Usually I do not watch or comment about any award shows but I will have to make an exception for the MTV Video Music Awards that aired last Sunday. Before you bolt off, I promise not to talk about the winners or losers or what who wore or any of that nonsense. I will not even talk about the incident that happened with Mr. Kanye West and Ms. Taylor Swift but I will talk about the aftermath of that incidence. For those that might not be in the know, Kanye West is one of the most successful rappers in the United States and Taylor Swift is an up-and-coming country singer and yes, Kanye is black and Ms. Taylor is white. During the MTV Awards show, Mr. West stormed the stage when Taylor won the “Best Female Video Award” to protest that Beyonce should have won instead. Everybody agrees it was rude and that Mr. West is a “jerk ass” for what he did but like I mentioned earlier, he is a rapper and not a boy scout. I can’t say that I was surprised by his outburst but I have been very much surprised by the hateful chatter that is coming from the blogosphere.

Dumb Nigger this! House Nigger that! Nigger monkey! ….. I simply do not have the time or the desire to list them all. Not to let a good crisis go to waste, I think this would be an opportune time to get a little education on the word nigger. According to dictionary.com the definition of the word nigger is:-

nig⋅ger

[nig-er]

Usage note:
The term nigger is now probably the most offensive word in English. Its degree of offensiveness has increased markedly in recent years, although it has been used in a derogatory manner since at least the Revolutionary War. Definitions 1a, 1b, and 2 represent meanings that are deeply disparaging and are used when the speaker deliberately wishes to cause great offense. Definition 1a, however, is sometimes used among African-Americans in a neutral or familiar way. Definition 3 is not normally considered disparaging—as in “The Irish are the niggers of Europe” from Roddy Doyle’s The Commitments—but the other uses are considered contemptuous and hostile.

–noun

1.	Slang: Extremely Disparaging and Offensive. a. a black person. b. a member of any dark-skinned people.

2.	Slang: Extremely Disparaging and Offensive. a person of any race or origin regarded as contemptible, inferior, ignorant, etc.

3.	a victim of prejudice similar to that suffered by blacks; a person who is economically, politically, or socially disenfranchised.

As we can all see, the word has many definitions. The first definition has had most of its sting neutralized over the years as black people have embraced and made it part of their lingo as a form of greeting. Therefore, when used in this definition it not offensive especially to black people.

Most racists and haters wanting to offend usually go with the second definition.

2.	Slang: Extremely Disparaging and Offensive. a person of any race or origin regarded as contemptible, inferior, ignorant, etc.

In this definition, it is used in an offensive way to describe people that you might think are inferior or stupid or at less human regardless of race. We can therefore have “white niggers (also called white-trash)”, “latino niggers”, “Asian niggers” or whatever you pick to use it with. The catch is, if you are going to use it correctly in this definition, the user MUST be doing or feel like they are doing better than the person they direct the insult at. For examples, president Obama would not be a nigger under this definition. He would however be justified to use the term on a majority of Americans, not that I think he would as he is a classy guy. Kanye West on the other hand is not a nigger either under this definition and he would be justified to use the term on a majority Americans, whites included and I do think he is capable of doing it as he has no class. So for all those tweeting and blogging about how Mr. West is such a nigger, you need to re-evaluate as you might be the real niggers.

END OF LESSON.

(More Mis-educated Racists)