Paper Calls Out ‘Niggerhead’; Uses ‘Redskins’ in Adjacent StoryBy Rob CapricciosoAnyone who read the story The Washington Post published over the weekend, lamenting Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry’s alleged inaction on changing the name of the “Niggerhead” hunting camp his family has frequented for decades, knew that this was not good news for Perry. But few in the mainstream media have pointed out The Post’s own abuse of language in continuing to refer to the D.C. football team by the name “Redskins”—a word that many Indians find just as offensive as many African Americans find the N-word.
On its website, in fact, The Washington Post juxtaposed its stories about Perry next to a story, titled “Redskins on Hold, Escape Win Over Rams.” The newspaper’s editors apparently did not recognize the irony.And:
Bob Gough, a leader with the Intertribal Council on Utility Policy, wrote to Post Ombusman Patrick B. Paxton to highlight his displeasure: “I saw the top stories listed and could not miss the ironic, unconscious hypocrisy blatantly displayed,” Gough wrote. “I am calling this to your attention, since most folks in Washington, D.C. seem to be completely oblivious to racial offensiveness which your football team’s name still carries in Indian country, yet the first two lead stories decry the use of the ‘N’ word in compound form with another body part.
“Sir, which is worse: That a potential presidential candidate from Texas has a family hunting camp that was once named ‘Niggerhead’ or the Nation’s Capital, where he is hoping to move, still proudly supporting a sports team named ‘Redskins’?Comment: For more on the subject, see
Racists Redskins Had Racist Owner and
Critics Slam Snyder's Hypocrisy.
2 comments:
Lacking is criticism of Pres. Obama for inviting hate-rapper "Common" to the White House. Common loves to use the N-word.
He's the oral equivalent of that awful rock, and ourrent President invited him into the White House.
I rather doubt that Perry is going to bring that rock with him if he gets elected and place it on the south lawn.
A protest rap isn't close to being comparable to a family heirloom. And the criticism of Perry wasn't heavy once the facts came out.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/10/outrage-common-white-house-poetry-michelle-obama_n_859945.html
Common is a pretty hard sell when it comes to striking the right divisive note, and while the Daily Caller could have mined his most recent album, "Universal Mind Control," for some dirty-ass songs that encourage some athletic sexual activity, it doesn't really contain the short, sharp shock of those gangsta rap classics about running drugs and capping police officers. But they dug and dug, and found an example of what they're looking for, in the form of a poem called "A Letter To The Law."
It shouldn't take a genius to explain what's going on in this poem: It is what the title suggests, a "letter" to the source of moral authority written from the perspective of inner city black youths who feel that the police don't protect them, that the media loves to blow up and then tear down their community's celebrities and that the government has been acting more gangsta--in terms of their invasion/occupation of Iraq--than they could ever hope. There's an obvious sad note at the end, that the writers of this "letter" might perpetuate the cycle of decline themselves, but the hope is that, by seeking knowledge over violence, they might prevail. (The reference to "My Uzi Weighs A Ton" is key, here: Common is referencing an old Public Enemy song that posits that the mind is the greatest weapon.)
By now, you might be remembering the NWA discography and wondering to yourself: "Wow, is that the worst they can find?" And the answer is literally, "Yes."
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