Confederate flag to be removed from South Carolina capitol

[TomFoolery]

Nigger can mean white guy, black guy, someone you're cool with, someone you're insulting, etc. Nigger is kind of like the word fuck.

I'm sorry, but you're fucking stupid. I dare you to walk through South Central LA and tell people that. See what happens to you.

Kanye isn't the only black guy to display the flag.
Look at all the Uncle Tom's who've never read a book in their life!

So these black people represent all black people? The plural of anecdote isn't data.

http://www.people-press.org/2011/04/08/civil-war-at-150-still-relevant-still-divisive/
Only a small number of Americans say they display the Confederate flag, but that symbol of the Southern cause elicits more negative reactions from some groups â€" especially African Americans, Democrats and the highly educated. Nevertheless, most Americans say they do not react positively or negatively when they see the Confederate flag.

Fewer than one-in-ten (8%) say they display the Confederate flag in places such as their home or office, on their car or on their clothing; 91% say they do not. The number that displays the Confederate flag is just a small fraction of the 75% who say they display the American flag in their homes or offices, on their cars or their clothing.

Far more African Americans than whites have a negative reaction to the Confederate flag (41% to 29%). Still, about as many blacks have no reaction (45%) as a negative reaction to the Confederate flag. Among whites, 61% have no reaction.

Whites who consider themselves Southerners have a more positive reaction to the Confederate flag than do other whites: 22% say they react positively when they see the Confederate flag displayed, compared with 8% of all whites and just 4% of whites who do not consider themselves Southerners.

Nearly half of those with at least a college degree (46%) say they have a negative reaction to the display of the Confederate flag, compared with a third (33%) of those with some college experience and just 18% of those with a high school diploma or less.

There also are partisan differences in reactions to the flag: about twice as many Democrats (44%) as Republicans (21%) react negatively to displays of the Confederate flag. And Republicans are more likely than Democrats to have a positive reaction to the flag (15% vs. 7%).

[Mike Cl]

I think so. Whats happened in the past can't be undone, but what happens now and moving on from it, every step away from giving those shitty times in the past credit, is a step in the right direction. Every step gay rights took over the last century has lead to gay people being able to marry now and adopt.

Steps to back a difference.

Yeah, Munch, I agree.

[FaithIsFilth]

I'm sorry, but you're fucking stupid. I dare you to walk through South Central LA and tell people that. See what happens to you.
So these black people represent all black people? The plural of anecdote isn't data.

I'm stupid because I don't find a word offensive that you find offensive? Ok...

Where the heck did you get the idea that I was trying to say these blacks represent all blacks? The point of posting those pictures was to show that the flag means different things to different people. Some blacks like it. Some don't. Some whites like it. Other whites don't.

[FaithIsFilth]

Why is that a good symbol?  Prideful--only for the skin heads, racists and those who believe in one group owning another group.

There you go acting like all blacks have the exact same opinion. Blacks have differing opinions just like anyone else does. My pictures prove your statement wrong. "The symbol is only prideful for racists and those who believe in owning slaves." What are you saying here? Is that what these black folks are? These people hate their own race and think that slavery was ok? Want to take back your silly
statement now?

And I never said it's a good symbol. I said I am not bothered by it.

[Shiranu]

I'm sorry, but you're fucking stupid. I dare you to walk through South Central LA and tell people that. See what happens to you.

Edit: I just realized he said nigger rather nigga. Never mind...

Nigger is definitely an insult, you are infact an idiot if you don't think so.

Nigga...it all depends on context.

When a black person is telling his friend in the middle of campus (and this is almost directly quoted)...

"My nigga and I went to this niggas place and we saw so-and-so and his nigga there, and oh my god this nigga was like..."

... he is not saying, "My *racial insult* and I went to this *racial insult* place and we saw so-and-so and his *racial insult* there, and oh my god this *racial insult* was like....". Nor when a black friend of mine is like, "What's up my nigga?" is he calling me all the negative traits that go with it.

That said, if you have white skin... you really just shouldn't be using the word. I realize that makes me a hypocrite, but it's not a word "our people" should be using because we lost the right to do so and there are too many white people who still use it as an insult (and will say, "But white guy 1 is allowed to say it, so I should too!).

Not sure I dropped enough n-bombs there...

[Mermaid]

I have no problem with the word nigger. I use it myself from time to time with friends. Nigger can mean white guy, black guy, someone you're cool with, someone you're insulting, etc. Nigger is kind of like the word fuck. The word has evolved and to me it really just means "person".  Nigger is not some evil word, unless that's what you want it to be. I grew up with 2Pac and other rap music, so I see the word how I grew up with it. Words evolve. Look at the word bitch. An insult that has become a term of endearment for many women who call their friends bitch.

I see the battle flag the same way. It has many different meanings, just like bitch and nigger do.

Kanye isn't the only black guy to display the flag.


















Look at all the Uncle Tom's who've never read a book in their life!

Really?

[Mermaid]

And I never said it's a good symbol. I said I am not bothered by it.

A lot of people ARE bothered by it though.

[drunkenshoe]

It is?

Yes, it is. Human history is based on symbols. It was probably one of the first thing we did. It's carved into our collective memory along with what they stand for.

Did you know one of the major differences between the neanderthal and the sapiens is that the latter adorned themselves and their things, highly likely produced and used first symbols to do it, while the former didn't do such a thing? We also made better weapons and we survived. They didn't. These are closely connected.

We also loaded meanings on those symbols, passed them to generations to generations to keep an idea, a memory or an event alive through time. And we succeeded. There are simple symbols on the objects we use every day older than the human civilisation we can estimate. 

