Piers Morgan Wants To Whip The N-Word Into Brutal Submission
The piece got a lot of attention today, much of it due to their citation of a statistic that’s supposed to show the word’s “prevalence” in modern American life:
A word that is used 500,000 times a day on Twitter — as “nigga” is, according to search data on the social media analytics Web site Topsy.com — is almost by definition beyond banning. By comparison, “bro” and “dude” — two of the terms with which the n-word is synonymous to many people younger than 35 — are used 300,000 and 200,000 times, respectively.
That stat may be accurate, but it hardly seems to prove interchangeability with “bro” and “dude” among people younger that 35. The word “bae” is also used between 300k and 500k per day on Twitter, but I don’t see it replacing “bro” or “dude” anytime soon. The WaPo piece is excellent and insightful on the internal debate, among black people, on the use of the n-word, but makes unsupported leaps when it comes to the wider use, or acceptance, of the word.
Former CNN host Piers Morgan took that leap in a different direction by penning a London Daily Mail column advising that “If black Americans want the N-word to die, they will have to kill it themselves,” because all of that Twitter ubiquity is just too confusing for racist white people to figure out…READ MORE
Copyright 2014 Liberaland
By: Tommy Christopher
Tommy Christopher is The Daily Banter's White House Correspondent and Political Analyst. He's been a political reporter and liberal commentator since 2007, and has covered the White House since the beginning of the Obama administration, first for PoliticsDaily, and then for Mediaite. Christopher is a frequent guest on a variety of television, radio, and online programs, and was the villain in the documentaries The Audacity of Democracy and Hating Breitbart. He's also That Guy Who Live-Tweeted His Own Heart Attack, and the only person to have ever received public apologies from both Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck.
36 responses to Piers Morgan Wants To Whip The N-Word Into Brutal Submission
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Anomaly 100 November 10th, 2014 at 21:23
Full disclosure: I can’t stand Piers Morgan. He did not help the discussion on gun control, but this is a different conversation, so:
I do not agree with black people using the variation of the N word. Call me old, I don’t care. But, when neighborhood kids drop by (that happens a lot), I do not allow that term to be used in my home. I live in a predominately black neighborhood. As Tommy said, there’s the insider vs. outsider use of the word, but for me, I can’t stand hearing it from anyone.
There is no racist rhetoric allowed in my home, even if it’s circulated by the minority that it denigrates.
Tommy6860 November 10th, 2014 at 22:26
The “N” is one of those few words where I think even reappropriation doesn’t make it OK to use in whatever context or colloquialism.
Anomaly 100 November 10th, 2014 at 23:03
I’ve heard it used in my home. I hated it. I heard over the speakers some song that said, “I am a Ni**ger!” and directly afterward, my neighbor apologized. Her son played that song in my stereo system. For them it was normal. For me, I felt so sad.
Tommy6860 November 11th, 2014 at 00:39
It’s really the only term that doesn’t sit right with me in any sense of its usage, because of its historical use while a specific ethnic group was brutalized for hundreds of years. Seriously, sometimes when hear that term used, I start to cry, it affects me that deeply.
Robert M. Snyder November 11th, 2014 at 00:55
What I can’t understand is why words like “wh*re” and “sl*t” are not in the same category as the N word. I expect they are just as hurtful.
Intaglio Oglothorpe November 11th, 2014 at 23:21
Those words are behavior oriented while the other one carries a connotation of being subhuman. You’re forgetting the religious connotation of slavery, black people are cursed and deserve nothing but misery in the world. The other words subjects could be forgiven if they “go forth and sin no more” and definitely carried a blight aspect.
Robert M. Snyder November 11th, 2014 at 23:43
I’m sure most blacks immediately think of the historical religious connotations when the word is applied to them. Not.
There are plenty of other words that are based on immutable characteristics. D*go, W*p, Ch*nk, Cr*pple. While these are not considered polite, it is still possible to utter them. Nobody says “the D word” when they are referring to the term “D*go” in a scholarly discussion. (I am using asterisks to avoid triggering the content filter.)
I was taught to use none of these words. I think it is hypocritical for someone to get upset about the N word, but then in the next sentence to utter another term that is equally hurtful, including words like “sl*t” and “wh*re”. The simple rule I was taught was “Don’t insult people.”. What’s wrong with that? Do we really need to find ways to justify calling women sl*ts and wh*res, simply because those characteristics are mutable?
Intaglio Oglothorpe November 11th, 2014 at 23:48
You vastly underestimate how religious a significant percentage of the black population is but thats not what I was talking about.
