2/9: Terrible MSNBC gaffe

In what must be one of the biggest gaffes in cable news history, MSNBC misspelled Mr. Niger Innis' name in their on-air graphics.

I should expect that somebody got fired over this one, which had MSNBC profusely apologizing of course. The fascinating aspect of this, to me, is that someone got a screen capture at all. People aren't exactly Tivo-ing 24-hour news channels. This capture was from a TV site that I enjoy, TV Barn, who in turn got it from a site that reports on local TV news.

Man. That's good Saturday morning humor.

That is pretty bad though. They don't generally misspell any names, really. Just so happens that they fudge it when the dude's first name is Niger... wow.

Obviously the webmaster of Time Canada is now out of his <b>second</b> job in 2 months...

Wasn't it Joe DiMaggio that they accidentally posted died a while back? (before he actually died, of course) I remember the crawler at the bottom of the screen came across and everyone was shocked, especially Joe (assuming it <i>was</i> him).
I'll see if I can dig up a link.

The N word

Let's presume that Niger has heard that one before. For all we know, he's got buddies that call him that all the time.

We all know that the hip hop culture has adopted the N word in a completely different context, often as a friendly term of endearment.

Harvard Law Professor, Randall Kennedy, has recently written a book on this subject.



Of course, it would be a major controversy if such a book were written by a white linguist. Even Randall Kennedy, a black author, is getting some criticism for use of the word. He's also getting some praise for writing this book.

His point, essentially, is that what's important is the meaning ascribed to the use of the word.

Language evolves. Right now, we are living in a time of transition of meaning of the word nigger.

Color me white but how do you pronouce out loud (as opposed to on the internet) the name Niger? I guess it would be the same as the country.

I agree with Nic's summary of Kennedy's book. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with the word, only the meaning given to it. To me, all that nigger means is a person who has dark skin. And what's wrong with that. I personally don't use the word in everyday language because I theoretically don't believe that skin color makes any difference in life.

And if you accept what I say, then did the graphics guy screw up semantically? [let the flames begin, I don't care, it's only a word]

There is no nigger on the net.

Registrant:
NAACP (NIGGER4-DOM)
4805 MT. HOPE DRIVE
BALTIMORE, MD 21215
US

Domain Name: NIGGER.COM

Administrative Contact, Billing Contact:
Hawley, Tammy (TH1189)
NAACP
4805 Mt. Hope Drive
Baltimore, MD 21215-9167
410-486-9167

It's too bad for Randall Kennedy, that he didn't have that domain name for his book.

Registrant:
NAACP (NIGGER2-DOM)
4805 MT. HOPE DRIVE
BALTIMORE, MD 21215
US

Domain Name: NIGGER.NET

Administrative Contact, Billing Contact:
Hawley, Tammy (TH1189)
NAACP
4805 Mt. Hope Drive
Baltimore, MD 21215-9167
410-486-9167

Registrant:
NAACP (NIGGER3-DOM)
4805 MT. HOPE DRIVE
BALTIMORE, MD 21215
US

Domain Name: NIGGER.ORG

Administrative Contact, Billing Contact:
Hawley, Tammy (TH1189)
NAACP
4805 Mt. Hope Drive
Baltimore, MD 21215-9167
410-486-9167

www.niggerjoke.com

Quote:

Originally posted by Slight Color me white but how do you pronouce out loud (as opposed to on the internet) the name Niger? I guess it would be the same as the country.

Kinda like Nigel, but with an R on the end instead.

Nigeria used to be called "Niger"....

"There was a young lady from Niger
Who smiled as she rode on a tiger
They returned from the ride
With the lady inside
And the smile on the face of the tiger"


Of course, this stretches a bit on the "hard g"-"soft g" axis...

Is political correctness rewriting history and geography?

In 1967, 143 place names containing the word nigger were changed to Negro by order of the U.S. Board on Geographic Names.

Next to go ... Squaw Valley and Cripple Creek?

It may be better to change the import of words such as nigger, squaw, queer and heeb to align with changing norms.

Gay Pride has advanced to the level of acceptance that we have Queer as Folk on TV.

Will the influence of hip hop culture, BET, rap music lyrics and song titles lead to the acceptablity of nigger music groups and television shows in the future?

