Shawn Maxam explains why the debate about Gwyneth Paltrow’s tweet doesn’t really matter. We are all actually missing a more important lesson.
Frankly I love the word ‘nigga.’ It is my favorite word in the English language because no other word incites more controversy today.
-Todd Boyd
By now you are fully aware of Gwyneth Paltrow’s Twitter faux paus. Long story short: She was at a Jay-Z and Kanye concert in Paris and twitted a pic saying “Ni**as in paris for real.” In said photo was Paltrow and a couple of actual niggas including R&B artist The-Dream.
And that is why tokenism is problematic. Just because you have a minority friend, a gay person, a Black person, a Jewish person and so on doesn’t mean you get to use the pejoratives of that community IN PUBLIC. Yes many minority communities use their perjoratives and slurs as terms of affection with each other. You may even become “adopted” by a few folks who are apart of one these communities. They may allow you to say the perjorative to them and with them. That doesn’t make it cool for you to use in another context.
I am not going to bore you on whether Paltrow is racist or not. She isn’t. You can do racist things just like you can dumb things and not be a racist or a dumb-ass. I’m not her psychologist so I won’t try and deconstruct her intent either. I won’t bore you with the debate over whether there’s a difference between nigger and nigga either. Slate actually does a good job here. The one thing I will say about this whole “controversy” is no one is talking about the tokenism taking place here.
Gwyenth Paltrow has two best friends who are Black, Jay-Z and Beyonce, who may or may not let her use the word nigga around them. I don’t really care about that. The question I have is why did she have to tweet this? It’s probably becuase she is showing off how cool she is by having Black friends.
And that is why tokenism is problematic. Just because you have a minority friend, a gay person, a Black person, a Jewish person and so on doesn’t mean you get to use the pejoratives of that community IN PUBLIC. Yes many minority communities use their pejoratives and slurs as terms of affection with each other. You may even become “adopted” by a few folks who are apart of one these communities. They may allow you to say the pejorative to them and with them.
That doesn’t make it cool for you to use in another context. You can do whatever you want but if you get blow-back or criticism then don’t try and pull the I have a “blank” friend card. No one cares. The whole community didn’t give you a pass. Keep your problematic and possibly offensive comments to yourself. So Paltrow apologize (even if you don’t mean it), go back to living your awesome life and make sure your publicist approves you future tweets.
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R.I.P. SKH
About S. Maxam
(Disclaimer…. black person speaking here)
This reminds me of this image that I have had in my head for a long time about black people america, their history in this country and where they are right now. The image is of a bull that 400 years ago had its tail dipped in gas, wrapped in fire crackers and had it lit. Once lit the bull took off running in terror in frenzy. It ran over hill, over dale, through streams, across fields and over mountains. It keeps doing this for ages and ages. It keeps running until it meets the ocean and doesn’t stop. It just keeps going until it drowns. Never mind the fact that fire when out a loooooong time ago it is still running.
Yes there is hatred in the world and some of it is directed at black people. But you don’t have to be the brightest bulb in the box to figure out that Gwyneth isn’t one of them. People of many colors since black people go their freedom have soaked up the products of black culture since then. The fact that someone not black has gotten comfortable enough to casually use the n bomb bothers me waaaay less than me seeing men of all colors embracing the idea that its a good idea to have their pants hanging halfway down their asses and wearing other clothes that even a self respecting rodeo clown would think is just damn strange.
I say instead of behaving like the proverbial Pavlovian dog that gets offended every time a white person uses the n word now no,matter what the context … take a step back and look at the bigger picture. Otherwise you end up giving the past to much control over your present and future…. just like the bull who doesn’t know when to stop running. And if black folks really want to see the n word die out then then need to stop using it because I’m sure that if there was a way of counting it you’d probably find that there are more blacks saying the word now than there ever was white people saying it. And pull your pants up!!!
Peace <3
Loved your disclaimer and your analogy. I agree there need not be an overreaction about Paltrow and there are far more serious issues within the Black community .
Hence why I linked the Slate article and broadened the conversation to all minority groups.
Thanks for raising some good points.
I’m glad you got what I was trying to say. For me… if I was to let my past rule my actions right now I’d have way more animosity against black folks than whites. I grew up in a very multicultural area where all of us kids did everything together no matter what color we were. From BMX bikes to skateboards to parachute pants to mohawks. We did it all. Then had the experience of going to a middle school that required me to be bused across town. Suddenly I found myself surround by black kids that grew up in a very culturally homogeneous project housing. And I have to say 96% of the racism I’ve experienced in my life came from the two years I was in middle school… and it was all from other black kids that gave me holy hell for not being “black enough”. I had no choice in the fact that I didn’t grow up in a neighborhood where I was taught to hate white people and everything that got lumped into the categories of things that “white people do”. No more than a white child has a choice of growing up in a household where he is taught to hate black folks. Luckily middle school was only two years and I have enough perspective an intelligence to understand why those kids behaved that way instead of painting all black people forever with that same brush.
