That Clarkson "n" word

drlodge

Please help me here, I know which word he used and I know its an offensive term, but....

I subscribe to an instagram post "thingsbitchessay" and they often use the "n" word in the context of being the "bitch's man", except the word is spelt "n...a" rather than "n...er".

So is this not essentially the same word and therefore also an offensive word, or is it more an urban slang word and therefore somehow acceptable? Perhaps if Mr Clarkson suggested he pronouned the word but spelt it n***a he'd be left off?

StorckSpeed

This isn't Mastermind is it !!!!
Ask me something about Quantum Physics, that might be simpler....... :-)

arran77

I really don't see why anyone is surprised at all, Clarkson is always saying inappropriate and offensive things

VTech

He doesnt know much about cars either !

arran77

Well at least he's ignorant about everything then

graeme_s-2

The thing I find utterly bizarre about his plea for forgiveness is this statement:

Clarkson wrote:

Please be assured I did everything in my power to not use that word

Everything in his power, apart from not actually saying it!?

ozzzyosborn206

I am going to get slated for saying this but I think people pick and chose when they want something to offend them and when they don't, look at all the rappers that have words like that in their lyrics or how many films have it in, yet they seem to be accepted then things like this get blown up, a bit the the whole Suarez/Evra thing Evra only complained because of who it was i don't think he took offence to it and wouldn't be surprised if it was a nickname his team mates call him, which i think it why suarez maintains he was innocent

Yellow Peril

Graeme_S wrote:

The thing I find utterly bizarre about his plea for forgiveness is this statement:

Clarkson wrote:

Please be assured I did everything in my power to not use that word

Everything in his power, apart from not actually saying it!?

You've hit the nail on the head there Graeme. He can't help but be controversial but this time he bit off more than he could chew and he's been legged up. If he were an MP he'd be under pressure to resign now.

Matthewfalle

VTech wrote:

He doesnt know much about cars either !

Explain please.

Colinthecop

Matthewfalle wrote:

VTech wrote:

He doesnt know much about cars either !

Explain please.

I reckon, locked before we get to the 3rd page. :roll:

pinno

Colinthecop wrote:

Matthewfalle wrote:

VTech wrote:

He doesnt know much about cars either !

Explain please.

I reckon, locked before we get to the 3rd page. :roll:

You're a bit pessimistic. End of 2nd.

arran77

pinarello001 wrote:

Colinthecop wrote:

Matthewfalle wrote:

VTech wrote:

He doesnt know much about cars either !

Explain please.

I reckon, locked before we get to the 3rd page. :roll:

You're a bit pessimistic. End of 2nd.

He's optimistic ya ignoramus :P

I'm with you though, we'll be lucky to see this get past two pages

pinno

arran77 wrote:

pinarello001 wrote:

Colinthecop wrote:

Matthewfalle wrote:

VTech wrote:

He doesnt know much about cars either !

Explain please.

I reckon, locked before we get to the 3rd page. :roll:

You're a bit pessimistic. End of 2nd.

He's optimistic ya ignoramus :P

I'm with you though, we'll be lucky to see this get past two pages

Don't use those big words on me. It depends which way you look at it.

pinno

Is there a link out there with him saying the N word? It's just that I can't be 4rsed monkeying around to find it as I am too apathetic.

arran77

pinarello001 wrote:

arran77 wrote:

pinarello001 wrote:

Colinthecop wrote:

Matthewfalle wrote:

VTech wrote:

He doesnt know much about cars either !

Explain please.

I reckon, locked before we get to the 3rd page. :roll:

You're a bit pessimistic. End of 2nd.

He's optimistic ya ignoramus :P

I'm with you though, we'll be lucky to see this get past two pages

Don't use those big words on me. It depends which way you look at it.

Sorry, what word would you rather I use :P

littledove44

I am overweight, old and Caucasian.

If someone calls me a fat old whitey (as they did once in Atlanta), I thought "True that!"

I felt no need to call the Daily Mail, sue someone for billions or roll around on the floor with mortal injuries from something called an insult.

Rule five.

