*ahem*

[sabotabby]

Clearly, what's needed here is more gratuitous cat pictures.



"But Luna, I don't get it. Why can black hip hop artists say the N-word and white shock jocks can't? Isn't that unfair?"



"There are some things you'd say to your mom, say, if you were having an argument with her, or even just joking around, but that you'd be really offended if a complete stranger said to her."



"I don't remember my mom."

"Theoretically, if you had a mom."

"Theoretically, yeah. Because we'd have a family history and shared experiences and struggles and all that."



"And you know how sabotabby and her friends are always making anti-Semitic jokes?"

"That's kind of annoying."

"Sure it is. But that's kind of different than, say, if some goyish politician proposed rounding up all the Jews and putting them in death camps."

"It's sort of about social power."

"That's right, Marinetti. Social power and cultural context."



"But Luna, I still don't think that anyone should say the N-word! Or the B-word. Even hip hop artists! Those are horrible and demeaning words."

"I agree. But you and I are cats, and if we blunder into the complex terrain of human race and gender politics, we're probably going to look kind of silly. So it's probably best to chill out a bit and listen to what people of colour have to say. It's not like they've been silent about the issue—in fact, there's a lot of debate, particularly from feminists of colour, about language and what you can reclaim and what you can't."

"It's presumptuous to assume that the black community hasn't thought of and discussed these things."

"They have. And listening to that debate—listening first, before weighing in on what any community should or shouldn't do to combat centuries of exploitation and oppression—is a good first step for outsiders to take."

"We also shouldn't assume that all hip hop is the same, or that it's full of people talking about 'bling' and 'bitches and hoes.' Hip hop encompasses the same diversity as any other musical genre."



"That's right, Marinetti. It's terribly shortsighted to claim that hip hop artists invented racist and sexist language. Which was the point that sabotabby was trying to make in yesterday's post."

"It's really important to discuss the messages that music (and art, and literature, and TV, and movies) transmit. But we've got to approach the discussion with understanding of history and power differentials."



"Anyway, we can all agree that Imus is an asshat, right."

"Definitely."

"I'm glad we had this talk, Luna."

"Me too, Marinetti. Me too."