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How dare they try to copyright the N-word
New York Daily News ^ | February 27, 2006 | Stanley Crouch

Posted on 02/27/2006 10:43:42 AM PST by presidio9

One of the most repulsively fascinating facts about contemporary black popular culture is how it continues to reach fresh lows. It finds new ways of leaping all fences that would bar it from falling into a bottomless pit of tastelessness. All of the insults and burdens of minstrelsy have been bested by black comedians and rappers who have made stupidity, hedonism, pimping, misogyny, pornography and violence their stock in trade. One defense of this amoral sense of life and culture is that black people didn't invent any of it, so why shouldn't they, like the white people, be able to make big money from it? As one imbecilic black man in television said to me, "I ain't hating on these brothers. All they are doing is dealing with a market the same way that the white people do. This is capitalism and they're responding to a market. You know the old saying, 'Whatever the market will bear.' "

Now we find that comedian Damon Wayans has spent the past 14 months trying to copyright the N-word with "iggas" instead of "iggers." He wants to put it on apparel and whatnot. So far, he has not been successful but one can imagine young American kids wearing that word emblazoned on clothes and listening to rap "songs" in which the N-word frequently appears, in conjunction with "bitches" and "hos," among other denigrations.

Of course, there is a defense. One Hollywood Negro said that "Damon is no fool. He might be pulling a Brer Rabbit move that would mean that he would take control of the word and make everyone pay to use it."

I responded rappers and others would merely put the cost in the budget. The Hollywood guy agreed.

However this comes out, it is further proof of how remarkably decadent our moment is. On the one hand, opportunistic numbskulls use the rhetoric of free speech and the liberal arts to justify the thick presence of misogyny and insult in their material, meaning that constantly referring to women as bitches and hos is an expression of their artistry and their freedom of speech. So is the constant screaming of the N-word.

Now we have a comedian attempting to copyright the N-word so that everyone who uses it will have to pay him for the right. I guess that takes its place right next to John Singleton, Spike Lee and Will Smith supporting the dehumanizing "Hustle & Flow." In the world of entertainment, the siren call of the commercial, however hollow and denigrating, seems impossible for many to resist, a fact that transcends all ethnic, sexual and religious distinctions.

When Essence magazine began a campaign against the prevalence of misogyny and insult in rap material, literally hundreds of thousands voiced their approval. This proved that this product is disgusting to millions of black women and their supporters. Unfortunately, the most important movement in popular culture since the emergence of rap itself floundered. Essence let the campaign fizzle after editor Diane Weathers, who shaped the magazine's response to popular muck, left the magazine.

If Damon Wayans wins his quest for ownership of the N-word, one wonders to whom - if any - he will have to answer.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: culturalentropy; damonwayans; niggas; stanleycrouch
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1 posted on 02/27/2006 10:43:44 AM PST by presidio9
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To: presidio9
Oh, Nigga Please!!!

Opps, sorry - Not for use by Whitey.

2 posted on 02/27/2006 10:49:05 AM PST by TexasCajun
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To: presidio9

Do I dare refer to "Truth in Advertising?"

No, better not ;'}


3 posted on 02/27/2006 10:49:11 AM PST by rockrr (Never argue with a man who buys ammo in bulk...)
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To: presidio9

Only in America...


4 posted on 02/27/2006 10:49:20 AM PST by DieHard the Hunter (I am the Chieftain of my Clan. I bow to nobody. Get out of my way.)
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To: presidio9

If somebody copyrighted the F-word, they could retire off of DU alone.


5 posted on 02/27/2006 10:50:18 AM PST by steve-b (A desire not to butt into other people's business is eighty percent of all human wisdom)
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To: presidio9

One is confounded on how to react to one dissing another with the n word, but if non-blk dont you dare utter be uttering it. Also how does "people of color" be a mark of distinction but "colored people" be a slur?


6 posted on 02/27/2006 10:50:23 AM PST by brainstem223
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To: mhking

Unbelievable...


7 posted on 02/27/2006 10:50:34 AM PST by NCjim (The more I use Windows, the more I love UNIX)
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To: presidio9

I suppose it would be bad to say, "Don't get your niggas in a twist"?


8 posted on 02/27/2006 10:51:38 AM PST by Old Sarge (Fobbit = REMF ... how do you like me now?)
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To: presidio9
If Damon Wayans wins his quest for ownership of the N-word, one wonders to whom - if any - he will have to answer.

I hope Damon wins ownership, one less word that can be used against us "honkies" for hate crimes........

9 posted on 02/27/2006 10:51:58 AM PST by ScreamingFist ( Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance. NRA)
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To: presidio9
I don't know Damon Wayan's politics, or much else, but I like his show on TV. I would have to know his intent here. It may be to try to keep rappers and other such lowlifes from keeping it alive.

Anyone know anything about Wayan's "alignment"?

10 posted on 02/27/2006 10:52:48 AM PST by trebb ("I am the way... no one comes to the Father, but by me..." - Jesus in John 14:6 (RSV))
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To: presidio9; sure_fine
Niggas®. Am I reading this article correctly?

My eyes are squirting blood and I need some duct tape to keep my head from exploding! Fools, idiots, cretins and morons, everywhere.

11 posted on 02/27/2006 10:54:30 AM PST by butternut_squash_bisque (Borders, Language, Cultureā„¢)
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To: steve-b

LOL How true


12 posted on 02/27/2006 10:54:50 AM PST by Libertina
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To: trebb

Never mind - I did a search and it seems he wants to trademark the word as a company logo - going "rapper" himself, it would seem.


13 posted on 02/27/2006 10:55:25 AM PST by trebb ("I am the way... no one comes to the Father, but by me..." - Jesus in John 14:6 (RSV))
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To: presidio9
Chris Rock parody - N*gga please!
14 posted on 02/27/2006 10:56:48 AM PST by reagan_fanatic (Darwinism is a belief in the meaninglessness of existence - R. Kirk)
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To: presidio9

Just WHAT is the so-called N-word that they are talking about? Why have an article about something which goes unnamed?


15 posted on 02/27/2006 10:57:54 AM PST by 2harddrive (...House a TOTAL Loss.....)
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To: TexasCajun

Related video clip from Louisville, Kentucky.

http://www.dumpalink.com/media/1139564645/Racist_Teacher_


16 posted on 02/27/2006 10:57:58 AM PST by LanPB01
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To: presidio9

Just another indicator, along with such things as rejecting doing well in school (acting white), not snitching (refusing to cooperate with police and complaining that the police can't solve black on black murders),rap music about bitches and hos and violence, of a completely decadent, failed culture.

Yes, some cultures are superior to others.


17 posted on 02/27/2006 11:01:42 AM PST by Mogengator
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To: presidio9

Who is better off?

Black-Americans or Black-Africans?

18 posted on 02/27/2006 11:02:57 AM PST by TexasCajun
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To: 2harddrive
Just WHAT is the so-called N-word that they are talking about? Why have an article about something which goes unnamed?

Amazingly, use of the "N" word will get you banned on this forum. Us good "white" conservatives consider the word offensive.....

19 posted on 02/27/2006 11:03:11 AM PST by ScreamingFist ( Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance. NRA)
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To: presidio9

So do this mean that somebody using the word could be charged with a hate crime *and* copyright infringement at the same time?


20 posted on 02/27/2006 11:03:47 AM PST by Tall_Texan (Hate means never having to say you're crazy.)
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