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Thread: What do you think of this?

  1. #1
    j2k4's Avatar en(un)lightened
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    The "who" and the "how" of things might make this tough to pull off...a bit misguided, if you ask me.

    Texas Mayor Singles Out N-Word for Ban

    Wednesday, January 24, 2007

    By Sara Bonisteel

    It's one of the most reviled words in the English language, but if one Texas mayor gets his way, getting caught uttering the "N-word" will hit offenders where it hurts.

    Mayor Ken Corley of Brazoria, Texas, has proposed a city ordinance that would make using the word in an offensive fashion a crime equal to disturbing the peace and punishable by a fine of up to $500. But legal experts said it's unlikely the law will stand up to the First Amendment.

    "I would like to, if possible, ban all racial slurs," Corley told FOXNews.com. "We chose this word because it's the most controversial issue throughout the United States today."

    Corley said the city would like to go after the use of other racial slurs, "but we want to take this one step at a time, depending on public opinion."

    Speakout! What do you think of the N-word ordinance?

    The 62-year-old mayor, who is a self-described "middle-class white boy," got the idea for the ordinance after watching Rev. Jesse Jackson and Rev. Al Sharpton discuss banning the N-word on TV after "Seinfeld" comedian Michael Richards used it in an act last November.

    "The word is not used or abused in the streets of our town; it's more, amongst the black community, as a term of endearment, OK?" Corley said. "But it is a national issue, and I would like the city of Brazoria to take a leadership role throughout the nation in banning the use of this word."

    Corley polled his constituents and found "overwhelming support" for the ordinance. Brazoria, with a population of around 2,800, is an industrial city nestled about 50 miles south of Houston near the Gulf of Mexico coast. About 10 percent of the population is black.

    Under the proposed Brazoria ordinance, users of the N-word would be fined only if a complaint were filed against them, thus protecting those who think they are using the word as a term of endearment.

    "This is government trying to take the easy way out," said Judge Andrew Napolitano, a FOX News legal analyst. "When people use words that are harmful, they lack civility and they lack education, but they don't lack the right to say it."

    Bishop Ricky Jones, a black minister and the head of the Living Word Fellowship Christian Center in Brazoria, "wholeheartedly" supports the ordinance and the mayor, though he doesn't agree with the "term of endearment" loophole.

    "It's trying to be made a term of endearment in the black community, the way it has been used so loosely, but I for one, when I look at that word and look at the history of it, it has been used to demonize, demoralize and degrade black people as a whole."

    Jabari Asim, a deputy editor at the Washington Post and author of the forthcoming book "The N Word: Who Can Say It, Who Shouldn't and Why," has traced the American arrival of the word to 1619 when a Jamestown, Va., diarist, John Rolfe, noted: "We got 20 niggers today on a Dutch man-of-war."

    "That's the first recorded instance of African captives arriving to British North America and that was the word used to describe them," Asim said.

    Over the last 25 years, the hip-hop community has sprinkled the word throughout its anthems.

    "It's really important for people to realize that the history of the word goes so far back that recent developments in the past 20 years [of] casual use," Asim said. "There is no god higher than history and I don't think recent developments are strong enough to overcome the centuries of hatred that are attached to the word."

    Brazoria's proposed ordinance is the first time an American city has tried to ban the word, though groups such as Abolish the "N" Word have lobbied for its permanent retirement, Asim said.

    "Calling for societal change is one thing, but calling for legislation against speech is quite another," he said. "That's practically anti-American to say that we're going to allow the government and Uncle Sam determine how we speak to one another. It's counterintuitive to me. It's best to lead by example than by legislation."

    Napolitano doubts the ordinance will stand up in a court of law.

    "You can't just pick a word because then you're granting more protection to the victims of that word than you are to victims of other words, so you really open up a Pandora's box," Napolitano said.

    The ordinance is on shaky ground legally because of a 1992 U.S. Supreme Court decision, R.A.V. vs. the City of St. Paul, said David Hudson, a First Amendment scholar at the First Amendment Center in Nashville, Tenn.

