Put your dukes up

This is in response to a blog posting by my good friend on the N**** and B****** words.
(Click here to read post)

For starters I have to tell you my friend that this is one of those rare occasions which has you fighting for losing a corner. So seeing as you have decided to take that position I am going to try and knock you out...

Right, Left combinations
I completely agree with you when you say "words evolve over time due to different usage by different communities or due to an increase/decrease in popular usage by the media and society in general."

But you are missing the point when you go on to claim that ....." a lack of consensus as to what constitutes a derogatory or pejorative term."Granted "words transition easier from positive to negative connotations but rarely, if ever, from negative to positive." But this is not the point

Your argument is paradoxical insofar as the use of the N and B word can have both positive and negative connotations depending on context. True! But here in lies the problem my friend. You seem to be stating that the black community should be exempt from the global community.

What am I saying? I know for a fact that you have been asked this before or that someone has proclaimed this as part of their argument. You cannot, especially given the wide spread popularity of the English language across the world, (over 1 billion people) expect to merit your argument for the use of these pejorative words. This is the cultural conundrum that living in America presents; black folk in America have got it twisted if they think that they can control the context in which the N and B words are used in society. The whole idea that amongst black people these (or other) words can be used as a term of endearment, but when someone from another race uses the same words in the same spirit or in a jocular manner, it stirs up a problem, is quite frankly just silly.

Globalization is now in full effect across the board and in addition to the moving of goods, services and information, cultures are now increasingly dynamic. Traditional societal structures and pillars are shifting or becoming diluted through interaction with others. No one culture can categorically claim that they exist in a vacuum.

If you were in Europe then you would see for yourself just what I mean when I tell you that the number one consumers of rap music is not black folk and the fallacy that black America can dictate the connotations of the N and B word is like fetching water with a porous gourd. It just does not hold.

Therefore when these terms are used in the media the audience that is consuming the content is not solely within the borders of America. To assume this would be both naive and ignorant. Music (read: Rap) and film are the vehicles through which American culture has permeated other cultures and from ear piercings (not exclusive to Black folk), sagging pants and bling bling (which has now made its way into the Oxford dictionary) are all products of this cultural exports.

Knock out punch

So when a consumer in Japan, China* or some Scandinavian country which are growth markets for the rap music and culture, purchase the albums, clothes and the films i.e. buy into the hip-hop lifestyle is it not hypocritical to then turn round and complain when someone from the non-black culture uses the N or B word? For you to purport that black folk can control the context within which the N and/or B words are used has got to be the most ridiculous thing... please!!

As you know, I used to to be a fan of Rap music until I realized that as an art form it has gone unchecked for too long and sooner or later the chickens will come home to roost.
The glorification of violence and the misogyny has found its way into mainstream culture and it is quite frankly unacceptable. The whole idea that it is a representation of reality on the streets is a misnomer.

I read the other day that 50 Cent has pushed back his new album release date, because of a lukewarm reception to his singles. Don't know what the singles are, and quite frankly don't care, but do you think this because it is not vulgar enough?


*In China, rap artists have been censored and in some instances the permission for artists to perform concerts has been withdrawn due to the use of explicit lyrics.