Anyway, if you’d leave the gated community of Robert’s Rules of Order you’d realize the screeching media and academia don’t reach the people who still commit these offenses in the working classes and see any effort to civilize them as interference from elitists. I’m talking about the developmental record when these were still acceptable mores in common parleyance.
But please, by all means, assume everyone lives in fear of being viewed as non-politically correct. Particularly people in poorer places who run into one another instead of reading about shrieking on political blogs.
Robert M. Snyder November 12th, 2014 at 00:09
“the gated community of Robert’s Rules of Order”
Clever!
Perhaps I didn’t express my point very clearly. I was raised to be extremely politically correct, only we didn’t call it that. We called it “good manners”. I am NOT advocating that people use the N word. Instead, I have always advocated that people NOT use ANY insulting words. Criticizing behavior is fair game. Labeling a person achieves nothing that is helpful. To me, the N word is just one of many labels. To say that the N word is “worse” implies that using other labels is “not as bad” or even “okay”. We can do better than that.
Intaglio Oglothorpe November 12th, 2014 at 00:19
You’re still not getting the point. You and I know its common courtesy.
You ever been in a house where people say whatever they want in front of their kids? And every person they know says those things? And they think its normal?
Because I have. And it is really dispiriting to think people believe this. Not in the sense that executives want tax cuts and don’t care if an inner city school system disintegrates sense but in that there are still people who would ban people and lynch them tomorrow if they could get away with it, and some of them even then don’t think about the prison sentence that will follow their actions.
Robert M. Snyder November 12th, 2014 at 01:19
“You ever been in a house where people say whatever they want in front of their kids? And every person they know says those things? And they think its normal?”
Yes. Many times in the past, but not recently.
I once sat and listened to two close (older) relatives sharing stories about “good Jews” that they had known, as if a good Jew is a rarity.
Sociologists use terms like “in-group” and “out-group” when discussing ethnocentrism. Sometimes blacks are the out-group, but in my experience, in recent years at least, it is more often Muslims or Latinos.
I have in the past tried to convince people that their perceptions of an out-group were unjustified, but that never seems to work. When I talk about actual Muslims I have worked with, or actual Latinos I have gotten to know, the response is usually to categorize them as “a good Muslim” or “a good Latino”, as if that is also a rarity.
PBS documentaries that take us into the homes of real families can be good, but the people we’re concerned about rarely watch shows like that. Instead, they watch news programs that use terms like “the Arab street”. The people who take to the streets in America are generally the most aggrieved members of our population. They are hardly representative of the population as a whole.
Every time a news photographer points a camera at a subject, they are excluding far more than they are including. Watching the coverage of Ferguson, one might get the impression that every member of the black community has a grievance against the police force. But is that realistic? Probably not. Overseas coverage of Ferguson could give someone living in Norway a very unrealistic impression of everyday life in America.
My local, rural school district has a 99% white student population. Muslims, Latinos, and Blacks exist mainly as characters in movies and in television shows, or on the news. When someone goes away to college, that’s probably the first time they begin to associate with actual Muslims, Latinos, and Blacks.
However, I can’t tell you the last time I heard anyone around here use the N word, or any other ethnic insult. So I don’t really have a sense of whether this in-group/out-group thing is a problem in my community. I think sociologists would say that it is not a new problem. It’s probably as old as mankind.
Personally, it disturbs me when I see articles and comments in this forum which make sweeping generalizations about groups of people who hold differing opinions about political issues. For example, while it is definitely true that some conservatives are anti-science, it is not an accurate depiction of the conservatives as a group. So the in-group/out-group dynamic is alive and well. I enjoy the give and take on this forum, but sometimes your words (paraphrasing) could also be applied here:
“You ever been in a (forum) where people say whatever they want (about conservatives)? And every person they know says those things? And they think its normal?”
Intaglio Oglothorpe November 12th, 2014 at 01:26
I would say from the things you’re describing you live somewhere outside of middle America. And I’m not using that pejoratively, I started out in the South and was rather shocked to find out people in the Missouri/West Virginia/southern Ohio area are much more brazenly racist and don’t even try to hide it.
Robert M. Snyder November 12th, 2014 at 01:43
Rural Pennsylvania. Historically coal mining and timber. Now economically depressed. Many ethnic groups, including Slovak, Italian, German, Polish, Russian. Most of the big employers, a century ago, were of English descent. So there was naturally some disdain for the English. For example, the term “Johnny Bull” carried negative connotations. The historical perception was that the English were made wealthy by exploiting all of the other ethnicities. So this led to a kind of solidarity among the various ethnicities. If you were poor and had dirty, calloused hands, you were part of the in-group.