    "Fighting words are not protected by the First Amendment, and a lot of fighting words are face to face personal insults," Hudson said. "But in 1992, in this case, the court held that selective banning of fighting words, in other words, singly out, for instance, fighting words based on race and sex, that that constituted viewpoint discrimination and violated the First Amendment.

    "It's a well-intentioned effort, but it's a well-intentioned unconstitutional effort," Hudson said.

    Corley said that while he has "some concerns" about the law's legal standing, the city attorney is confident it will pass muster.

    A public hearing will be held Thursday, before the five-member city council decides on whether to pursue the measure. Last year, it was the first city in Texas to pass a sex-offender ordinance.
    "Researchers have already cast much darkness on the subject, and if they continue their investigations, we shall soon know nothing at all about it."

    -Mark Twain

  2. The Drawing Room   -   #2
    Skiz's Avatar (_8(I)
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    I grew up and spent 21 years in Harris county, the neighboring county of Brazoria. Good luck enforcing that one is all I can say. That is considered to have the most concentrated area of KKK members in the nation.

    As for Al and Jesse - I wonder who they'll fight for when it comes to civil liberties, free speech, ACLU, etc.?


    yo

  3. The Drawing Room   -   #3
    vidcc's Avatar there is no god
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    From the AFA.


    Fox Deliberately Displays the F-Word During Prime Time Football

    Your complaint will be sent to and filed with the Federal Communications Commission Enforcement Bureau. NOTE: To speed the process of your complaint, please include your local Fox station call letters (ex. WLOV) where indicated on the complaint letter text box below.

    It used to be that you could sit down and watch an evening football game with your children without fear of them being exposed to inappropriate material. Sadly, that's no longer the case as was proven Saturday night during the Fox broadcast of the NFL playoff game between the New Orleans Saints and the Philadelphia Eagles.

    During a cutaway shot to the stadium spectators, the camera focused directly on a woman wearing a t-shirt clearly inscribed with the words "F--k Da Eagles" (without the dashes). The shot stayed focused on the woman and her shirt for several seconds. There can be no doubt that this was an intentional airing of patently offensive language on the public airwaves, as the person wearing the profane t-shirt was culled by Fox Network's broadcast crew from more than 70,000 spectators in the stadium. The camera operator selected that particular woman and the director and/or producers of the event made an affirmative and conscious decision to air the shot from that particular camera, forcing the f-word into millions of homes. Furthermore, the v-chip would not and could not have protected children and families from the type of content evidenced here.

    To view the offensive scene, click here. WARNING – GRAPHIC CONTENT

    Fans on the East Coast saw this obscenity televised during the Family Hour (8:30 p.m. ET) -- but it aired at 5:30 p.m. in the evening on the West Coast.

    Send Your Letter Now!
    source




    [youtube]3ofB3cJD0xg[/youtube]

    [youtube]C2WAgLzxdJs[/youtube]


    What does this have to do with anything? I hear you ask.


    Well "conservative activists" focus on offensive material and have been very influential in the cracking down lately on things like sexual content and bad language and the huge fines that government agencies apply to offenders.


    It seems that the objections to examples like the video are all coming from the conservatives.

    Yet words that are arguably just as if not more offensive, like nigger or fag are considered free speech that must be protected by the same people.

    So explain to me why the word "fuck" said in public should require the person that uttered the word be fined (under whichever law) yet to suggest that racial or sexual orientation slurs be treated the same way is "anti free speech"

    Personally I am against banning words, but it is as busy said a case of know your audience. The intention behind the words makes the difference.
    Context is everything. This doesn't mean I believe even with context that the word should be acceptable only if your skin is a certain colour

    Given this such an ordinance has a reasonable point to it.

    Either have a consistent standard with offensive words or have no rules at all
    Last edited by vidcc; 01-24-2007 at 11:00 PM.

    it’s an election with no Democrats, in one of the whitest states in the union, where rich candidates pay $35 for your votes. Or, as Republicans call it, their vision for the future.

  4. The Drawing Room   -   #4
    Busyman™'s Avatar Use Logic Or STFU!
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    As vid said, I don't think any words should banned.