Frank the tank

Ron Atkinson got very short shrift for his use of the "N" word.

nathancom

littledove44 wrote:

I am overweight, old and Caucasian.

If someone calls me a fat old whitey (as they did once in Atlanta), I thought "True that!"

I felt no need to call the Daily Mail, sue someone for billions or roll around on the floor with mortal injuries from something called an insult.

Rule five.

What if someone calls you a bigoted closet racist?

rick_chasey

ozzzyosborn206 wrote:

I am going to get slated for saying this but I think people pick and chose when they want something to offend them and when they don't, look at all the rappers that have words like that in their lyrics or how many films have it in, yet they seem to be accepted then things like this get blown up, a bit the the whole Suarez/Evra thing Evra only complained because of who it was i don't think he took offence to it and wouldn't be surprised if it was a nickname his team mates call him, which i think it why suarez maintains he was innocent

Reappropriation of language is a well known tool used to disarm the potency of the original word. Happens all the time in instances of derogatory language for persecuted groups.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reappropriation

All language occurs in an immediate and historical context.

It's not about people being offended. It's about social values being used to police anti-social behaviour - which using that word very much is.

Your argument is pedalled all the time by people who just haven't really thought it through.

rick_chasey

littledove44 wrote:

I am overweight, old and Caucasian.

If someone calls me a fat old whitey (as they did once in Atlanta), I thought "True that!"

I felt no need to call the Daily Mail, sue someone for billions or roll around on the floor with mortal injuries from something called an insult.

Rule five.

Has 'whitey' been used in the context of enslavement of millions and as a pretext for genocide?

No, it hasn't.

It's not about being offended. Only idiots think it's about that.

It's about making sure racism is stamped out everywhere. This is part and parcel of that process. The owner needs to MTFU and accept the consequences of his actions, not anyone else.

cornerblock

Frank the tank wrote:

Ron Atkinson got very short shrift for his use of the "N" word.

And rightly so Frank. It wasn't just his use of the n word, it was the whole nasty vitriolic "f'kin lazy n****r" term he used to describe Marcel Desailly that was totally abhorrent. As for Clarkson, the man does bore me but I think he's just a bit of a plank rather than a racist.

nathancom

Cornerblock wrote:

Frank the tank wrote:

Ron Atkinson got very short shrift for his use of the "N" word.

And rightly so Frank. It wasn't just his use of the n word, it was the whole nasty vitriolic "f'kin lazy n****r" term he used to describe Marcel Desailly that was totally abhorrent. As for Clarkson, the man does bore me but I think he's just a bit of a plank rather than a racist.

You know about the very recent 'slope' incident when filming in Vietnam? In isolation each one seems slightly tenuous and forgivable, as a chain of events less so.

cornerblock

You could be right, but Clarkson just strikes me as one of those blokes who thinks he's really 'edgy' because he uses words that sail close to the wind. Whereas what he actually looks like is boring gobshite.

pinno

Cornerblock wrote:

You could be right, but Clarkson just strikes me as one of those blokes who thinks he's really 'edgy' because he uses words that sail close to the wind. Whereas he is boring gobshite.

FTFY

I think his net worth to the BBC will probably mean that he will stay. Even a politician was presented to paper over the cracks. Does that mean that money rules over morality?

ballysmate

I have no idea what Ckarkson said, I haven't listened to it.

But I have read that after watching the clip for the first time, he wrote a note to his producer, saying,

‘Problem: I didn’t use the N-word here, but I’ve just listened through my headphones and it sounds like I did. Is there another take or can we come out after “Eeeny, Meeney, Miney, Moe”?’

The Daily Mirror apparently hired a firm of digital forensic experts called CY4OR . After a thorough examination, they confirmed that he had used the word "Nigger"
But to add uncertainty to the situation, apparently the woman who carried out the forensic examination admitted to Nick Ferrari on LBC that she was only 75% certain.

I haven't heard the LBC interview or seen Clarkson's note either, so cannot vouch for it's veracity.


You will have noted that I chose to write the offensive word in full. That does not make me a racist as I fully understand and agree that it's use can be offensive. Surely it can't be offensive to discuss a word in context, whereas it undoubtedly is to use it. People should be able to be grown up about language.

