4 - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, November 6, 2001 OP/ED i, ixte 420 MAYNARD STREET ANN ARBOR, MI 48109 daily.letters@umich.edu EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN SINCE 1890 GEOFFREY GAGNON Editor in Chief MICHAEL GRASS NICHOLAS WOOMER Editorial Page Editors NOTABLE QUOTABLE 'First of all, Malik, if you said this in any other country you would be jailed or killed. You're lucky to be in America." Alan Colmes of the Fox Network's "Hannity and Colmes", responding to "un-American "comments made by Malik Shabazz offthe New Black Panther Party about America's war on terrorism. & \ \ Q 1 ,. Kn ® vi {of#bt Cahn Q u5 nus - b , SoMEWNERE oco hd hac .. 1 Unless otherwise noted, unsigned editorials reflect the opinion of the majority of the Daily's editorial board. All other articles, letters and cartoons do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Michigan Daily. .-r--, _., _ _ , _ 7 ,. @, --.i . What's the deal, my Nigga? DUSTIN J. SEIBERT TIE MANIFESTO couple of months I think that it speaks on the ingenuity of many other word in many rap songs, then can anyone ago, there was a black people to use the word in the context of be truly upset when non-blacks-adopt it? In forum regarding humor or something else that it was not origi- effect, it is not entirely different than the use of the topic of who should be nally intended for - a slap in the face of the any expletive; those who swear adopt it from allowed to use the 'N' people that have and continue to use it negative- somewhere. The jokers that picked on poor word, if anyone, and who ly. Think about it; won't the word lose some of Jennifer Lopez for using "niggas" in her song shouldn't. It was definitely its negative "luster" seeing as it is so widely need to pick their battles a bit more carefully. a worthy topic of conver- used in the black community? Certainly not Continuing in my role as devil's advo- sation, but the majority of every black person is a proponent of any use of cate, blacks have a very unfair double stan- the attendees of said forum this word, and many may argue that I am mis- dard in terms of what they are socially were certainly people of guided in my history to think that use of the allowed to say, versus what the "man" can color, and I also believe that it is a topic not word is OK, but much like any offensive word, say. Isn't it rather hypocritical for blacks to to be limited to a specific demographic (never the context in which it is used is essential laugh at the demeaning things Martin mind the fact that I long ago planned to write regarding the use of the word itself. Lawrence has to say about white folks, on it), so let my perspective be read by the Black folks typically truncate the 'er' and knowing that Drew Carey's ass would be majority as well as the minority ... add an 'a' as a start; this is how they said it handed to him if he did the same thing with I imagine that the Civil Rights movement many years ago, and for some reason, it sounds blacks? History, coupled with a lingering allowed the word "nigger" the power that it much better than enunciating the entire word. guilt on many whites' part, is the reason for has today; a word that was historically used so Use of "nigga" has become so cavalier that it is this double standard, but I think that it is commonplace to address or describe blacks almost unconsciously used in many social cir- ludicrous, which is why I don't get caught up that it was once considered an insignificant cles. A general consensus with black folks, in it. I enjoy using the friendly, humorous piece of vocabulary. When black folks decided however, is that non-blacks (particularly cau- phrase "punk-ass white boy" to those that I that they were no longer accepting the use of casians) *are, by no means, allowed to use the am comfortable with, which means that I the word from their oppressors, it developed a word in any context. All things considered, this have no right to get upset if they were to say sort of energy - evolving into the strength is quite understandable, but I will not necessar- something of similar effect in return. Again, that the word currently possesses. Sure, it ily persecute a white person if he/she uses the it is all in context; if some skinhead were to didn't mean much when black folks used it on word with no disrespect intended. I had a white walk up to me and call me a "dirty nigger," each other.while whites were using it in their friend in high school who was born and raised then Houston, we have a problem. Other- faces, but now that the latter have ceased doing in the predominantly black Cass Corridor area wise, to get riled up at a white person who this for the most part, people still question the of Detroit (if you don't know about the Corri- uses it haplessly; or with innocent intentions political correctness of blacks using the word dor, ask a native Detroiter), and he used is basically a waste of energy. Unfortunately, towards each other. "nigga" just as casually as all of his black peers the intentions of the person from whom the Today, the word "nigger" bears numerous would. When it was brought to his attention by word is spoken is not always certain, so I connotations, depending on whom you talk to; it fellow students as a problem, he explained that usually advise my white friends who have can refer to a black person, an ignorant black his language, his music, his dress, etc. was gotten too comfortable with "nigga" to watch person, an ignorant person period, or it can sim- simply a product of his environment ... a cul- themselves so they don't wind up in a situa- ply be used as a cavalier form of reference or tural matter, if you will. White people who tion like Jackie Chan in "Rush Hour". endearment toward someone. Many would ask have embraced the hip-hop culture often find Knowledge. how a word with such negative beginnings themselves spouting the word here and there, could ever be used in a positive manner ... an as the word is so littered in the music. If music Dustin .J Seibert can be reached issue that may be quite unclear to many people. is a universal language, and "nigga" is every via e-mail at dseibert@umich.edu. Approval, not admiration PETER CUNNIFFE ONE FOR THE ROAD bout five minutes into MSNBC's "Days of Crisis: The Commander in Chief," I started thinking, "Wow, Brian