NIGGA Never Ignorant Getting Goals Accomplished (Tupac Shakur)

Recently, a jewish publisher in NYC launched Heeb magazine, The New Jew Review.

The times they are a changin'.

We'll know that prejudice has been eliminated when you don't have to be black to say nigger, gay to say queer, and jewish to say heeb.

And that our minds are truly open when we can handle the really filthy words.

All I can think of is what this guy must have gone through as a kid with that name! I assume he was born in America. WTF were his parents thinking to lay that moniker on him?

- NBN

Actually, it may have been prophetic that his parents hung Niger with this epithet. He wears it well. I think he'll be able to handle this faux pas by MSNBC. He's even been a guest on Politically Incorrect.

Advice to The President of the United States on matters of Race

i never did have to be "gay to say queer."

because that's not what it means.

and i still don't have a problem saying it around homosexuals, because it still doesn't mean "homosexual." and if they ever have a problem with me saying it around them, they'll get bitched at.

My, that's a queer interpretation.

I find it really queer how a woman who's a bitch is considered to be spiteful or overbearing, whereas a man who's a bitch is considered to be weak or contemptible.

Not really. It's slang, and it does not mean "homosexual" any more than "jewish" means "money squandering". Just because some people use it that way does not mean that its definition is "homosexual".

You know, a lot of people misuse the word "ignorant". They go "my, that's ignorant" or "Quit being ignorant". You've heard it, I'm sure. What does the word mean? Unaware. Uninformed. Not erudite. Yet people toss it around as an insult, not at all meaning "My, what an un-learned fellow."

That doesn't mean that the definition has changed - it means that the one who uses it improperly is, well, <b>ignorant</b>.

For the record, I don't appreciate the hijacking of words such as queer, gay, fag, etc. Homosexual females have "lesbian" - why do homosexual males get to steal regular words? Why do people continue to support the misuse of these words?

Sounds ignorant to me.

It is senseless to argue that slang doesn't have meanings generally understood in the vernacular.

Lots of gay, lesbian and other sexual minorities have embraced the term "queer" for their *own* use, partly to rob it of it's negative power. Sorry if you straight people don't like it.

*Who* is speaking is inevitably a vital part of the context in which speech is understood.Remeber the scene in "Rush Hour" where Jackie Chan greets the bartender with the same phrase he's just heard his black partner use: "Whassup, my nigger?". Membership in an oppressed minority profoundly shapes the context of discourse; having words insiders can use without giving offense that are off-limits to outsiders is a powerful way of expressing solidarity.

To whine about words being "hijacked" is just plain silly. Will you stand there like King Canute ordering back the sea proclaiming "Queer doesn't mean homosexual"? "Nice" didn't used to mean "pleasing", either. Words grow meanings like ships grow barnacles, and *all* the users of a language participate in the process that gives meaning to words.

Lately, queer folks have had a heavy influence on the words used to describe themselves, because for the most part they're the ones doing the talking--something that's been long overdue. It's only now that we've started asserting some influence and control (instead of cowering in the closet) that we start hearing complaints from straight people about how "their" words have been stolen.

They were perfectly happy with "faggot" and "bulldyke" when they thought they were the only ones in control. Language is a powerful tool of opression...or liberation. As Humpty-Dumpty said to Alice on the subject: "The question is: which is to be the master".

Straight people complaining about homosexuals using words such as queer describing themselves is patently absurd. Once again, The Simpsons parodied it best:

John: Queer?
Homer: Yeah, and that's another thing! I resent you people
using that word. That's our word for making fun of you!
We need it!! Well I'm taking back our word, and I'm
taking back my son!

-- 4F11, Homer's Phobia


That's what I was remembered of when Dhamsaic wrote...

> For the record, I don't appreciate the hijacking of words such
> as queer, gay, fag, etc.

Which was either a very fine use of irony, or a Homerism. What do you have your money on? ;-)


X.

It's either a Homerism or he's being facetious, not ironic.

It would be ironic if he were queer and said that.

Maggie i think your intentionally misreading what dham is saying, he's complaining about the hijacking of these words from their origional meanings, not from thier bigoted corruptions.