I use it in the spirit of viewtopic.php?f=40012&t=12934484&hilit=words, a thread started about language, following a post made that didn't pass 'The wife test' , applied by a member of this forum.

rolf_f

Rick Chasey wrote:

littledove44 wrote:

I am overweight, old and Caucasian.

If someone calls me a fat old whitey (as they did once in Atlanta), I thought "True that!"

I felt no need to call the Daily Mail, sue someone for billions or roll around on the floor with mortal injuries from something called an insult.

Rule five.

Has 'whitey' been used in the context of enslavement of millions and as a pretext for genocide?

No, it hasn't.

It's not about being offended. Only idiots think it's about that.

It's about making sure racism is stamped out everywhere. This is part and parcel of that process. The owner needs to MTFU and accept the consequences of his actions, not anyone else.

This is true. But in the 70s nigger was a commonly used word and it's one thing for someone of your age, for whom the term has always been clearly offensive, to get cross about but quite something else for someone of Clarksons age to never forget to blurt it out in the context of a nursery rhyme that certainly wasn't regarded as offensive during his early years.

Now where's my copy of Agatha Christies "Ten Little Niggers"?*

*Agatha Christies best selling book - now known as "And then there were none" but still published in the UK under its original title into the 1980s........ You need to be careful when invoking the Thought Police......

ilovegrace

The most common sense interview that came out of the whole Evera incident was one from a former African premier league footballer (I can not remember his name !) who said it is not what people say but what they truly think.
There are a lot of people out there , (my dad was one of them) ,of the Alf Garnett era that would use racist words but there is not a racist bone in their body , on the other hand there are plenty who have learnt how to curb their tongues
but are racist to the core.
regards
ILM

littledove44

nathancom wrote:

littledove44 wrote:

I am overweight, old and Caucasian.

If someone calls me a fat old whitey (as they did once in Atlanta), I thought "True that!"

I felt no need to call the Daily Mail, sue someone for billions or roll around on the floor with mortal injuries from something called an insult.

Rule five.

What if someone calls you a bigoted closet racist?

Call me thick skinned if you like but I really do not care what people call me.
They would be wrong.
I couldn't be bothered wasting my time trying to change their opinion.

city_boy

ozzzyosborn206 wrote:

I am going to get slated for saying this but I think people pick and chose when they want something to offend them and when they don't, look at all the rappers that have words like that in their lyrics or how many films have it in, yet they seem to be accepted then things like this get blown up, a bit the the whole Suarez/Evra thing Evra only complained because of who it was i don't think he took offence to it and wouldn't be surprised if it was a nickname his team mates call him, which i think it why suarez maintains he was innocent

And even when they choose not to be offended, there's usually some totally unrelated third party who will be offended on their behalf!

The Lead Farmer

When my school friends used this rhyme in the 1960s the word we used was 'Tigger'. I therefore do not accept that people used the word Nigger as acceptable everyday language, as suggested previously.

Everyone in my primary school class was white and although I'm ashamed to say that racist jokes about people starving in Africa were quite common, even then no one thought that racial insults would be acceptable to people outside our group.

I did not have a sheltered childhood, I had a working class upbringing and went to a state school in Glasgow in what was referred to as "the worst area of multi-deprivation in Europe" (we were quite proud of being at the top of a list).

If any group in society believes that a word has become insulting then others should stop using it. It's not difficult is it?

I have a friend who likes to tell us "common sense is not that common". I think he's right.

sungod

at my primary school in the 60's the unexpurgated eeny meeny rhyme was used in the playground (inner city, deprived not top of the league though!)

i didn't even know what the word meant let alone that it was offensive, at the time, marmalade was advertised with a gollywog and people collected golly badges

intent and effect are different things, a word only becomes 'wrong' if you know it to be wrong

anyway, back to the present, clarkson's a twat, though on the plus side he did punch piers morgan and generally i do find him entertaining, but i doubt he's a racist, and unless anyone has clear evidence that he is one it's a storm in a teacup

it seems much more like the usual papers in the anti-bbc camp using it as an excuse to launch another attack