Big Brother

[anotheoldgit]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/67296 73.stm

Seems like we have been here before. Is this yet another ploy to raise this rubbish programme's popularity.

If the word wasn't broadcast, why did they need to bring it out into the open, and since Charley Uchea hasn't made any public complaint, why are channel 4 allowing it to be aired on Big Brother's Highlight Show on Thursday night thus causing more controversy? Already that loathsome MP, Keith Vass seems to be once again leaping into the affray.

[THECORBYLOON]

Do you think it is right that one of the housemates used racist language then?

[sandbach99]

On the TV at dinner-time a female singer from an ethnic minority said that in hip-hop music this word is used a lot and people who follow this type of music use it to greet each other, when asked why she said that it was to make a poitive thing out of a negative. She went on to say that she did not agree with this as it blurs the boundaries.

on BBC news they interviewed a DJ from some ethnic minority radio station who said it was a generation gap thing and the word was used in hip-hop music, he did not seem bothered by it.

It appears that Emily is into this type of music so is used to hearing and saying this word in a non-racist context.

Maybe in a few years the word will have lost its' racist tag and become, rightly or wrongly acceptable.

[sp1814]

I'm amazed that after the furore over the incidents on Celebrity Big Brother, that this girl actually said what she did.

You have to be a really special kind of stupid to do that.

The N word isn't acceptable to the vast majority of black people in this country or the States. Remember, rap/hip hop is the music of the 15-25 age group.

To put it into context, Liam and Noel Gallagher use pretty ripe language playing live, but it's not appropriate to use that kind of language in every context.

Also (controversial bit here), even if some young black men and women use the term with each other, it's absolutely never acceptable for a white person to use it...ever.

Eminem is the biggest rap artist of all time in terms of global reach and record sales. Have you ever heard him use the N word?

No...because he knows that no matter how 'black' you are as a white person, you're never black enough to use the term.

God, that is one silly, silly, silly girl.

[jedimistress]

So GIRLY BOLLOX isn't that a little sexist?The world is going mad I think.

[flip_flop]

I think sp is absolutely spot on, but equally I think C4 have completely over-reacted to the situation.

I don't for one moment think she is guilty of racism - I do however think she is guilty of being a silly naive young inexperienced girl in thinking she could call a black girl ******.

It may be perfectly acceptable for black people to refer to each other in that manner, and she may have used the term in an attempt to align herself with Charly, but it is simply not acceptable.

Racist? Nah I don't think so. Naive and stupid? Definitely.

C4 has milked the situation for all it is worth and in doing so they have unfairly brought an abrupt end to this girls time in the house and in doing so, for a short time at least I expect, will make this girl a figure for villification.

They really are guttersnipes.

[NJOK]

She's ignorant. If she had an inkling of the offence that word caused and it's historical origin, she wouldn't have said it. The fact that back in Bristol her and her mates say it "all the time" makes me want to put my head in my hands. What a bunch of knobs.

She isn't racist though. She just didn't know what she was doing wrong. And I'd hate for her to be branded a racist and strung up for that.

Kicking her out of the house was very heavy-handed I think. Channel 4 panicked after the Celebrity BB row and felt they had to remove her. Far better to punish her in some other way and make her stay in the house and face the consequences from her peers, as you would in real life. I thought BB was supposed to reflect society?

I have to say, I hate the way the media pussyfoot around the word. At 11.15 last night before a discussion of the issue, viewers were warned that they might her racially offesive words and presenters studiously avoided even quoting the word. Even a direct quote! No such warning was aired before Pulp Fiction was shown. I cant think of a single other word that they would flicnh away from addressing like that.

[LeMarchand]

I find it strange that everyone is so upset when some is (possibly) racist in a show that seems designed to do nothing more than show people behaving in a base manner.

[enigma]

sp1814 - I was in agreement with you up until the point where you remarked that just because black people use this term to greet each other, it is NEVER acceptable for a white person to use this turn of phrase. A racist remark is offensive REGARDLESS of the ethnicity of the person making the remark. It really irritates me how the 'N word' is accepted by an element of black people if uttered by other black people, yet deemed offensive if uttered by a white person? Why so? I am a white woman yet find this particular word deeply offensive because of the connotations associated with it and would argue that my black friends also find this term offensve, even if uttered by another black person and then, ESPECIALLY so. If a term is offensive then it is offensive - full stop. It is either accepted or it is not , there can be no room for grey areas in between whereby it is acceptable depending on the colour of the person making the remark, otherwise we end up with situations such as has occured on BB with the young girl Emily who at worst can be accused of naivety and carelessness rather than deliberately making racist remarks. I do firmly believe that this girl could see no wrong in what she had said because she thought that she was using it in a 'street' context. Of course it is wrong and of course it was offensive but by blurring the boundaries of what is acceptable and what is not, it sends out very conflicting and mixed messages, which creates ludicrous situations like this.

[Reverandfunk]

Yawn

[libertie]

Was listening to gmtv this morning and a black lady from the Race Relations Commission and former BB contestant Mykosi (sp) both said they didn't use the word and would find it offensive if it was said to them by either a black or a white person! Both agreed though that the girl seemed to be more stupid than racist and the lady from the RRC thought that C4 were right to show the clip to illustrate the context in which the word was used!

I personally feel that C4 have now found themselves in the position where they can't do right for doing wrong!

[chompu]

Agree with your thoughts enigma. The girl wasn't being racist because she had no idea the word was racially offensive. I Can't agree that it is alright for one race to use it and not another.She had apparently picked it up from the music so if nothing else, it shows that the notion of putting a positive connatation on it is plainly ludicrous. It just confuses the issue.
In some way it serves a useful purpose by bringing it up for discussion. I doubt whether she is the only teenager unaware of its' origin and offensiveness.
Is she really that stupid? For a long time efforts have been made to suppress the word and she has only discovered it through the music. On another post, the other day someone didn't know the origin of the word 'mong' and why it was offensive. Emily herself stated that her black friends call her a 'wigger' I have no idea what that means or whether it is offensive. I recall when I was her age enjoying Honky Tonk Woman by the Stones. I had no idea what it meant or whether I would offend someone by using it . If that means I'm stupid so be it.
Don't think CH4 could have done any other but I bet they're delighted with the publicity. Even I tuned in yesterday to see what the fuss was about and I can't stand the programme.

[anotheoldgit]

I hear words almost on a daily basis that are highly offensive to me, but eh ! I am white so there is not a damn thing I can do about it.