Professor Dyson defends using the N-word...do you agree with him?

Shemsi en Tehuti · (#1 (**permalink**))

Professor Dyson defends using the N-word...do you agree with him?

[flash=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/v/YHaoZQx-VnE[/flash]

I will tell you right now, I don't agree with its use in any form, meaning, or capacity.

Incognito · (#2 (**permalink**))

Shemsi - disagree totaly but if it's about the persuassion of the individual then for many it's the lesser evil to calling themselves African.

Mezmerized · (#3 (**permalink**))

Eerr, am a bit lost....what the hell is a Hispanic man having a say about what African Americans should or should not say?confused3

Oh and if that man is a bloody Professor, then i might as well quit Uni and become a Dr of political science! The man is dumb.....nothing he said made any sense at all....:?

Shemsi en Tehuti · (#4 (**permalink**))

Mezmerized wrote:

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Eerr, am a bit lost....what the hell is a Hispanic man having a say about what African Americans should or should not say?confused3

Oh and if that man is a bloody Professor, then i might as well quit Uni and become a Dr of political science! The man is dumb.....nothing he said made any sense at all....:?

LOL...Hispanic. Professor Dyson is just a light-skinned Diasporic African in America, sis...or maybe that was a joke. He actually has a couple popular works on MLK, Civil Rights, and the like; hence why he was invited to the State of the Black Union in 2005 (where this speech comes from).

Agu Bu Oji · (#5 (**permalink**))

Was reading an African account of enslavement on the continent, the europeans would reffer to their slaves as, ''dogs'' the most notable was that they would always reffer to the women as, ''b**ches''. That one needs to stop.

I like the psycology involved in using the word ''N****r'', enough to confuse most people but its an American thing, it dosen't float else where and I'm glad to be honest. Things like that only let others think they can abuse us and our women.

Was a bit of an accident at a roundabout in Wood Green last week, no ones car was hit, was only a bit of bad driving but one Kurdish man jumped out of his car having nearly caused the accident and started laying punches intoone sista while she was in her car, his friend ran over as though to stop him but they both went at her punching her about and 'ish before driving off, my pops chased them in his car and called the feds but for real being degraded or degrading ourselves leads to stuff like that happening as well as kids being approached by gun dealers and drug addicts.

Not cool, shows where our minds are.

Gmahogany. · (#6 (**permalink**))

Apedemak wrote:

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I like the psycology involved in using the word ''N****r'', enough to confuse most people but its an American thing, it dosen't float else where and I'm glad to be honest. Things like that only let others think they can abuse us and our women.

You're right about it being an American thing and not floating anywhere else, nor should it float anywhere else. America is not everywhere else,and vice versa. It developed and continues to be usedamong some in this group of Africans for a reason. It doesn't have to make sense anywhere else to be valid, anymore than stuff that goes on other places, HAS to or does, make sense here. BTW, I do agree with him, but ya'll knew that already.

What's up Mez? Good to see u. Dyson a Hispanic?; Mez still has jokes for days,lol.

BTW, things like that have nothing to do with others thinking they can use and abuse us. They thought that LONG before Black folks started using the N-word and they'll still think it ,if we all miraculously STOP using the N word, one of these days.

Mezmerized · (#7 (**permalink**))

Shemsi en Tehuti wrote:

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LOL...Hispanic. Professor Dyson is just a light-skinned Diasporic African in America, sis...or maybe that was a joke. He actually has a couple popular works on MLK, Civil Rights, and the like; hence why he was invited to the State of the Black Union in 2005 (where this speech comes from).

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No i wasn't joking....C'mon, the man is going on aboutus people of color blahh blahh...confused3I KNOW what light skinned people do look like you:P:PAfrica is not just Alek Weks and Djimou Hounsou....that Professor ain't just light skinneed, that man is clearly something else and has no business tellingAfricans such nonesense.Anyways, i am still shocked at the amount of AA that were clamping and laughing....

