Regardless of where you fall on this heated View discussion about this week’s ubiquitous Fox News/Jesse Jackson/the ‘N-word’ debate (hat tip to Cover Awards),I think Read the full post.
Jul 17
2008
06:22 PM ET
How do you feel about the latest 'View' brouhaha? (Viewhaha?)
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i found this to be so absurd. elizabeth just keeps interupting. she’s clearly not trying to understand but asking questions in a way to bash her point home. she doesn’t want them to explain or answer her questions, she just wants them to listen to her and tell her they’ve seen the light and she’s right. and what is her point? the word is bad and nobody can use it. EVER. she just sounds so sheltered when she siplifies such a complex issue. not that it’s right, but some women refer to other female friends as b*tch but would be offended if someone said it the wrong way. gays will also do it w/ each other. subgroups do that. it’s not uncommon. what do rich, white, NFL wife, college sweetheart marrying, reality tv turned woman’s talkshow hosts call each other in private? oh yeah, there aren’t many people that lucky in the world.
I rarely agree with Elizabeth, but in this topic she was making a good point. I wish she could have done it without the tears, but I can understand her frustration. Sherri had some nerve telling her that she could use the “N” word, but she doesn’t want to hear it come out of a white person’s mouth. She and Woopie don’t make the rules about words that can be said by any race of people. If they want to use the “N” word then they better be ready to hear it from anyone else who wants to use it. They are separatists and their attitude is what keeps the races at odds. Jesse Jackson is a hypocrite and they are no different. I like Woopie and Sherri for the most part, but they were wrong on this topic. It seems that the more white people try to accept unity between the races, the more black people try to keep their race separate. You can’t have it both ways. This kind of special treatment is what keeps our politicians pandering to groups instead of to all Americans and I am sick of it
I understood what Whoopi was saying about using the word the way they want to, but it does nothing but continue the mind-set of separateness. Elisabeth wanted to know how we get past that. We all know the history and the pain associated with that word. No matter how it is now used or by whom, the use alone perpetuates the attitudes and prejudices associated with it. Stop using it. Let it die. Let future generations be free of it. The history will still be there. That doesn’t mean it has to be carried forward. Starting now, change the way things are. Language counts, people! Barbara, stop stifling debate and free expression on your show. You are fast showing your age and increasing irrelevance to the discussion. You have no idea how it pains me to say that, but you aren’t contributing anything any more.
The whole debate was beyond interesting to me. They both had good points and it seemed a pretty fair fight overall. It’s not a debate that will be settled on that show or anytime soon but just having the discussion is vastly important.
On to a slightly new topic, I cannot stand Barbara, she is so irritating!! I can hardly stand to watch her degrade herself anymore. She’s a sad joke at this point. She never understands what’s going on, almost never keeps up with the convo. She interupts interesting discussion to plug her book. If she wasn’t the creator they would have kicked her off by now. She has zero relevance at this point. Her points sadly don’t maek sense half the time. She’s gets lost in what they are tlaking about and spends the whole time making stupid faces. Almost like she forgets she’s on tv. I almost never watch when she’s on she annoys me to such a degree. She’s a waste of space on that show.
The problem with conversations of a serious nature on “The View” is simple: everyone gives, but nobody takes. It becomes like a FOX NEWS debate, “I’ll just yell my point over and over until we run out of time.”
There was no listening in this clip, only talking. The sad thing is, it seems public discourse is devolving more and more into this, and I fear we’ll eventually polarize ourselves into oblivion.
I am sick in tired of this double standard, YOU CAN’T HAVE YOU CAKE AND EAT IT TOO!!!!!!!!
I say, either we allow everyone to say it, or no one to say it at all. But honestly, going around saying that Black people are the only ones who can say the word is not going to stop people from other races to not say it. They may not say it around Blacks, but they’ll definitely say it at home when no one’s around.
Honestly, if the word was used all of the time it would get saturated to the point where eventually the meaning would either change, or it wouldn’t hurt as much to hear it.
All I know is that I’m tired of the merry-go-round concerning this word. Can we just make a decision on it and be done with it already?