    I should be able to insult someone as I see fit.

    I don't want law prohibiting someone from showing they are a prick.

    I should be able to talk amongst my friends the way I see fit.

    Leave the bannage of words up to proprietors. We have rules about certain words in the workplace. Leave me the fuck alone if I'm on the street.

    edit: @j2 - Thank you for including a title to your article.

  5. The Drawing Room   -   #5
    White kids here use the 'nigga' word, they picked it up from rap videos. Not so long ago it would have been "Hey my man" now it's "Wassup nigga?"

  6. The Drawing Room   -   #6
    Skiz's Avatar (_8(I)
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ava Estelle View Post
    White kids here use the 'nigga' word, they picked it up from rap videos. Not so long ago it would have been "Hey my man" now it's "Wassup nigga?"
    Like I said in a thread quite some time ago: (Kramer...bitch thread?)

    Words like these will never go away when we are constantly reminded of them by those that deem them unacceptable. I'm not saying it's the black folks fault by any means, but I certainly here the term much more from their mouths.

    Someone can come here and post the difference in the meaning of "nigga" and "nigger" all they want, but we all know that if white people went around calling blacks, "nigga", all hell would break loose.
    Last edited by Skizo; 01-25-2007 at 06:55 AM.


    yo

  7. The Drawing Room   -   #7
    Busyman™'s Avatar Use Logic Or STFU!
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    Quote Originally Posted by Skizo View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Ava Estelle View Post
    White kids here use the 'nigga' word, they picked it up from rap videos. Not so long ago it would have been "Hey my man" now it's "Wassup nigga?"
    Like I said in a thread quite some time ago: (Kramer...bitch thread?)

    Words like these will never go away when we are constantly reminded of them by those that deem them unacceptable. I'm not saying it's the black folks fault by any means, but I certainly here the term much more from their mouths.

    Someone can come here and post the difference in the meaning of "nigga" and "nigger" all they want, but we all know that if white people went around calling blacks, "nigga", all hell would break loose.
    Agreed. Any number of us would want to fuck them up.

    However, I think a better example would be if we started calling you white-ass cracker on a regular and then we get all uptight if you responded with nigra.

    Just cuz you hear me talk to my friends whateverkinda way doesn't mean you can come at me the same way. This doesn't even necessarily apply to the n-word.
    Last edited by Busyman™; 01-26-2007 at 03:52 AM.

  8. The Drawing Room   -   #8
    Quote Originally Posted by Busyman™ View Post
    Just cuz you hear me talk to my friends whateverkinda way doesn't mean you can come at me the same way.
    Yes it does, if you use certain words, then I can too, who gave you permission to decide?

    If you and your mates don't like the 'nigga' word, then don't fucking use it!

  9. The Drawing Room   -   #9
    Busyman™'s Avatar Use Logic Or STFU!
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ava Estelle View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Busyman™ View Post
    Just cuz you hear me talk to my friends whateverkinda way doesn't mean you can come at me the same way.
    Yes it does, if you use certain words, then I can too, who gave you permission to decide?

    If you and your mates don't like the 'nigga' word, then don't fucking use it!
    I wasn't talking law-wise, idiot. Do you know how to use context when trying to understand something?

    Did you read that I don't agree with banning any word?

    I'm talking tact. If you came up to a group of black folk that were using the word nigga to talk amongst themselves and you walked up and called them the same thing, I'm not saying that you aren't allowed (as in you should be arrested).

    I'm saying you'd be lighting up like a bright billboard that you are the cunt that already are and hopefully you'd get the shit kicked outta you.

    This works if substitute the word bitch for nigga (to put it in perspective).

    The fact that this had to be explained to you most likely means that you have had your fronts knocked the fuck out already and that you gum your food (along with the many nut sacs you've encountered cuz you didn't know when to STFU).
    Last edited by Busyman™; 01-26-2007 at 03:58 AM.

  10. The Drawing Room   -   #10
    Boy, you're a nasty little fucker busybody. The fact is, I'd call you what the hell I liked and you'd do fuck all about it, cos you're a keyboard warrior, and a pussy one at that.

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