Another Nappy Headed Comment For Sharpton
by Big Dog on Dec 7, 2010 at 05:10 Political
Don Imus made the mistake of trying to be funny about a female college basketball team and he used the term “Nappy Headed Hos.” As soon as he did the race baiting poverty pimps came out of the closet and none other than the cheif race antagonist Al Sharpton was leading the charge. Sharpton called for Imus to be fired and Obama got in on the act as well. Imus went on Al Sharpton’s radio program and had to grovel. After apologizing a million different ways, Imus was fired. He still went to the college to apologize to the ladies in person.
I am waiting for Sharpton to slither out from under his rock and start raising hell about the latest Nappy Head comment. This comment was made by Mignon Clyburn, daughter of Congressman James Clyburn. Obama FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn said that free internet was a civil right for every nappy headed child (around the 2:50 mark).
I will not be holding my breath waiting for Sharpton to demand this woman’s firing because she happens to be black.
That will make all the difference in the world even though Sharpton went after Imus and the entire time preached how this kind of talk was racist and needed to stop. He will ignore Clyburn because she is black. If by some remote chance he says anything you can bet it will not rise to the level of demanding that she be fired.
As an aside, free internet is not a civil right for anyone, nappy headed or otherwise. It is no more a civil right than owning a cell phone, owning a car, owning a house or “free” health care. These are not rights of any kind whatsoever. They are commodities that are purchased by those who desire them and who can afford them. In the absence of the ability to afford them people do without or they work out some method of paying for them (particularly true with health care). However, with health care people often skip out on the bill and leave everyone else to pay for it. Remember, everyone has access to health care. The issue boils down to who pays for it…
But the issue at hand is the use of the words “nappy headed.”
If Sharpton and the rest of the race baiters are truly serious about race relations and stopping the use of such terms then they will be calling for Clyburn to be fired. If they ignore this then they are as worthless as I believe them to be and they should never be taken seriously again (I know, I can’t believe people take them seriously but they do). In other words, the next time they are outraged at something, tar and feather them.
I would not normally call for the firing of Clyburn. I did not think what Imus said and the way he said it warranted his dismissal and I would give Clyburn the benefit of the doubt even though it is quite obvious from what she says that she knew it was wrong. It was not spontaneous like the outburst from Imus. It was planned.
But I would still give her the benefit of the doubt for choosing her words poorly.
I would have. However, Sharpton and the rest of the race baiters set the standard for how this kind of behavior should be treated. It demands nothing less than dismissal because that is what they decided the punishment should be.
So I call on Sharpton to get out in the street and call for Clyburn to be fired and I call on Barack Obama to dismiss her for her insensitivity and use of racially charged language.
While I am at it, I call on the Congressional Black Caucus to get involved and call for Clyburn’s resignation.
It is time to put up or shut up folks. If you do not have the integrity to call for her to be fired then you have no right to complain about any future infraction.
The ball is in your court. What is your next move?
I bet Don Imus is taking gas over this.
Cave Canem!
Never surrender, never submit.
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Tags: civil rights, don imus, internet, mignon clyburn, nappy head, race baiters, sharpton
What Clyburn said is similar only in the word “nappy” which isn’t offensive at all in context and is used often in the black community. Surely you can’t think a black woman calling black children affectionately nappy headed is the same as Imus calling the Rutgers University women’s basketball team a bunch of dark skinned, nappy-headed hos. Right? Why is context so hard to grasp when it comes to racial language?
Is there anything you won’t defend with regard to the liberals? A lot of words are used in the balck community that are wrong. If they call each other ni**ers how can they expect others not to? How can you defend a woman who, by the very way she said it, knew it was wrong (“there I said it”)?
Context is not hard to grasp, either the word is wrong or it is not. What context is it when a NBPP member (OR ANY BLACK PERSON) discusses crackers? Is it OK or do we need context or is it wrong? WHen they discuss light skinned people like that.
So when Sharpton said the term nappy headed hos was racist and sexist (thus separating the two terms) he was wrong. Imus was using a term of endearment when he said nappy headed but was sexist for usinhg hos, right?
