JOE ROGAN AND THE "N-WORD"

Lions, and Tigers, and N-words, OH MY!

Feb 07, 2022

Joe Rogan made the mistake of apologizing for using the “N-word” once-upon-a-time. You know; that pre-woke time of the recent past when it was permissible to use it in an academic sense* - in the course of intelligent, analytical, conversation. It was used thusly by Black and White people during honest discussions for our society’s various fallibilities, and for ultimate betterment.

* My own definition here of “academic sense” is the ability, and permissibility, of using terms, discussing things, and making reasoned argument(s) for purpose of advancing knowledge, wisdom, literacy, and critical thinking capacities, in serving all of the former by virtue of the Academic Argument.

Comedians of all stripes also used the N-word. There was artistic license for doing so and that was understood. In fact, in years gone by, an important role was served by comedy - things that were difficult to discuss in other arenas or areas of taste were possible within the realm of comedy - and this cracked the code for other discussions in other more serious arenas. Many truths were exposed via comedy. Today, comedy is constricted by wokeness, and much of so-called comedy today is simply not funny. There’s a celebrity roast of Sammy Davis, Jr. on YouTube (see the NP down below). It is hilarious - but it would never fly today. View it while you still can and note the truths it exposes on the folly of racism by making overt fun of it - on YouTube.

None of the polite company I kept ever used the N-word (even in an academic or comedic sense). But I’ve known a number of people over the years, white and black - probably others too - who used the word to disparage primarily Black people either en masse or by individual.

I didn’t like its use and stated so. Most recently, I heard the word in the course of my daily life for the first time in years and years. I needed to let the progenitor know I wasn’t on board with expressed sentiments. I began by letting the person know that as a vet I served with too many good people from all backgrounds to let the word go by, and that he could never measure up to any of the foregoing. And, to shut the hell up.

The word, it is important to note, was used as a slur against a fair number of White people, too. “White n——r” was a common term (maybe it still is; I frankly do not know), as in, “That guy’s a White n——r.” Also, various White individuals were simply referred to as “a n——r” when I was growing up. Growing up, I first heard it at the gas station where I worked as a teen. Later, I heard it used infrequently in school by schoolmates, and later still in various Army barracks as employed by both Whites and Blacks - generally in good humor (believe it or not). I certainly wasn’t going to be the “Karen” who tried to scold people who were throwing it around, both White and Black, and across racial lines, in humorous and affectionate fashion.

But the word has always been ugly in its widest context, any narrow ones aside - whether academic or done with affectionate humor. I don’t like it; don’t use it; never used it.

So given this background, what is Rogan’s mistake in my mind? Here’s what he should have said:

In the past, on some shows, I used the “N-word” in certain contexts. I did not use it as a slur, or cast aspersions on anyone: Back in those times, it was permissible to use the word when quoting others, or referring to others’ use of the word, and this was done by simply saying the word straight out. Whites, Blacks, others routinely used the word not as a disparagement, but to quote others, for example, such as when I used it to mention Richard Pryor’s album title. After all, the album title is not “That N-word’s Crazy,” right?

All Rogan had to do was to show this graphic (this is screencapped from Amazon on 2/6/2022 - watch for this to be blurred by Amazon going forward, but here it is at the time of this column, and at the time of Rogan’s apologies):

Rogan could have continued thusly:

Why are people damning me for things I referred to in the past, when Amazon employs the word today? eBay permits use of the word too:

And here I thought Rogan was smart. I thought Rogan had some stones. I guess I was wrong on both counts. If he’d been really clever, he would have used his host, Spotify, as an example too - this would have just about inoculated him from “droppage” and Cancel Culture (I don’t think he will be dropped, but you never know):

Well, I guess people could wonder: “Dave, why don’t you use the N-word straight-out in its ‘academic sense’ on this page now?” Well, in essence, I have with these examples. And they are powerful precisely because they have not been censored by me or, in-turn, by Amazon, eBay, and Spotify. But, also, mainly because we all know what “N-word” points to, and because the radical Left says that even an academic use of the word is a heinous offense. But if I’d published with it in the past, in an open, academic, expository sense I wouldn’t be apologizing for that now here in 2022.

However, in the future, what will we say to a child who asks about it?

Little five-year-old Suzy: Teacher, what’s the N-word?

Teacher: Well, Suzy, it’s a pejorative used primarily against Black people. But it can be used against anyone.

Suzy: What’s a pejorative?

Teacher: Well, it’s a word or phrase that disparages someone.

Suzy: Disparages?

Teacher: Belittles them.

Suzy: Makes them little?

Teacher: Well, noooo… well, yes! Well, um, not really little, but makes them feel small… less than… well, wait a minute. It’ doesn’t really do that, unless they let it. I mean, um, well, it otherizes them.

Suzy: Otherizes? What’s that? I just want to know what the “N” stands for. I know it stands for a word, just like F stands for a word. I heard my Daddy say the F-word. That stands for “fuck” and so the N must…

Teacher: Suzy! You shouldn’t say Fu… the F-word!

Suzy: I know. But I know what it means, too. I saw animals at the zoo doing it and heard a man tell his boy they were fucking… I mean, F’ing… F-wording. So shouldn’t I know what the N-word stands for so I don’t say it by accident? Why do animals fu… I mean, um, why do they F-word each other?

Teacher: If you don’t know what the N-word is, you can’t say it by accident.

Suzy: But I might learn it later, and say it, and not know what I’m doing… People F, right? Will I get to F someday?

Teacher: Goddammit, where’s your fucking mother?! That nig… I mean, that bitch is supposed to be here by now to pick your ass up!!

Joe - you fucked up; you never should have apologized. Once you’re on the apology train, you quickly find yourself in the caboose, then shoved out the door, broken on the tracks, and run over by the next train if you’re not careful.

Good luck Joe - you’ll likely survive this. But learn something; your program loses all its edge if you don’t stay strong. To you, and everyone out there:

Stay strong.

NP on YouTube (get it while you still can): The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast - Man of the Hour Sammy Davis, Jr. , April 24, 1975 . Couple notes: Basketball legend Wilt Chamberlin (8:45) has great comic timing. And, the first time I saw Foster Brooks (36:20) on television - long, long ago - I thought he really was drunk and was horrified. Too many highlights to mention. Too funny.

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JOE ROGAN AND THE "N-WORD"

Lions, and Tigers, and N-words, OH MY!

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