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Monday, December 19, 2011

Niggerbitch


Yes, you have read the headline correct. Jackie Magazine, a popular Dutch magazine publis
Here's a translation of the article:
She has street cred, she has a ghetto ass and she has a golden throat. Rihanna, the good girl gone bad, is the ultimate niggabitch and displays that gladly, and for her that means: what’s on can come off. If that means she’ll be on stage half naked, then so be it. But Dutch winters aren’t like Jamaican ones, so pick a clothing style in which your daughter can resist minus ten. No to the big sunglasses and the pornheels, and yes to the tiger print, pink shizzle and everything that glitters. Now let’s hope she won’t beat anybody up at daycare."
 Anyone care to translate what "she has a golden throat" means? Does it mean what I think it does? Also, Rihanna is Barbadian, not Jamaican. That's a basic fact. People, who aren't Rihanna fans, know that she is from the Barbados. The lady should have Googled before she approved the atrocious and poorly written article. The last line is very stereotypical black woman. The "niggerbitch" she is probably discussing has multiple kids out of wedlock and is very angry and ghetto; why else would she be in daycare beating people up?
Editor Eva Hoeke's response:
Dear readers,
 First: thanks for all your responses. We are of course very fed up over this and especially very
shocked. However I’m glad that we’re engaging in a dialogue on this page — not everybody does that. 
Thanks for this. Other than that I can be brief about this: this should have never happened.
Period. While the author meant no harm — the title of the article was intended as a joke — it was a bad joke, to say the least. And that slipped through my, the editor-in-chief’s, fingers. Stupid, painful and sucks for all concerned. The author has been addressed on it, and now I can only ensure that these terms will no longer end up in the magazine. Furthermore I hope that you all believe there was absolutely no racist motive behind the choice of words. It was stupid, it was naive to think that this was an acceptable form of slang — you hear it all the time on tv and radio, then your idea of what is normal apparently shifts — but it was especially misguided: there was no malice behind it. We make our magazine with love, energy and enthusiasm, and it can sometimes happen that someone is out of line. And then you can only do one thing: apologize. And hope that others wish to accept it. From the bottom of my heart I say it again: we never intended to offend anyone. And I mean that.
Regards,
Eva Hoeke
Eva tried that. I know most editors, who are worth their salt, read the entire magazine cover to cover before sending it to press. Even if this was a last minute addition, someone on the editorial staff had to approve it. The irony may be that the slipped through her fingers, but the resignation didn't slip through her fingers. The publisher probably told her to resign or be fired. No word on what happened to the author of the article.
Rihanna's response:

@evajackie I hope u can read english, because your magazine is a poor representation of the evolution of human rights! I find you disrespectful, and rather desperate!! You ran out of legit, civilized information to print! There are 1000's of Dutch girls who would love to be recognized for their contributions to your country, you could have given them an article. Instead, u paid to print one degrading an entire race! That's your contribution to this world! To encourage segregation, to mislead the future leaders to act in the past! You put two words together,with the intent of abasement, that made no sense..."***** BITCH"?!.... Well with all respect, on behalf of my race, here are my two words for you...FUCK YOU!!!
Besides the last two words, Rihanna's response was actually nice. I was with her until the last sentence. She could have made her point without cursing.

I don't get angry over this type of stuff anymore. Racism exists and we know it exists. It's the elephant in the room that people avoid. In 2008, with the election of President Obama, we supposedly entered a post racial society but that's not true. In a society built on racist ideologies, it's hard to erase hundreds, even thousands, of years "I can take your land and your people because I'm scientifically superior than you because of my race.: I feel like getting angry over an article is pointless. The people who we should be angry with is ourselves.

Do I think the editor is right in approving an article that is titled using an offensive term? No, but I understand her response, in a way. She saw the term freely used in America and she thought it was okay. I really wish the lady used some common sense. It's never okay to use such an offensive term and think you're giving a compliment. Anyway, back to us and our responsibility. This lady would have never printed an article called "Bog Bitch," "Buddhahead Bitch," "Chinky Bitch," "Cracker Bitch," "Spic Bitch," "Wetback Bitch," and all the other slurs out there that could have been used. In fact, no other slur would be used a freely as the word Nigger was. I don't care how angry we get and how entitled we feel to use it, no one should use it.

We didn't earn the word. It's like when divorced women, with no kids with their ex-husband, say they earned the last name; you can't earn a last name and you can't earn the right to use an offensive word.This is a case of "Do as I say and not as I do." A parent cannot tell their child not to smoke but they constantly smoke, the child will emulate their parents. We cannot freely use a word that has no positive connotation at all and expect people to feel uncomfortable using it. For example, the nappy headed hoe thing with Don Imus. Although I thought it was in poor taste, I tried to explain to a friend that Imus felt okay using the term because nappy headed and hoe are words that are freely thrown around in the black community. The friend and I got nowhere during this discussion.

If we want people to view nigger as a word that shouldn't be used by anyone, in any way, shape, or form, we have to stop using it in any way, shape, or form. I think it's ignorant for young black men, Jay-Z included, who never lived through the racial equality struggle, to say they're taking the sting out of nigger by removing the "er" ending and replacing it with an "a." They never felt the sting of the word as they walked through angry mobs, were beaten, or watched friends and loved ones be lynched. I feel like the younger generation, and Jay-Z, who I feel uses it to sell music, uses it because they don't understand the true meaning of the word. And it obviously has some sting to it because we get offended when people, with the wrong hue, use it. The word is still offensive no matter who uses it and in what context they use it in. For "nigga" to mean a black person is offensive. I don't get where the sting has been removed. If someone, black or any other race, said "look at that nigga," I would be highly offended and I know most people would be too, even the young black men who use it so freely. We have to stop using any word we wouldn't want anyone else to use in order for people to get the message that it's not okay.

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