Former Supervisor: Gates Police Sergeant a 'Model Officer'-- [What Gates said about "your Moma"]

Greta's On the record video-- Willing to Break bread ^ | July 26, 2009 | On the Record video and transcript

[Syncro]

That is very insightful

See My post #40 just under yours.

[constitutiongirl]

What man wants some a-hole insulting his momma? I really think the “I’ll talk to your mama outside” was a quasi-sexual reference. If you say “That shirt is ugly” the comeback may be “your mama” (your mama’s ugly too). Then there’s the general “yo mama” insults...”your mama’s so skinny, she could hula hoop with a cheerio” (school yard taunt, usually just a pissing contest amongst boys). Then there’s the “f*** your mama” which I think Gates’ comment referenced...”Step outside to talk”..”I’ll talk to your mama outside (I’ll f*** yo mama)”. It certainly was meant as an insult. Ever since this story broke we’ve had to hear all these grand adjectives applied to Gates...distingused, brilliant, scholarly...but he’s still nothing more than a common hustler.

[kcvl]

Urban Dictionary:

yo mamma

Insult, last resort in a verbal confrontation

[constitutiongirl]

When Obama hit the national stage my eldest daughter joked that I had more street cred than he did. :)

[jennyjenny]

That Gates had to stoop to the level of “yo momma” tells me a lot about “distinguished, educated man.”

[originalbuckeye]

Ok, ok. I really thought it must have been that more was said. I am naive. I didn't realize that more didn't have to be said. I guess ‘yo momma’ means what I thought was actually said.

[FR_addict]

I found the transcript to this link:

http://stuckon-stupid.com/2009/07/27/henry-louis-gates-explains-the-one-ngger-syndrome/";

at this blog:

http://freedomeden.blogspot.com/2009/07/henry-louis-gates-1996-video.html

The only reason we have so many people doing so well, the only reason, is because of the civil rights movement and its child, affirmative action. Without affirmative action, we would have never been able to integrate racist historically white institutions in American society. And to me, the first fundamental question that we have to address is how to protect, preserve, and expand affirmative action.

When I went to college, instead of going to Howard like three generations of my family, which is certainly a great thing, I was able to go to Yale University, because they were trying to diversify themselves. They wanted a class that looked more like America. They let in women for the first time. They let in black people for the first time. The class of ‘68 at Yale had 18 black kids.

My class, the class of ‘73, had 96 black kids. You know, I was lucky enough to get a fellowship to go to England after I graduated. It's called a Mellon Fellowship. My daddy called it the Watermelon Fellowship, because I was the first black person to get it. That's true. Cornel knows my father. He knows I ain't lyin’.

And then, I taught at Yale for 9 years. I taught at Cornell for 5 years. I taught at Duke for one long, painful year. And then, uh ... that ain't lyin’. I don't even like the airplane to fly over North Carolina.

(Addressing someone off camera) Oh, that's true. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. And they got good barbecue, too. So maybe it's OK.

And now I've been, thank God, at Harvard for 5 years. Now each of those things was enabled, each was made possible, by the existence of affirmative action. It didn't mean I wasn't qualified. It meant that because of racism I never would have been allowed to compete on a more or less level terrain with white boys and white girls. And for me, for someone who has benefited so much from the opportunities of affirmative action, to stand at the gate and try to keep other black people out would be to be as hypocritical as Clarence Thomas.

And we in the academy have to know that our people, we, those of us who practice African American studies, have to know that our people are under assault. Newt Gingrich and company, that Contract for America is serious. You know what those guys have said? ‘All right, somehow, while we were asleep, all you white women and all you black people got into the middle class. We're not sure how it happened, but the first thing we're gonna do is we're gonna shake the tree, and any of y'all who can't hold on, y'all goin’ back. And the second thing, we're gonna set up barriers so that no more of you all can get in here.’

And what we're trying to do is end your mama and your daddy criticism, which is what African Americans, quite frankly, have mastered in for 250 years. We're also trying to end what we used to call the “One Nigger Syndrome.” You know, this place ain't big enough for more than one of us.

[tflabo]

“I’ll talk to your mama outside.”

Back in the 70's we called that kind of banter 'jive turkey talk'. It's low class and moronic but par for the course for a liberal, leftist gutter professor like Gates.

[Islander2]

“Yes, “your momma” or “yo momma” means “Your mother is a hooker. Any man can talk to her to negotiate the price”

Yes, proof that the professor is educated and does not use jargon of the street which sounds more like “mofo”

[Islander2]

“Again, “yo mama” IS more than “just” ‘yo mama’

Here it is from the urban dictionary:

3. “Yo mama”

An derisive term, equivalent to m*****f***** but can be used in general company because it’s not a swear word. Term often precedes a fight.

Thanks for the clarification. Until now I have been relying on the words of a member of the inner city “hoods” who said, “we’s got muthas, sistas, and bruthas. And even some of the bruthas are muthas”

[Syncro]

LOL well that too!

I guess if you call your brutha a mutha it’s OK.

[Colvin]

It’s all a miss-understanding. he thought Jimmy’s name was Joe, Joe Mama.

[668 - Neighbor of the Beast]

“Your mother is a hooker. Any man can talk to her to negotiate the price”

Corollary: "Your legitimacy is highly questionable."

[Drawsing]

I still remember an old episode of the TV show “Batman”. The Joker is taunting Batman and hurls the insult, “Your mother wears army boots!” Batman responds, “Yes she does. And she finds them quite comfortable!”

[Gandalf_The_Gray]

the worse thing you can say to someone is your mother is a whore.. your momma is just a shortened version

Growing up in the 50s the worst thing I ever heard was "Your mother wears army shoes!" Nowadays that is so common that most people would not take it as a pejorative remark.

Regards,
GtG

[FR_addict]

Again, “yo mama” IS more than “just” ‘yo mama’

Here it is from the urban dictionary:

3. “Yo mama”

An derisive term, equivalent to m*****f***** but can be used in general company because it’s not a swear word. Term often precedes a fight.

Thanks for the clarification. Until now I have been relying on the words of a member of the inner city “hoods” who said, “we’s got muthas, sistas, and bruthas. And even some of the bruthas are muthas”

Sgt. Crowley's former supervisor called Mr. Gates word obscene. I wouldn't call "Yo mama" obscene as your research above indicates. The other word "MF" which means the same thing would be described as obscene.

That's why it sounds like Sgt. Crowley used the polite terminology to write his report.

I heard the original video on Greta. It thought Fox bleeped out the word the supervisor used when he finally said it. I went back and listened to the video on Greta's site. The video is of poor quality and it stops a few times, and then continues. I downloaded and it still does that on my desktop. So I don't know for sure if it was bleeped or the tape messed up.

Regardless, Gates meant it as an insult and according to post 47, Gates is very conscious of it's incendiary nature.

In his own words in an earlier interview:

"And what we're trying to do is end your mama and your daddy criticism, which is what African Americans, quite frankly, have mastered in for 250 years. We're also trying to end what we used to call the “One Nigger Syndrome.” You know, this place ain't big enough for more than one of us."