As you said “there are far more serious issues within the Black community ” Not the least of which being continuing to let the label “victim” be a part of their definition.
Yeah I’d say there is not need to go firing off posts about how she’s racist or anything but it is worth bearing in mind because it does make a small contribution to keeping this language alive.
It is the title of a song by Jay Z. and Kanye. She was at a concert by Jay Z and Kanye. This is, quite frankly, completely ridiculous. She didn’t even use the term. I actually thought it was pretty cute because the song is “Niggas in Paris” and there she was at a concert, in Paris, with the two guys who sang the song. Quick, everyone, let’s jump on this woman for using the title of a song in a creative and entertaining way! If it weren’t the name of a song, fine, you may have a point. If she just used the song name randomly to get the word into a tweet, fine. She didn’t. Grow up, get over yourselves, stop with the faux outrage over something completely harmless.
Colin it was clever but that doesn’t mean some people can’t get offended especially when she made the remark publicly. I don’t really care if she uses the word or not. My point is she can’t get upset or any other person for that matter uses a pejorative in public and then a group gets offended.
Just because my sister is a lesbian and allows me to call her a dyke doesn’t mean I should go using the word in public and not expect other LGBT folks to get offended. Context is important whether we want to acknowledge or not.
She didn’t use a pejorative term; she used the title of a song. People will claim to be offended by everything. Your analogy is, quite frankly, offensive to people who appreciate legitimate analogies such as myself. If, let’s there, there was a play called “Dykes on Stage” and the two lead actresses — lesbians — were on stage performing said play and you said, “Oh look, Dykes on stage!” you would have a legitimate analogy. Yours is not.
Nope. The song title is “Niggas In Paris”. Paltrow tweeted “Ni**as In Paris for real” so why did she put the asterisks if she was referring to just the song title? Obviously there was a part of her engaging in self-censorship. Why if it’s so harmless did she do that?
Again I don’t care and don’t really want to analyze her. My point is that when a person is a part of a privileged group and uses a pejorative or slur or whatever around people who aren’t their friends then you can’t get mad when the oppressed group becomes angry because the term has historical baggage.
She has the right to use the word. And people have the right to get offended. It’s that simple. You can’t argue that either party is wrong for expressing their feelings.
Because, I have actually not seen the title of the song written out as Niggas. In fact, it is written as Ni**as in Paris EVERYWHERE. From Wikipedia: edited for album as “Ni**as in Paris”
She did that because that is how it is written everywhere. You are simply and unequivocally incorrect on this. She did not use a pejorative; she used a song title. People have no right to object to the use of a song title; she didn’t participate in self censorship; and you are simply getting offended for the sake of getting offended.
LOL! You are right that the title is officially Ni**as. I apologize for being incorrect.
I have repeatedly said I personally am not offended. I just said I can understand why others are offended.
Since you want to use the word so badly let’s go to my hometown in Bed-Stuy Brooklyn and we can sing along to the lyrics together and then calmly and rationally explain to the Black folks there that you meant no offense.
I’ve lived in Bed Stuy, and I’ve lived in Lefferts Gardens. I live in Crown Heights now. As someone who spent more than my fair share of childhood in the hood, I am well aware of the fact that I would probably get to enjoy being riddled with lead. That isn’t a problem with me, though, that is a problem with your community. There are plenty of institutionalized obstacles that black people face; however, the biggest obstacles are collective communal issues that have absolutely nothing to do with outside forces. You don’t see the same sorts of issues in the poor Asian communities because you have communities that see opportunity and the value of education and hard work. You cannot say the same thing for the black community. I had friends who used to get perpetually assaulted because they dared to try learning in school and spoke in full sentences.
Bro, you are engaging in model minority stereotypes with the Asian community which isn’t monolithic. Japanese, Chinese and Koreans don’t have the same experience as Cambodian, Indonesian and Pacific Islander communities.
Secondly you get no props just because you lived in the hood. Talk to me when your sitting in your car in Princeton, NJ and get harassed by the cops just because you are a person of color. I could leave the hood but racism follows me everywhere.
So don’t try and pooh pooh the institutionalized discrimination faced by the Black community which isn’t monolithic either (Caribbean, Latino and African-Americans aren’t the same) because some of your friends experience some colorism while growing up. We all gotta work together on creating a world filled with mutual respect and empathy.
I’m well aware of the differences among broader ethnic groups. I went to Stuyvesant where I was exposed to a wide array of Asians, and I’ve lived in numerous ghetto neighborhoods with different ethnic breakdowns.
Second, I support profiling to a degree. The simple fact is that the most likely people to commit crimes are people living in poverty and that happens to be overwhelmingly minorities in urban environments. Blacks and Latinos make up something like 98% of all homicide victims and 96% of all homicide perpetrators here in NYC. Is it fair that you’re going to get profiled as an innocent man? No, not really. Can you expect anything different when 96% of perpetrators fit the profile? No, you cannot.