By the way, the ethnic foods at pot luck dinners around here are amazing!
Intaglio Oglothorpe November 12th, 2014 at 16:40
I’ve never been to Pennsylvania but from what people who have lived there tell me its kind of an exception to the rule. A diverse Northern state with a lot of rural qualities and just enough influence New England and the beltway to keep you guessing.
Anomaly 100 November 10th, 2014 at 22:23
Full disclosure: I can’t stand Piers Morgan. He did not help the discussion on gun control, but this is a different conversation, so:
I do not agree with black people using the variation of the N word. Call me old, I don’t care. But, when neighborhood kids drop by (that happens a lot), I do not allow that term to be used in my home. I live in a predominately black neighborhood. As Tommy said, there’s the insider vs. outsider use of the word, but for me, I can’t stand hearing it from anyone.
There is no racist rhetoric allowed in my home, even if it’s circulated by the minority that it denigrates.
So again, Piers is right and he’s wrong, but at least he’s consistent.
Tommy6860 November 10th, 2014 at 23:26
The “N” is one of those few words where I think even reappropriation doesn’t make it OK to use in whatever context or colloquialism.
Anomaly 100 November 11th, 2014 at 00:03
I’ve heard it used in my home. I hated it. I heard over the speakers some song that said, “I am a Ni**ger!” and directly afterward, my neighbor apologized. Her son played that song in my stereo system. For them it was normal. For me, I felt so sad.
This is my home. We don’t speak of others that way. Some of us are ‘others,’ after all.
Tommy6860 November 11th, 2014 at 01:39
It’s really the only term that doesn’t sit right with me in any sense of its usage, because of its historical use while a specific ethnic group was brutalized for hundreds of years. Seriously, sometimes when hear that term used, I start to cry, it affects me that deeply.
Robert M. Snyder November 11th, 2014 at 01:55
What I can’t understand is why words like “wh*re” and “sl*t” are not in the same category as the N word. I expect they are just as hurtful.
Robert M. Snyder November 12th, 2014 at 00:43
I’m sure most blacks immediately think of the historical religious connotations when the word is applied to them. Not.
There are plenty of other words that are based on immutable characteristics. D*go, W*p, Ch*nk, Cr*pple. While these are not considered polite, it is still possible to utter them. Nobody says “the D word” when they are referring to the term “D*go” in a scholarly discussion. (I am using asterisks to avoid triggering the content filter.)
I was taught to use none of these words. I think it is hypocritical for someone to get upset about the N word, but then in the next sentence to utter another term that is equally hurtful, including words like “sl*t” and “wh*re”. The simple rule I was taught was “Don’t insult people.”. What’s wrong with that? Do we really need to find ways to justify calling women sl*ts and wh*res, simply because those characteristics are mutable?
Robert M. Snyder November 12th, 2014 at 01:09
“the gated community of Robert’s Rules of Order”
Clever!
Perhaps I didn’t express my point very clearly. I was raised to be extremely politically correct, only we didn’t call it that. We called it “good manners”. I am NOT advocating that people use the N word. Instead, I have always advocated that people NOT use ANY insulting words. Criticizing behavior is fair game. Labeling a person achieves nothing that is helpful. To me, the N word is just one of many labels. To say that the N word is “worse” implies that using other labels is “not as bad” or even “okay”. We can do better than that.
Robert M. Snyder November 12th, 2014 at 02:19
“You ever been in a house where people say whatever they want in front of their kids? And every person they know says those things? And they think its normal?”
Yes. Many times in the past, but not recently.
I once sat and listened to two close (older) relatives sharing stories about “good Jews” that they had known, as if a good Jew is a rarity.
Sociologists use terms like “in-group” and “out-group” when discussing ethnocentrism. Sometimes blacks are the out-group, but in my experience, in recent years at least, it is more often Muslims or Latinos.
I have in the past tried to convince people that their perceptions of an out-group were unjustified, but that never seems to work. When I talk about actual Muslims I have worked with, or actual Latinos I have gotten to know, the response is usually to categorize them as “a good Muslim” or “a good Latino”, as if that is also a rarity.
PBS documentaries that take us into the homes of real families can be good, but the people we’re concerned about rarely watch shows like that. Instead, they watch news programs that use terms like “the Arab street”. The people who take to the streets in America are generally the most aggrieved members of our population. They are hardly representative of the population as a whole.
Every time a news photographer points a camera at a subject, they are excluding far more than they are including. Watching the coverage of Ferguson, one might get the impression that every member of the black community has a grievance against the police force. But is that realistic? Probably not. Overseas coverage of Ferguson could give someone living in Norway a very unrealistic impression of everyday life in America.