I watched as much of it as I could but I find these women to be annoying in general. Personally, as a black person, I find the “term of endearment” argument to be a total crock. My father tried that argument with me so I began paying attention to how blacks use the word and 99% of the time it’s used when someone does or says something wrong or stupid and people who use it don’t usually realize it.
This is one time when I actually agree with Elisabeth. The N word should never be used, regardless of who is using it. If blacks are free to say it all the time (I hear it constantly in music) then whoever listens to that music, which is people of all races, will have no problem using it! Yes I get Whoopi’s point that the word is only as bad as the meaning you put behind it, but it’s been used as negative for so long that I don’t see it meaning anything other than that for awhile. I know homosexuals have adopted the word ‘queer’ to not be offensive anymore, but that’s because we don’t use it in offensive sentences! I don’t think I have ever heard the N word used unless it was following someone doing something stupid or wrong. If blacks, or anyone else who uses it, keeps saying it in that context then it’s always going to be negative! It’s a shame Elisabeth had to cry and Walters cut her off, it was FINALLY and interesting discussion
ARRRGGGHHH, watching this made me mad and then made me glad I no longer watch the View…I am a black person who detests the N word because that’s just how I was raised. I do have people close to me however, who use it freely and even though I used to hate that, i realized that at the end of the day it is just a word and words are what we make them. And contrary to what people may think, as a black person, i feel it is losing its signifigance both as term of endearment and racial slur. While I do not completely agree with whoopi and sheri, they were speaking for THEMSELVES as elizabeth seemed to be generalizing all black people and then turned on the waterworks when she was outed as a delusional, naive white woman. We would all love to live in this “world” she speaks of, but it dosen’t exist. Not yet anyway. This is why there is a double standard for blacks and whites concerning this word. Period. It’s not right or wrong, it just is.
Why is it commonly felt that it is ok to say bad things about your own family? I would like to gently suggest that harsh, critical, mean-spirited words directed toward another human being are really NOT ok, despite how justified they may seem to be, because they prevent forward motion. I have never, in 55 years, seen this not to be true. (It doesn’t mean that I have always been successful in avoiding this practice, of course. We are all fallible human beings.)
Whoppi brings up the point that her mother couldn’t vote…my grandmother couldn’t vote. In fact everyone’s greatgrandmother didn’t have the right to vote. This country as all countries are works in progress and we should celebrate the progress, but this mindset of never ever letting go and of sticking in the past will not help kids graduate from school and get a job. America is the land of opportunity not the land of guarantees and Whoppi and all the other veiled America haters want to stay stuck in that bad past and the n word is one way to stay stuck. Think about how much money this woman makes and instead of celebrating how far she has come and how in just a generation there is a difference between her mother and herself she just can’t let go of the past. When Elizabeth talks about letting go of the N word she didn’t know that Whoppi and Sherri don’t want to ever let go of the word and therefore a claim to the whole victim thing. Double standards breed resentment.
It made me cry too. Whoopi is a disgrace. The N word should never be spoken by anyone. Whoopi has no respect for those who came before her and fought for equality. When I think about the harassment my grandparents and great grandparents went through, it makes me sick that Whoopi can toss the word around so callously.
That’s why I like the word “jerk.” It is an equal opportunity pejoritive: any race, any creed, any philosophy. I’m white and Roman Catholic, and I’ve met a lot of white, Roman Catholic jerks in my 53 years. Unfortunately, there have been times when I’ve been a jerk. I’ve also met some all-stars: black, white, Jew, Muslim, Christian, Republican, Democrat. Fortunately, every now and then yet not often enough, I manage to “act” like an all star. I’m sure God knows the full truth!
I rarely do agree with Elizabeth but I do respect what she has to say. I do not think her cohosts do. I am so tired of Joy shutting her down and she is obnoxious! I am tired of the banter — get on with other topic already. I don’t like Joy or Barbara – lets get rid of them and keep the others. That could be more entertaining. If Elizabeth leaves, I’m done with this show. Sick of it and tired of the revolving door of people who come and go. Who is running this show? Barbara? PUHELASE. Hang it up sister!