
Originally Posted by
GreenWave
Yes, the outrage over Cooper is overdone. He didn't go on a Kramer rant (which I did find offensive), he got caught on camera using a word he shouldn't have in a drunken fit. I get it.
What I don't get is why it's so hard for people to understand that there is a difference in certain words or phrases based on the "who" that's delivering them. For example:
You're in an airport. You see some reject kid acting like an idiot at the baggage claim. You turn to your travel partner and you say something like, "I hate this freakin generation of American kids." Then you look to your left and you see a Muslim guy who's been watching the same kid. You hear him say, "I hate this freakin generation of American kids."
If you're telling me that wouldn't bother you on some level, you're lying to yourself. But why would it bother you? He said the exact same thing you did, right? It would bother you because you know that you would never take action against this country, and your comment was just a comment. But you DON'T know how that Muslim guy actually feels about America. So you don't like hearing him say that.
It's okay for you to call your own brother an *******. But if you go to a bar, and some drunk calls your brother an *******, are you going to say, "well yeah, I call him that all the time because he is one." Or are you going to defend him?
I realize these aren't apples/apples comparisons. But try to keep in mind that when the word is used by someone who isn't black, it (often) triggers imagery of when that word was used while blacks were mistreated and viewed as subhuman.
To put it simply, there's just no imagery generated when blacks use it, because black people never enslaved other black people in this country, hung them from trees, forced them to use separate bathrooms, or told them they were only 60% of a man.
I agree with those who say we're better off just getting rid of the word altogether, and I can reluctantly agree that hip-hop is hurting the forward progression. But is there a reason why Cooper didn't choose to say "I will fight every a-hole in here?" Maybe that's worth examining - just my opinion.
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