Anonymous wrote:2 kids just got expelled for exercising their freedom of speech. WTH?

Anonymous wrote:2 kids just got expelled for exercising their freedom of speech. WTH?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:did anyone ever answer this question? I was being serious and would like a reply. To white fans of rap songs that have the N word, when singing along, do you say the N word (even if just singing alone quietly to yourself), or do you literally skip that word as you sing along? I jog every week to old Snoop/Dre (Chronic) and old Easy E, among others.

I'm a white guy and yes, I too will sing along to songs. I also watch Tarantino movies with gratuitous use of the N-word. So here's the catch- use of the word does not necessarily indicate hate, at least IMO. FFS- if I'm singing along to House of Pain I'm not advocating for violence against women. Right?

But in this video, these guys aren't just saying the N word. They're singing- in unison- a well practiced song about how they'll never let any Ns into SAE and how they'll hang them from a tree. This wasn't just the spontaneous use of the N word by some white guy on a bus, it was a group of white guys singing that song in a choreographed way that indicates it was sung many, many times.

Seriously- it goes so far beyond the simple use of the N word in modern culture and media. Because use of the word HAS become more socially acceptable. But if you can't see the difference between popular rap and the video in question, I don't know what to say.

I just wanted to make sure that a bunch of white liberals were not so riddled with guilt that they literally edit themselves in their own cars when singing along to awesome music. That would make my head explode.

and yeah, I know the video is horrible. but in some respects, it IS JUST A SONG. A horrible archaic racist song that maybe they have been singing there for 50 years. It has to stop sooner or later, and I guess not it has. But just because a drunk 19 year old is singing a racist song does not mean, in my opinion, that (1) they are truly racist in their heart and actions and (2) if they are, that they will not grow up and change as they move out of Oklahoma and see the real world.

Anonymous wrote:I just wanted to make sure that a bunch of white liberals were not so riddled with guilt that they literally edit themselves in their own cars when singing along to awesome music. That would make my head explode.

and yeah, I know the video is horrible. but in some respects, it IS JUST A SONG. A horrible archaic racist song that maybe they have been singing there for 50 years. It has to stop sooner or later, and I guess not it has. But just because a drunk 19 year old is singing a racist song does not mean, in my opinion, that (1) they are truly racist in their heart and actions and (2) if they are, that they will not grow up and change as they move out of Oklahoma and see the real world.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:did anyone ever answer this question? I was being serious and would like a reply. To white fans of rap songs that have the N word, when singing along, do you say the N word (even if just singing alone quietly to yourself), or do you literally skip that word as you sing along? I jog every week to old Snoop/Dre (Chronic) and old Easy E, among others.

I'm a white guy and yes, I too will sing along to songs. I also watch Tarantino movies with gratuitous use of the N-word. So here's the catch- use of the word does not necessarily indicate hate, at least IMO. FFS- if I'm singing along to House of Pain I'm not advocating for violence against women. Right?

But in this video, these guys aren't just saying the N word. They're singing- in unison- a well practiced song about how they'll never let any Ns into SAE and how they'll hang them from a tree. This wasn't just the spontaneous use of the N word by some white guy on a bus, it was a group of white guys singing that song in a choreographed way that indicates it was sung many, many times.

Seriously- it goes so far beyond the simple use of the N word in modern culture and media. Because use of the word HAS become more socially acceptable. But if you can't see the difference between popular rap and the video in question, I don't know what to say.

Anonymous wrote:did anyone ever answer this question? I was being serious and would like a reply. To white fans of rap songs that have the N word, when singing along, do you say the N word (even if just singing alone quietly to yourself), or do you literally skip that word as you sing along? I jog every week to old Snoop/Dre (Chronic) and old Easy E, among others.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's interesting that one of the first rules we learn as kids is that you don't do or say something just because others do. However, when it comes to the use of the N word, that lesson is thrown away. I guess some people just really want to find a reason to use it.

that is naive. I'm a white male in my 40s. When I was in my early 20s, all of my favorite songs and movies were littered with the N word. Talking about Snoop, Dre, NWA, Cube for music. Maybe some Ghetto Boys and Bushwhack Bill. And for movies - maybe Pulp Fiction, etc.