Symbols are very powerful. So much powerful than the hypermodern man sitting in front of the computer thinking he is 'out' and untouched by that shit. He isn't. None of us are.

[Hydra009]

It is?

Yes.  Taking down the pro-slavery Confederacy flag from government property is actually sort of a good idea for obvious reasons.  Granted, it does little to redress current racism and discrimination, but it sends an important symbolic message.  Besides, only a complete idiot or someone trying to launch a strawman argument would claim that this move is end of racism.

[TomFoolery]

I'm stupid because I don't find a word offensive that you find offensive? Ok...

No, you're stupid because you think the word nigger isn't a pejorative and that it can mean "white guy, black guy, someone you're cool with, someone you're insulting, etc." It is a pejorative and its meaning isn't casual. The fact that members of the black community use it within certain contexts doesn't mean you personally get to redefine what the word means. I don't think you're stupid because you're not offended by it, I simply think you're stupid because you're suggesting that it isn't widely deemed offensive.

[FaithIsFilth]

Edit: I just realized he said nigger rather nigga. Never mind...

Nigger is definitely an insult, you are infact an idiot if you don't think so.

Nigga...it all depends on context.

When a black person is telling his friend in the middle of campus (and this is almost directly quoted)...

"My nigga and I went to this niggas place and we saw so-and-so and his nigga there, and oh my god this nigga was like..."

... he is not saying, "My *racial insult* and I went to this *racial insult* place and we saw so-and-so and his *racial insult* there, and oh my god this *racial insult* was like....". Nor when a black friend of mine is like, "What's up my nigga?" is he calling me all the negative traits that go with it.

That said, if you have white skin... you really just shouldn't be using the word. I realize that makes me a hypocrite, but it's not a word "our people" should be using because we lost the right to do so and there are too many white people who still use it as an insult (and will say, "But white guy 1 is allowed to say it, so I should too!).

Not sure I dropped enough n-bombs there...

Nigger and nigga are the exact same thing to me. I use both. I'll use nigga if I'm in the mood to use a little slang, and I'll use the other pronunciation if I don't feel like slanging my speech up at the moment. It's not a nice thing to say if you're meaning it in a racist way, but I never use it with racist intent. Why do I think nigger is not really any different from nigga? Black people add an "a" in place of "er" in dozens of words. Nigger changing to nigga is not what made it ok. A lack of intent to be racist is what makes it ok.

Instead of figure, you will often hear black people pronounce it "figga". You get "playa" instead of "player". Does that mean figga means something different than figure? No. The "a" is just slang. Do player and playa have different definitions? No, they mean the same thing. The word is just pronounced a bit differently, but spelling it a little different does not change the definition of the word. What about "holla" rather than "holler"? Same word essentially, no? You see what I'm getting at? I know that a lot of blacks are not ok with the "er" version, but that's because when they took the word and made it theirs, they used the slang version of the word, because they use slang for most of the words that come out of their mouths. The unofficial rule that black folks wanted was that whites couldn't use the word, period, er or a, and since blacks were the only one's unofficially allowed to use it, the slang version became really popular and people started seeing the er and a versions as different words, even though in actuality, it's just the same word pronounced differently, although the word has evolved and taken on new meaning. Nigger can mean brother. It can mean person. Or, it can mean what it has classically meant.

So unless you're going to tell me killa, hata, playa, dolla, holla, balla, etc are different words from the "white" pronunciations with different meanings, why is nigga and nigger a special case? It's the same thing. The reason a lot of black folks don't like the er version is because they don't like the "white" way of speaking in general, so it's supposedly only acceptable now for whites to use slang when saying the word, because that's how blacks said the word when they took it for themselves. You can call someone a nigga and have racist intent behind it, and you can say nigger and have no racist intent behind it. The intent is what matters, not whether I happen to be slanging up my speech. I understand that many blacks see the er version as racist though, and I wouldn't use the word in front of anyone I didn't know was ok with it.

[FaithIsFilth]

A lot of people ARE bothered by it though.

There's not a thing in this world that a whole lot of people aren't bothered by.

[drunkenshoe]

There's not a thing in this world that a whole lot of people aren't bothered by.

Would you like some perspective with that, sir?

[Mike Cl]

There you go acting like all blacks have the exact same opinion. Blacks have differing opinions just like anyone else does. My pictures prove your statement wrong. "The symbol is only prideful for racists and those who believe in owning slaves." What are you saying here? Is that what these black folks are? These people hate their own race and think that slavery was ok? Want to take back your silly
statement now?

And I never said it's a good symbol. I said I am not bothered by it.

It is kind of obvious that not all of any group is going to believe the same thing.  Basically, what I think you are saying is that there should be no censorship for anything.  That nothing is really out of bounds.  That anybody can say anything to  anybody.  Is that what you think?  (And yes, this is an honest question--please correct me if I am wrong.)

[FaithIsFilth]

No, you're stupid because you think the word nigger isn't a pejorative and that it can mean "white guy, black guy, someone you're cool with, someone you're insulting, etc." It is a pejorative and its meaning isn't casual. The fact that members of the black community use it within certain contexts doesn't mean you personally get to redefine what the word means. I don't think you're stupid because you're not offended by it, I simply think you're stupid because you're suggesting that it isn't widely deemed offensive.

Where did I say it's not widely deemed offensive? Who the heck would question something like that? Where do you get this stuff from? Of course the word "nigger" is extremely offensive to a whole lot of folks.