How is it so hard for you to understand that there cannot be a double standard? If it is wrong for a black guy toi use the term cracker or honky then white guys can’t use that term just as it is wrong to use the term ni**er no matter what color you are.
Clyburn of course is telling us that broadband internet is a civil right for little black kids and if that is how she feels (it is wrong, no debate on that) then she should have said it that way.
Sorry but that racist langguage and double standard is not allowed and by defending it your credibility went the way of Sharpton’s (I know, he had none to beging with).
Then again, it was reported that Sharpton only made the big deal to stoke racial divisiveness and further profit. That is easier to believe since his whole enterprise is based on race baiting and extortion.
Note to Imus, you should have said that the nappy headed girls were great athletes and Sharpton and Adam would say it was in context.
Right, when pigs fly…
Sadly, Big Dog, as I’m sure you are aware, here are the rules for words, according to liberals:
Anything any special class of person (gay, black, liberal, etc.) says is okay and can, by definition, never be offensive or wrong at any time. Anything any non-Democrat says, if anyone is remotely offended, is “wrong.”
So yeah, double-standard is standard for them (and the allies in the media).
Sadly, I am aware…
Because the rules are not the same- it is not the same playing field, and that’s wrong- I am right, but I reserve the right to use the term in ANY WAY I so choose- and you have the right to be offended- I really don’t care, and not every child gets a trophy for showing up.
I celebrate exellence, and deplore and demean mediocrity and political correctness- If you don’t like that, too bad.
Maybe you don’t understand what “context” means. No, it wasn’t just the phrase “nappy headed” that made Imus’s remarks so offensive.
Clyburn, a black woman, used the phrase “nappy headed” to jokingly describe an unspecified group of black children. She noted it as a joke not because she knew it was racist, but because it is a slang and can be offensive to some folks. It’s certainly not a racist term in the context she used it.
Imus, a white man, insulted a specific group of black women basketball players by calling them dark skinned nappy headed hos. None of the words alone are particularly racist or offensive but in context they were. Certainly not a firing offensive but definitely not the same as Cyburn whatsoever.
Imus never used the term dark skinned. He said, That’s some nappy headed hos.
Clyburn said something that could be offensive to SOME. Imus said something that could be offensive to SOME.
I can just imagine how off the wall you would get if Sarah Palin said she was donating profits from her books to provide some nappy headed kids with broadband. In fact, the entire left would come unglued.
Clyburn is no different. He color does not excuse her.
“Imus never used the term dark skinned.”
Imus and the man he was talking with compared the team to the “Jigaboos” which is a reference to the darker skinned, poorer black team on a Spike Lee movie.
“Clyburn said something that could be offensive to SOME. Imus said something that could be offensive to SOME.”
We’re talking a much larger group with Imus. You’d have to have a poor sense of humor to not laugh at what Clyburn said. There is nothing funny about what Imus said.
“In fact, the entire left would come unglued.”
It would depend on the context. Personally I can see no context in which Palin could say that and it not be offensive. Such a context may exist though.
“Clyburn is no different. Her color does not excuse her.”
Don’t forget that color is important here as sort of membership group. It’s like if I insulted the military. You’d be offended. I’m not part of that group. But you could make self-deprecating humor about the military that some would find offensive but most would probably get the joke. Would I be qualified to turn around and say you should have to quit your job because you insulted the military? That’s absurd.
Bill Cosby caught flack for his statements about black culture but if they had been said by a white person that person would be screwed. This is the way the world works, it’s not any different for issues of race.
You misrepresent what his sidekick said. They discussed the black team and then they said something about the white girls team and one of them said it is like a Spike Lee film. And the guy said yeah, like the Jigaboos and the wannabes. That was a reference to the movie and how it looked on the court.
Why is it there is no way Palin could say it and it not be offensive but Clyburn can?
If color is important then there is a racist element because color is the sole determiner.
But given this reality you presnt it is fair tto say that blacks should not make statements about what whites do so Sharpton should keep his mouth shut about how things happen in the white community. He and his stooges should not be protesting at a white banker’s home because the guy would not make a loan to people who can’t afford it.
