Business redux–if you didn’t see, yesterday’s update has a link to my piece on Houston. Enjoy.
Also, MattSoReal’s got pics from the Bun B video shoot on his blog, including one of me interviewing ESG. You know where he is–HoustonSoReal.
Moving on, Condi Rice was the subject of my first full post on this blog. That was when Ted Rall referred to her, in his political cartoon, as a house nigger. I found it to be pretty funny, and I thought the charges of racism were misguided. I was amazed that Rall got it and used the absolute perfect term to describe her. I didn’t know white folks were up on that house/field nigger thing.
Well, now we’ve got this one at the University of Florida, and I’m not feeling the same way.

(BTW, I talked about this some on the bidness blog, but I can’t cuss on there. Figured we could get more out of things over here.)
Now, to appreciate this, you’re going to need to check the cartoon, and I’d recommend peeping some of the commentaries. The cartoon appears to have been edited. If I’m not mistaken, the last sentence that says “Please,” should be, “nigga please.”
And that’s what throws people off a tad.
I don’t find this one to be funny. It’s not because Kanye’s being called “nigga.” I really don’t give a damn what you call Kanye. I call him “nigga” all the time. I call you–yes, you–nigga all the time.
But, it actually is funny.
Make sense? Of course…not.
That cartoon could really be funny. The humor, of course, comes from the fact that none of us could imagine Coondi saying “nigga please” to anyone. We could all imagine her blushing with embarrassment from hearing someone say that, but no one can see her saying that. Or maybe that’s just me, I dunno.
I’m not sure the kid that did this cartoon realizes that’s the only that would be funny. That’s it. Otherwise, this would be a drab cartoon, with or without “nigga.”
Hey, read it without “nigga” on the link. Not funny, is it?
Put in “nigga,” and a few of us are ready to fight.
Now, am I a hypocrite because I thought people overreacted this time last year but I don’t think that now? I’m not sure.
This what I know–Rall showed an understanding of a fairly nuanced issue. The Marlette kid–not to be confused with Doug Marlette, according to Aden–that did this cartoon doesn’t seem to understand what he was doodling about. And if you don’t know, leave it alone.
I’m not quite offended, but it does make me wonder why some white folks feel the need to go there, even when they know the results could be catastrophically bad. Is this another example of how greedy privilege can make people?
But when I start seeing folks write editorials talking about how any use of “nigga” is racist, that’s when I realize how many people just don’t get the point.
You think you’re going to take a stand against racism by not inviting Wayne Brady to campus? You serious? Wayne Brady? Really? One slip by Alfonso Ribiero, and his Carlton Banks Revival Tour’s in the toilet, jack.
And perhaps this crystallizes the problems that come when white people go to “nigga”–they tend to show a lack of awareness of what the issues are with the words and the people that term generally refers to. I don’t hold a lot of things against white people because they frequently don’t know any better, and I even understand that. If you don’t know any black people, do you ever have to think about the things they go through?
The problem, of course, is willfully displaying ignorance and then saying, “but I didn’t know” like it’s some sort of excuse. If you don’t know, just be quiet, man. Get a book or two, though I don’t want you getting Randall Kennedy’s book on this.
I really don’t know what to say. Feels a little bit like I’m being hypocritical on this, but I know better.