Williams is a really good actor." After all, here was a serious journalist putting on a straight face and earnestly trying to lend an air of gravity to this nauseating, Fox News- esque fluff piece, seemingly designed for no other purpose than to make George W. Bush look good. At least I hoped he was acting. I'll assume that he was talking, yet again, about Bush's new sense of mission, seriousness, and how on Sep. 11, he was extra careful not to upset the children he was reading to, because some producer or news executive was interested in journalistically fellating Bush for his own rea- sons and Williams was merely caught up in the larger plan. Flipping to another news channel, I was treated to Barbara Bush telling a crowd how proud she was to have such a wise man as her son leading us. It's always comforting to be assured by someone's mom that they're really smart, especially as defensively as Barbara Bush always sounds. While criticism of the administration is heat- ing up, it tends to be directed more towards the White House's hapless henchmen, most notably Tom Ridge and Tommy Thompson, than our newly fearless leader, George W. Bush himself. Instead, we get treated to specials ind stories about how he's "grown" so much because of the recent events and are constantly reassured by news anchors, talking heads and his mom that he's become more serious, focused and is in fact, not an idiot. I guess going to Yale and Har- vard still counts for something. Maybe all this fawning coverage as we face mounting difficulties in our efforts in Afghanistan, dealing with anthrax outbreaks and the deteriorating economy is driven by his sky high poll numbers, which lead the ratings seek- ers to figure this is what we want to see. If a pollster called me up and asked how I thought Bush was doing, I'd probably say I was still with the vast majority supporting him for the attacks on Afghanistan and the stepped up security at home. But he and the media shouldn't get the idea that I and hopefully others in my position, trust or like him or have as high regard for his capabilities as his mother. In fact, while approving generally of Bush's anti-terror moves, I think he's a terrible president in most respects. For example, the House of Representatives narrowly passed an aviation security bill that leaves airport security in the hands of private companies thanks to heavy lobbying by Bush, who reportedly wanted to prevent those low wage jobs from being unionized. I'm impressed that his interest in attracting better qualified security personal with the higher pay, benefits and job security of union jobs (as most law enforcement jobs are) couldn't overcome his instinctive Republican hatred of organized labor, but not in a good way. Bush has also taken this opportunity to push for oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, saying that this will benefit national security by reducing our dependence on foreign sources. Forget the relatively small amount of oil most estimate is in ANWR and the decade it may take to get any of it. I'd take this oil execu- tive filled administration's line about cutting dependence on foreign oil a little more seriously if they'd say anything about raising car and SUV fuel efficiency standards and other means of reducing consumption. But I'm not holding my breath. Also on the environmental degradation front, Bush recently repealed Clinton-era min- ing rules that let the Department of the Interior block new mines on federally owned -land if they would hurt the environment or local com- munities. Protecting local communities; oh the horrors of big government. Then there was Bush's decision to reinter-. pret the Presidential Records Act and unilateral- ly decide whether or not to release a former president's sensitive papers after the statutory twelve-year period. I guess keeping daddy's presidential and vice presidential dirt under wraps is more important than holding a democ- ratic government accountable more than a decade after the fact. George W. Bush's adequate leadership on our most pressing problems has kept up his poll numbers, but no one should mistake this for a surge of great personal admiration. I, like the majority of people, support the various efforts of our many faceted "war," but in dealing with other issues, Bush keeps reminding me why I, like the majority of people, did not vote for him. Crisis-level support shouldn't lead anyone to believe all we want to hear about Bush from the media (especially television news) is the sound of them patting him on the back. I'd much pre- fer, as I'm sure he would, that Brian Williams remove his lips from George's left nut and use them to tell us about the serious issues still fac- ing us, rather than thanking the president one more time for not being as dumb as we thought. Besides, that's Tony Snow's job. Peter Cunniffe can be reached via e-mail atpcunnifj@umich.edu. V LETTERS TO THE EDITOR When time was up, Michigan was winner To THE DAILY: In the headline of his column, Raphael Goodstein states "Varsity is now getting what it really deserves" (11/5/01). Since when does any team at any time deserve one game over anoth- er'? Sure, our run defense wasn't spectacular. Sure we shot ourselves in the foot a few times over. The fact remains that we were up 24-20 of the end of the final drive of the game. We all saw the clock stop prior to any sort of spike or whistle of any kind. A game is not decided by who has the most yards, who has the most penalties or who has the most turnovers. It is decided by which team has more points when the clock reads 0:00. On Saturday afternoon we were the winner, it was ugly, but we won. The refs and clock operator didn't agree, but those of us who watched know who won. KEVIN GILBERT LSA senior Planned Parenthood's patients receiving pre- natal care double those seeking abortion" ("Anti-choice terrorism," 10/31/01) is a lie. However, the statistics cited to contradict that do not disprove Mann's statement. Percentages from the annual report are used, rather than solid numbers, so the ratio is still undetermined. This use of manipulating given statistics to favor one side of a debate is what makes people distrust statistics, and shows an uneducated debater. Furthermore, Planned Parenthood strives to help people receive reproductive care at an 9 ..........