And it would also be fair that Shazzam (or whatever his name is) of the NBPP should be told to shut up when he uses the word cracker. Blacks have no right to use that word because they don’t belong to the bigger group to which it applies…
“That was a reference to the movie and how it looked on the court.”
The two contrasted the Rutgers team as “rough girls, “hard-core hos”, “nappy-headed hos” and the Tennessee girls simply as “cute”. When you bring in the subject of Jigaboos vs. the Wannabes you’re specifically talking about stereotypical black features and personality and to bring it up like that is offensive.
“But given this reality you present it is fair to say that blacks should not make statements about what whites…”
I’m not saying that for instance I can’t be critical of the military. But if I am critical of the military I need to be careful how I do it because I don’t have the same legitimacy that your statements would have.
“Why is it there is no way Palin could say it and it not be offensive but Clyburn can?”
There could be a way but I can’t think of one given her current situation.
“Blacks have no right to use that word because they don’t belong to the bigger group to which it applies…”
Correct. The NBPP members were absolutely being racist when they called white people crackers. Now, I still find whites being called crackers completely hilarious but that is a different argument altogether.
Personally I could care less what names are called. I just expect the game rules to be the same for everyone. I don’t care what words are used but then again, I am pretty much in favor of the Constitution.
You see, people have the right to be racist and to say racist things.
Sharpton and his ilk only see that as a one way street.
“I just expect the game rules to be the same for everyone.”
They are. You just don’t understand the rules. If you think that a black man saying the n-word means whites should be able or that if a white person can’t say the n-word then black people can’t either, you’re just wrong.
At every level of society there is an inner and outer circle. Gender, class, corporation, organization, education, etc. The same rules do not apply to those inside the group as out. Why white people can’t grasp this simple concept about race is a mystery to me.
“…I am pretty much in favor of the Constitution. You see, people have the right to be racist and to say racist things.”
Let’s be clear here. The Constitution protects both the right (within reason of course, excluding encouraging violence) to be racist and the right for Sharpton to vocally oppose it. It does not protect your right to keep your job when you say something that damages your image or the image of your employer. It does not protect you against the Sharpton’s of the world that call for you to lose your job when you do so. The blade cuts both ways.
The Constitituion does not protect you from being fired for saying things your boss does not like. Remember, the document says what government can’t do, not what private employers can’t.
Adam, the inner circle is no longer an inner circle when the people in it make their comments public. It is like Wikileaks. We all knew what they said and how they referred to leaders and others around the world. The problem arose when all of it was made public.
If Sharpton wants to use the inner circle speak in private then great but when it becomes public then he and those involved are subject to the interpretations of those who hear it. Remember, it is not a matter of whether you meant to offend someone, it is a matter of how it was perceived. Sharpton is the guy calling for Limbaugh to be taken off the air because he says things Sharpton does not like. When Sharpton says things I don’t like he won’t be removed from the air and he would rebuke any attempt as racist or against the law.
If Sharpton wants to fight racism then he can fight it. Not some perceived idea or offense to someone’s sensitivity but actual racism. And he can start by not doing racist things and by not condoning minorities who do.
As far as white people not understanding, get real. I don’t care what people say and feel they have every right to say it. But I refuse to let any one group to determine what is offensive and what is not based on the color of the person who said it.
Jeramiah Wright is a racist and says many racist things about white people. He deserves no better treatment than a white guy who is racist…
“Jeramiah Wright is a racist and says many racist things about white people. He deserves no better treatment than a white guy who is racist…”
And I generally agree. Wright’s racism is a little different flavor than the NBPP but it’s racism all the same. I’m not sure what your point is though. Ogre is not correct in his statements on special classes. It’s just not accurate.
And I might add, if blacks don’t want people to refer to them as the N word then they should stop referring to each other as that.
That was from a movie about a basketball coach and I think it is a great idea.
That is certainly a view held by many prominent black scholars and leaders but American black culture is as complex and nuanced as any culture ever has been.
The word is very loaded and brings with it a lot of history and background. I briefly met Randall Kennedy a few years during a lecture about his book. It’s a very complicated subject.
That being said, it should be very clear to all sides that the word used by any other race is almost in all contexts offensive.