My local, rural school district has a 99% white student population. Muslims, Latinos, and Blacks exist mainly as characters in movies and in television shows, or on the news. When someone goes away to college, that’s probably the first time they begin to associate with actual Muslims, Latinos, and Blacks.
However, I can’t tell you the last time I heard anyone around here use the N word, or any other ethnic insult. So I don’t really have a sense of whether this in-group/out-group thing is a problem in my community. I think sociologists would say that it is not a new problem. It’s probably as old as mankind.
Personally, it disturbs me when I see articles and comments in this forum which make sweeping generalizations about groups of people who hold differing opinions about political issues. For example, while it is definitely true that some conservatives are anti-science, it is not an accurate depiction of the conservatives as a group. So the in-group/out-group dynamic is alive and well. I enjoy the give and take on this forum, but sometimes your words (paraphrasing) could also be applied here:
“You ever been in a (forum) where people say whatever they want (about conservatives)? And every person they know says those things? And they think its normal?”
Robert M. Snyder November 12th, 2014 at 02:43
Rural Pennsylvania. Historically coal mining and timber. Now economically depressed. Many ethnic groups, including Slovak, Italian, German, Polish, Russian. Most of the big employers, a century ago, were of English descent. So there was naturally some disdain for the English. For example, the term “Johnny Bull” carried negative connotations. The historical perception was that the English were made wealthy by exploiting all of the other ethnicities. So this led to a kind of solidarity among the various ethnicities. If you were poor and had dirty, calloused hands, you were part of the in-group.
By the way, the ethnic foods at pot luck dinners around here are amazing!
R.J. Carter November 10th, 2014 at 21:52
I have this vision of Piers Morgan’s last moments as a frenzied, drunken, naked caterwaul from the top of a building, half-draped in the Union Jack, firing a semi automatic into a crowd and yelling “N_____” at the top of his longs.
Anomaly 100 November 10th, 2014 at 22:15
Laughing!
tracey marie November 10th, 2014 at 22:17
hilarious, my sides hurt from laughing so hard
tiredoftea November 10th, 2014 at 22:45
With Tony Blair by his side.
Tommy6860 November 11th, 2014 at 00:40
Made my night, LMAO!
R.J. Carter November 10th, 2014 at 22:52
I have this vision of Piers Morgan’s last moments as a frenzied, drunken, naked caterwaul from the top of a building, half-draped in the Union Jack, firing a semi automatic into a crowd and yelling “N_____” at the top of his longs.
Anomaly 100 November 10th, 2014 at 23:15
Laughing!
tracey marie November 10th, 2014 at 23:17
hilarious, my sides hurt from laughing so hard
tiredoftea November 10th, 2014 at 23:45
With Tony Blair by his side.
Tommy6860 November 11th, 2014 at 01:40
Made my night, LMAO!
granpa.usthai November 11th, 2014 at 08:09
I think the whole problem in word association is the failure to communicate. If Piers were to say wear a tee shirt that said: I AM DARREN WILSON AND SUPPORT LATINO’S IN FLORIDA WHO HAVE WHITE MALE DL’S – while shouting F -ni**er children walking on/off sidewalks while walking through any rundown falling apart rat hole area of any beautiful pristine city of America – then he would have a much better word association and, I think, there’d be some type of communication to develop.
When I was in service, we didn’t take to kindly to being referred to as ‘jarheads’ (a name of endearment among ourselves) by the Navy bellhops who lay about on their little tin boats watching waves go by – 24/7 – but we could always communicate – mostly when in a drunken state in a bar on the other side of the tracks.
word association = communication.
granpa.usthai November 11th, 2014 at 09:09
I think the whole problem in word association is the failure to communicate. If Piers were to say wear a tee shirt that said: I AM DARREN WILSON AND SUPPORT LATINO’S IN FLORIDA WHO HAVE WHITE MALE DL’S – while shouting F -ni**er children walking on/off sidewalks while walking through any rundown falling apart rat hole area of any beautiful pristine city of America – then he would have a much better word association and, I think, there’d be some type of communication to develop.
When I was in service, we didn’t take too kindly to being referred to as ‘jarheads’ (a name of endearment among ourselves) by the Navy bellhops who lay about on their little tin boats watching waves go by – 24/7 – but we could always communicate – mostly when in a drunken state in a bar on the other side of the tracks.
word association = communication.
Intaglio Oglothorpe November 11th, 2014 at 23:17
Piers Morgan is a white man who has no claim to that word. He’ll sink to any depth for attention. Next he’ll take up the cause state subsidized gender surgical correction.