I am not going to disagree that there are institutionalized problems. I think the drug laws inherently target the poor and impoverished which are largely minorities with a profit-based criminal justice system that is designed to ensnare people and keep them in the system. I am 100% in support of putting mechanisms in place to not only get rid of the absurd drug laws but to help offenders reassimilate back into productive life.
The Black community as a whole need to accept some responsibility for the problems that plague it as opposed to constantly blaming outside forces. I take a lot of flack for this position, but it is true. Institutional problems aren’t forcing fathers to skip out, they aren’t forcing children to view getting an education as the wrong thing to do, they aren’t glamorizing life on the street.
People need to start collectively taking responsibility for the problems that ail us and working to fix them instead of blaming outside forces. There is a widespread avoidance of dealing with issues and it isn’t simply the black community; it is every community. With that said, the community I see as the most everyone-else-is-at-fault-but-us is most definitely the black community*.
*I realize there are different communities but you know what I’m talking about.
And P.S. My Rolees most definitely tick, tock.
She shouldn’t apologize because uptight people like you think she should. She should steadfastly refuse to apologize because she didn’t do anything wrong or say anything wrong. I use song titles all the time to add a bit of humor and pop culture to my speech. This is the same thing.
You got owned there Shawn.
Collin has some valid points. Let’s link up Collin, I’d like to pick your brain.
Thanks, John! Feel free to send me an e-mail at collin.j.slattery at gmail. I love sharing my opinions with others!
John I’m not sure what your comment means. I didn’t realize discussions about injustice and inequality was a competition.
Colin I was in Princeton, NJ. Not a hood or ghetto when I was harassed. I have been in numerous places where “profiling” was unwarranted. So because I am going to pick up my wife from school, Princeton University, it’s appropriate that I be stopped?
Lastly I don’t speak for all Black people. Only myself. Yes, some of experiences are universal like my brother being murdered but again while I can understand, empathize and sympathize with what happens in Black America I won’t make generalizations about the community.
I don’t believe you should either. But you are free to express your opinion. Thanks for an engaging exchange.
I am sure that you do get profiled in places where it doesn’t make sense. I don’t deny that there is institutional bias in police forces. I don’t deny that profiling occurs in places where it shouldn’t. I am saying that based on the statistics, young black and latino men make up the vast majority of violent offenders in many urban areas including NYC. That is what the numbers say. I think that has less to do with race and more to do with the way poverty looks in this country.
You can make generalizations because you can take data for large groups and come up with information based on that data. I believe in numbers. I can generalize that individuals with only a high school diploma are less intelligent than people with a college degree. There are numbers to back that up. It isn’t always true — I have an IQ of 175 without a college degree — but I know that data never* lies. I believe in numbers, data, statistics, and the like. These things are real. I don’t make wild generalizations; I use statistics. There is a difference between saying HIV is a gay disease and saying that gay men are much more likely to contract and come in contact with HIV. That is statistically true.
*I recognize that data can be manipulated and that inaccurate connections can be drawn. Look at every single republican economic argument for evidence of this.
Colin this is the statement I was referring to “With that said, the community I see as the most everyone-else-is-at-fault-but-us is most definitely the black community*.”
Where is the data for that? Also seeing as you are from/familiar NY I assume you are familiar with stop and frisk. I think police can engage in heavy policing in certain communities because of higher crime rates but it is the implementation of those policies that are problematic.
When you make more stops of Black males then they are actual Black males and your reason for these stops is for guns but you only recover guns 1% of the time then the policy needs to be revisited. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/14/opinion/the-problems-with-stop-and-frisk.html
From Sean Bell to Trayvon Martin back to Amadou Diallo we can see how lives are ended because the perception of Black men as criminals is used to dictate policy.
Same as how the Rockfeller drug laws disproportionally affects minorities. Even if the origins of the policy are economic if they affect certain ethnic communities disproportional then we as a society need to reexamine them.
You make points that I have agreed with and points that I don’t agree with. That is fine. All i am saying is just as I am okay with you disagreeing with me on certain things I would expect reciprocity in that regard. We can agree to disagree respectfully.
“It’s probably because she is showing off how cool she is by having Black friends.”
Didn’t you say you weren’t going to play psychologist?
I don’t think white people should use that word. Actually I don’t think black people should either, but it’s their choice to do so and they’re clearly in a better position than me to decide what it means to them. That said, this is one of the few exceptions I’ve seen where I really don’t think she was wrong to use it. It’s the title of a song by an artist who she just saw live and is a friend of hers. If it’s appropriate for her (or the many other white parisians I’m sure were present) to listen to his music in concert then it’s appropriate for them to tweet the title of one of his songs.