It was a huge part of my vocabulary only because I mimicked what I heard constantly.

Then you were an idiot. I am of your generation, had these same cultural influences, but still had the common sense to know that I could not appropriate that pattern of speech.

+1

I'm baffled that any white person in our generation thinks it's ok to use the n-word.

It's somewhat similar (thought I think to a lesser degree, without or at least with a different kind of history) to women using terms like 'bitches.' Women referring to their friends as 'my bitches' may be a bit tasteless, but it's FAR more ok to for women to use it in a positive sense, regarding themselves, than men referring to women as bitches.

The degree is different and I don't mean to compare the term "bitch" to the n-word, but I think it's in a somewhat similar vein.

In general, people adopt derogatory terms used about their own group all the time, and try and "own" the term themselves in large part to reconfigure the power of the word, and take back at least part of the definition.

I don't understand that. Most of my favorite expressions come from somewhere. Do you sing out loud to songs? I do the same with rap. When you sing along to f the police, say you were alone, do you say the n word or do you literally censor yourself in your brain?

yes, and shake my head in pity

No I'm being serious. When alone, rapping along to the lyrics, you seriously just pause during that word? I find that bizarre and destroying the art.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The person who took the video and ruined the lives of some extraordinary immature drunk young men should have the courage to identify themselves. Yes they are idiots and likely racist. But public shaming in front of 300 million seems like too much.

Yeah, right. He's the bad guy. Guys like this never end up doing anyone any harm.

They also end up growing up.

Which just means they'll be more discreet with their bigotry

eh. I personally feel sorry for any dumbass young kid who gets labeled anything, even if apparently deserved, at the age of 19 when drunk and immature. Social media sucks.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The person who took the video and ruined the lives of some extraordinary immature drunk young men should have the courage to identify themselves. Yes they are idiots and likely racist. But public shaming in front of 300 million seems like too much.

Yeah, right. He's the bad guy. Guys like this never end up doing anyone any harm.

They also end up growing up.

Which just means they'll be more discreet with their bigotry

eh. I personally feel sorry for any dumbass young kid who gets labeled anything, even if apparently deserved, at the age of 19 when drunk and immature. Social media sucks.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

No one is defending the conduct, of course. This is something that should obviously be subject to discipline from relevant university authorities, as has in fact happened. But this low-rent fraternity misbehavior is, even now, the top story on cnn.com's "Top Stories" sidebar. Seriously? How on earth is this *national* news?

Actually, you're defending the conduct. Specifically, your defense of the conduct is that this really isn't all that bad. It's "low-rent fraternity misbehavior", that's all.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Amazing this is national news. I wonder why.

Why are you amazed that this is national news? I'm not amazed.

You got me. Frat boys engage in offensive drunken conduct. Film at eleven. Who could have imagined that such things ever occur?

It's a regular occurrence for frat boys to sing songs about lynching? I sure hope not.

+1

WTF are you talking about? This shouldn't in any way be considered regular or even tolerated behavior.

No one is defending the conduct, of course. This is something that should obviously be subject to discipline from relevant university authorities, as has in fact happened. But this low-rent fraternity misbehavior is, even now, the top story on cnn.com's "Top Stories" sidebar. Seriously? How on earth is this *national* news?

Anonymous wrote:

No one is defending the conduct, of course. This is something that should obviously be subject to discipline from relevant university authorities, as has in fact happened. But this low-rent fraternity misbehavior is, even now, the top story on cnn.com's "Top Stories" sidebar. Seriously? How on earth is this *national* news?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Amazing this is national news. I wonder why.

Why are you amazed that this is national news? I'm not amazed.

You got me. Frat boys engage in offensive drunken conduct. Film at eleven. Who could have imagined that such things ever occur?

It's a regular occurrence for frat boys to sing songs about lynching? I sure hope not.

+1

WTF are you talking about? This shouldn't in any way be considered regular or even tolerated behavior.

No one is defending the conduct, of course. This is something that should obviously be subject to discipline from relevant university authorities, as has in fact happened. But this low-rent fraternity misbehavior is, even now, the top story on cnn.com's "Top Stories" sidebar. Seriously? How on earth is this *national* news?