Why in this particular case? The word has been used in countless mainstream films from 'The Green Mile' and 'Of Mice and Men' to 'American Gangster'. So much debate over the name of a dog?
Oh yes it did! Always a 'loaded' term. You wouldn't use it unless you wanted to deliberately cause offence or cause a fight. Or couldn't care less either way. If you were being 'polite' Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! you'd use 'coloured' but you would never use the 'n' word unless you were intentionally setting out to be derogatory or ignorant. Same goes for 'darkie' and similar that were commonly used at the time.
Oh my thoughts on this subject abound as well you know but as you asked: British people were generally hostile to people from the 'commonwealth' ie former colonial countries settling here. In the two major world wars they were expected to fight for Britain or make some other contribution to the war effort but were generally kept apart from white British troops and given the shittiest roles. War verterans from former 'colonies' were and still are overlooked when it comes to acknowledging efforts and handing out medals. The track record is even worse when it comes to pensions but tht's another thread. There was quite a recruitment drive in the former colonies after WW2 to fill skill gaps and shortages in Britain. Immigrants faced prejudice and racism in jobs, housing and education as well as day-to-day life. Shitty jobs, shitty housing in the shittiest parts of town despite many having professional qualifications. 'The Lonely Londoners' by Samuel Selvon is a good account of the period just after the war.....
Soooo...if your dear old grand pappy was walking his dog in the park one day and a war veteran from the Caribbean came up to him and said: "Hey nice dog. What's his name....?" He'd have just come right out with the dog's name, would he? Or if he was being treated by an African medic and they got talking about their pet dogs....? "Oh yeah ha ha ha mine's called n***** hoo hoo hoo...."
Good question - much like asking the *cough* coloured guy in the corner shop if he has any of the collectable Robinson's Golliwogs in stock, possibly. I have no idea how he'd react.
I remember (oh god i'm so old) some comedian whose name escapes me but he would have be labelled 'half caste' in those days doing a piece about having a conversation with a pink-cheeked, blue-eyed, blonde: "And she called me coloured..."
Charlie Williams? He's the one that used to say "If you don't laugh I'll come and live next door to you".
Oh god yes......Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! brilliant! god we're old......:bawl:
And what purpose was that? In both films white characters used the word as a term of abuse against black characters. You don't object to that?
Screw political correctness. As far as I'm concerned, if a guy is willing to climb into an airplane and risk his life to strike a blow against some bunch of tyrannical friggin' lunatics, he can call his dog any God damn thing he pleases, and if you're going to tell his story then tell it right - "warts " & all - or don't bother. Fuck Peter Jackson in any event.
I find the term "nigger" to be offensive. But, it is a historical story. He called his dog "nigger" then he called his dog "nigger". It should be told as it happened and not changed to suit the PC crowd. He could very well be a racist arse, but you can't alter history. Tell it like it is or don't tell it at all. Let people make up their own minds from the true facts, not the altered story. Eww no thanks.
In context, in the UK at the time, it wasn't. Like I said, latterday uses don't mean the word gets vetoed for ever. Here's an analogy, to explain it to you. I live in an area heavily populated by Indians. (in the UK). Indian women often draw patterns on their hands in Henna. One such lady who works at my local supermarket does this, and one of the shapes I have seen on her hand, is a Swastika. In her culture, it means something different, and is not an endorsement of Nazism. I understand the context. Now, are white people not allowed a cultural heritage, where the word 'nigger' solely meant 'black', and was nothing to do with racism? I have nothing to apologise for, so do not feel any need to revise history.
Actually, further more in complete agreement with you, the term's original US meaning is one of complete neutrality and simply a derrivitive of the Spanish word negro or black. The term has become one of those contextual reference pejorative thingamabobs that society these days associates with hate and demeaning someone according to race. Originally, when someone referred to people as niggers, it just meant blacks. So if someone were to state that the niggers were holding a big fish fry at the Methodist church this Sunday, that would be absolutely no different than substituting "the black community" some 75 years later. Nowadays, via a slice of social evolutionary pie, it would just be stated that the Methodist church is having a fish fry this Sunday. I love what someone said about "whitewashing history". We wouldn't want to blackwash it either. History is one of those things that we almost have to consider unoffensive on personal level if we are to accurately study it and learn from it.
Want a bet? Just watch the politically correct liberals do exactly that! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
