(ThyBlackMan.com) There is nothing wrong with acknowledging that some white people did assist the path to freedom. Some were beaten, jailed and killed right alongside us. With that being said, the fact remains they are still not black, and there are lines that should never be crossed. No group of people should be so comfortable as to use racially charged words that carry with them the pain, and the shame of a people. Whether, or not, we feel certain words should be used among black people is not the matter at hand, as we must decide those issues amongst ourselves. However, at no point is it okay for a white person to use terms that others whites have etched into history stained in our blood…and yes this goes for the “liberal” whites also. It’s important to respect the narrative, and journey of the oppressed. Fighting alongside us does not give the right to define blackness, nor does it allow them the to redefine terms that have been used to oppress.
That takes us to Bill Maher. The truth is he has danced on the line, and crossed it many times, of offensive in his commentary. It’s easy
to pass it off as comedy, but he says things that black comedians would catch fire for speaking. There is a point whereby it’s no longer simply comedy, and it becomes passive aggressively offensive. The bottom is Bill Maher became very comfortable speaking freely about black issues, and we allowed such. We have our small core of activists that have been speaking out, and stay on top of issues, regarding liberal whites that speak in racially offensive language.
However, too many of us have drank the post-racial Kool-Aid and felt it was time to move past slavery and racism. The problem with that thinking is you can’t move past something that has never been properly addressed, nor that currently has systems in place that perpetuate the very evil you claim is gone.
Are we surprised Bill Maher said Nigger? Did we miss his defense his right to use the word in 2001? On the show “Politically Incorrect” in August of 2001 Bill Maher argued, it is okay for white people to use the N-word. “Blacks have an issue [that] whites cannot say this word,” he said. “I disagree. This word has changed… according to culture.” On the same show actress, and activist Anne-Marie Johnson firmly disagreed with him, and in defending his right to use the word he brought her blackness into question.
“I wouldn’t even know that you were black if you didn’t tell me,” presumably to undercut her authority on the issue of racism. “I love when white people try to define African-Americans,” she responded. “I think I’m only one on this stage who’s qualified to talk about the meaning of the word, how it hurts, how it doesn’t hurt, where it’s used, the history of it. Because I live it every day.”
Her commentary was not enough for him to even try to understand why he, a white man, has no business using the N-word. But, let’s look at his argument, in part, he was comfortable enough to tell a black person he wouldn’t know she was black. Does it matter if she features were what he would consider black? What authority does he have to dismiss a black person telling him the N-Word is not his to use? Where was the protest of him, and his show? This was NOT comedy…it was white privilege; it was what happens when the liberal white gets so comfortable with black people in their own mind that they feel they are beyond boundaries.
Before you decide Bill Maher is worth defending take another look at the comments.
“I’ve got to get to Nebraska more,” Maher said. “You’re welcome. We’d love to have you work in the fields with us,” the senator noted.
“Work in the fields? Senator, I’m a house n––––r,” Maher said.
What you have read here goes beyond just the use of the N-Word. Bill Maher has never, and will never be a black man. He is not the descendant of the enslaved. No matter how much research he does he will NEVER know what it means to be a slave, or a house nigger. How dare he even imply he could be one in any way shape or form. His commentary was not an effort understand or identify with the HORROR of the enslaved, and no it is not a joke. Many of us that watch comedy know it can be racy and it pushed the envelope.
However, it is neither of the two it is blatant disregard for the plight of a people that he can never understand. He would not make a joke calling himself an Aushwitz Concentration camp prisoner. He would not dare cross that line; it is understood that the Jewish community, and others would be at his throat. The reality is its okay to poke fun at the pain, and shame of black people. Our people have become accustom to laughing at their shame to mask their pain to the point we are, as a people, numb. This numbness would allow some to defend him feeling he has used his platform to fight for the rights of blacks. However, he has used the same platform to disgrace them. Being a liberal, and knowing some black people does not give one the right to put their hands to our narrative.
We all must choose how we feel about Bill Maher’s comments, but I for one am thoroughly offended. He didn’t simply use the N-Word…he laughed about something he would never bare the shame of. I simply can’t overlook these words. In 2001 Bill Maher said “History changes, Words change.” In this regard Bill Maher you are wrong. History has not changed, and neither have the words that define that history.
Staff Writer; Christian Starr
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