:X

Shemsi en Tehuti · (#8 (**permalink**))

Mezmerized wrote:

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No i wasn't joking....C'mon, the man is going on aboutus people of color blahh blahh...confused3I KNOW what light skinned people do look like you:P:PAfrica is not just Alek Weks and Djimou Hounsou....that Professor ain't just light skinneed, that man is clearly something else and has no business tellingAfricans such nonesense.Anyways, i am still shocked at the amount of AA that were clamping and laughing....

:X

Indeed...sad isn't it.

Agu Bu Oji · (#9 (**permalink**))

I'm bored...

BTW, I do agree with him, but ya'll knew that already.

Can't watch it as I'm away from my desk but why do you agree with him? Shemsi made a topic about it before, even ''consiouss'' musicians use it which I don't get. I mean Jeru the Damaga rant on about this and that but then reffers to himself as a ****** of all things.

Is there a kudos in using a term that was/is used against us? Should we start calling ourselvesmonkeys and all the other names and terms they coined for us?...

Is it all cleverreverse psycology we should apply to other things as well?

Gmahogany. · (#10 (**permalink**))

Apedemak wrote:

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I'm bored...

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I'm bored with this topic too, but if folks are gonna keep making threads about it, I'll keep responding....

BTW, I do agree with him, but ya'll knew that already.

Can't watch it as I'm away from my desk but why do you agree with him? Shemsi made a topic about it before, even ''consiouss'' musicians use it which I don't get. I mean Jeru the Damaga rant on about this and that but then reffers to himself as a N****r of all things.

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If u do watch it, you may feel differently. You'll have to answer that question for yourself. All I can do is tell u that myself along with MYRIAD other intelligent, conscious Black folks do use the word, and it somehow doesn't interfere with our consciousness/or good works for the Black collective.As a person who objects to the word, that would make ME reevaluate my continuing obsession with those who do choose to use the word, in some intances. It would make me say, maybe the mindset/motivation/conclusions that I'm attaching to this word because of my OWN slant/view, is NOT the same mindset/motivation of some of these obviously intelligent/conscious people who occasionally use the word, so MAYBE, I need to start focusing on what area of commonality I have with them, and their WORKS, rather than trying to browbeat them in talking the way I talk, but that's just me.......

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In this 2 1/2 minutesegment Dyson was speaking truth about the global economy and how African Americans buying 250 dollar tennis shoes need to be able to connectthat to the sweat shops and depressed economies in "third world" countries,that we need tostop being so myopic inour view and connect with others around the world in a quest for justice and all youlot can focus on, isthe fact that he said the N word to make a point. What's really going on?

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Is there a kudos in using a term that was/is used against us? Should we start calling ourselvesmonkeys and all the other names and terms they coined for us?...

Is it all cleverreverse psycology we should apply to other things as well?

It has nothing to do with whether we SHOULD apply it to other things as well, WE didn't decide to apply it to anything else, which should indicate that there was not some blind/blanket/mass endeavor for us to accept all negative terms ascribed to us and start using them. We all didn't sit down at a table andsay hmmmmm, let's start referrering to ourselves with racist/degrading terms, and keep that going for several centuries.It was not some contrived desire to humiliate and degrade ourselves. It developed because it served a psychological/cultural purpose, simple as. If and When it no longer serves that purpose, it will fade out, naturally. NOt because people from outside the context that it developed in,( or those inside it who have issue with it), browbeat and harangue others into not using it.

Agu Bu Oji · (#11 (**permalink**))

.lol.

Its only, ''browbeating'' when theres some kind of adamanceinvolved and one party refuses totake on the others opinion. I see no reason why any ''intellect'' would want to continue using a word and refuseto seeits implications. Self hatred and apathy both play a major part in our oppression and if a few words can be ommitted from our lexicon to help us heal all the better... and whenI say major I can't even add a font large enough to imply itenough. Its why we're so quick to shoot one another and deny our heritage with the same call of being ''browbeaten'' into realisingourselves and our past, rather sticking to some givenaspect of our culturebecause its, 'in fasion'.

Would love to go back in time and watch someone call Malcom X a N****r. Would he have 'harangued' them for that?

Need a roll eyes smiliey up in here.

Agree with the rest of your comment though. Would like to hearhiscomments on economics although I think some of those statisticsthey publish are twisted to make things seem worse than they really are.