the term 'nigga', I think it's a useless argument. The ignorant masses that use it will not suddenly have an epiphany and refrain from using the word. The conscious ones who for some reason never gave it any serious thought will decrease their usage and maybe even delete it from their conversation. White folks know that regardless of when or where they use it that they'll have a fight on their hands if they have a lapse of memory and use that epithet in the presence of an African-American! BTW, keep rockin' dat mo' TJ!
How ironic- the African American movement in Charlotte is trying to get a street named after Martin Luther King Jr in honor of his positive contribution to society, however Daman is trying to reverse all the progress of putting race behind us. David Duke= a one sided man on an agenda of no good...now it sounds like Daman W is doing the same by putting the word Nigga on our bums aka backside! It is a shame. I say let him get his trademark, however I encourage the AA community to not give him any money....just the same as I encourage whites to give no attention nor money to David Duke type people.
So, my question is....if a white person wore these jeans would they then be allowed to use that word freely? Would it be alright for everyone and anyone to say the N word because its on clothes now?
I know the Waynes bro's like to do things to get people riled up but they need to grow up and move on. There is no need to glorify this word, even if its spelled with an 'a'. The whole background to the word is ignorance and once again they are just showing how deep that flows.
If somebody like Tommy Hilfiger or Ralph Lauren wanted to trademark a new "Cracker" clothing line, I wouldn't be offended as a white guy. In fact, I would find it pretty comical, although I sure wouldn't buy it because it's just a novelty at best. (Anyone remember Zubaz pants??)
I say let the consumer decide.
To the poster who believes that Wayans only wants to trademark the word to keep others from using it: I doubt it. A trademark is not ownership of the use of a word, it is ownership of the right to use in for commercial purposes to identify similar products or services. And to register and protect a trademark, he must actual using it as a commerical identification.
If he manages to acquire the rights to the word Nigga, it will prevent no one else form using it in every day speech, not will it prevent singers and writers from using the word in their work, even as a title. It will only give him the right to use it in conjunction with specific products or services. And to protect it, he will have to actually USE it in a commercial context as an identifying symbol.
While I think it's an absolutely ridiculous idea, what's the big deal. I think it'll be hilarious watching the 6:00 news anchor try to get around the world while they're discussing "the latest trend it hip-hop".
The word's offensive. I'm white and I don't like to hear it. I never know quite what to do when I'm listening to a rap song and they use the word in a song. Is it okay for me to sing along or should I just pause or beep like the radio does? Course truth be told I probably shouldn't be singing with the windows down anyway!
I think my point is with the word becoming too often used, it's lost a lot of the hate associated with it. Maybe that's his point, make it widespread and it no longer has power. Keep avoiding and bleeping it and it becomes a stronger message of hate.
Would I wear the jeans? Depends on how my ass looks in them :)
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