Not to be skeptical or anything, but did this really happen, or was that "screenshot" doctored up? I haven't seen anything about this in the weekend Philadelphia Inquirers or New York Times and, while I might have missed it, and it wouldn't necessarily be front page news, I'm kind of surprised such a gaffe would pass without mention from someone else in the press.

Oh it happened all right...

As I expected, Innis handled the gaffe with good humor.

yes. the guy is "half-jewish", i will say. his father is jewish.

i know what "squander" means.

Quote:

Originally posted by jaguar Maggie i think your intentionally misreading what dham is saying, he's complaining about the hijacking of these words from their origional meanings, not from thier bigoted corruptions.

Hey, dham', you just made post 5000 in IotD.

A milestone, surely. Congrat's...

- NBN

to me, maggie. i don't use those words as slang. and i'm from carroll county, maryland. born in DC.

how about the verb "gyp" - ever hear that one? bad racial usage.

My favorite is "niggardly". Remember a few years ago... when some poor (white) guy on the DC city council used the word and hilarity ensued?

&lt;beavis&gt; Heh heh... he said niggardly... heh &lt;/beavis&gt;

not stolen, more like assigned

I don't think gays ever decided as a group to co-opt words like gay or queer.

These were given to us by the straight world, for whatever reason. My guesses:

gay - overtly happy? Seems apt, most gays don't share the cares of the straight world.

queer - oddly different? Same, the straight world sees us and goes "..the heck?" they don't get it, so we seem strange indeed.

fag - Flaming? I think this predates my time, but there are (or were) some gays that dress flamboyantly, in costumes that would put a Vegas show to shame. For the record, I'd say 95% of gays dress so normally that they blend in with everyone else.

Any of these could be derogatory or not, depending on the speaker. I don't know who had the guts to do "Queer as folk" but that show is the coolest thing I've seen on TV in years. The level of production is awesome. Hats off to Showtime for that one.

Re: not stolen, more like assigned

i think maybe david just doesn't want to waste his time trying to explain his points repeatedly to people who don't understand, or aren't willing to at least acknowledge those points. reason being, said people seem to think they are right about everything, and will not change their minds about anything, no matter what evidence or thought is put into the opposing argument.

because rather than make personal attacks towards others, i would try to stay somewhat on topic.

*and the antagonistic, arrogant, holier than thou bitch of the year award goes to....MaggieL!!!*
welcome to a second ignorelist, your petty personal attacks were spoiling otherwise pleasent threads.

Jaguar, since you misspelled "pleasant", your point is non-existant. Please go do your homework. :P

I've done 6 hours today, and put in on average, 13 hours a day (of schoolwork) this week - bite me.

You folks are amusing to me.

When people take me on directly, with ad hominem attacks, I merely assume they are right and suffer silently with depression as their words sink into my soul, burning holes in it.

The wife is a lurker here, you know, but she won't sign up cos she knows - and she is right - that she faces the possibility of getting whomped on with the first mistake. No mistake is needed in some places, but here we are at least that forgiving.

It scarecely matters if each and every discussion degenerates into an unappealing flame-fest. Nobody wants to sign up for that. If you feel you are "fighting" for a group that is appealing to you personally, you probably won't get it in the end.

Yknow, I don't do anything to encourage or discourage a particular kind of chatter; I don't kick people off, or delete posts, or edit people, or have lists of elites, etc. (Other than the three rules.) So appealing to me won't help. You people just have to work it out amongst yourselves.

I would suggest, for starters, that you take a step back and acknowledge how amazing it is that we get to share anything at all. How somehow we've been given something amazing and wondrous - the chance to share a few experiences with each other, across miles and miles of distance. It's just a few minutes of sharing every day. You want to squander that with pettiness and squabbling? Be my guest, but you're only hurting yourselves.

I don't. Which is why I came to a decision last night.

I will ignore the people that bring out the worst in me, and hope that those whom I bring out the worst in will ignore me.

It was either that or quitting the Cellar, and I was about ten seconds away from writing an email explaining my decision and just quietly slipping off the Cellar. But a post from jaguar, of all people, made me decide to stay.

Time is too precious to waste arguing. The great things about the Cellar are too precious to be overshadowed by the arguing.