Coloured People Make the best Music...

tony 2 tone · 24-01-2003 4:22am

Some one delete this topic soon, please for the children! Oh won't somebody think of the children.....and grammar!

thedrowner · 24-01-2003 12:36pm

Originally posted by Shorty
nvwihtrgiarbfipaibgcabfbvypqnvsbyi...the whole thing was made entirely out of rubber! nanafdhqgpg svbwlrqpbvba agrqnvaahv
Snake! Snake! mbnfgaczweqoewqtpmbviaunagye owefhbadgb Cairo!!! qoriq bqiug gfkjsb shguyi sdfuirqpfrmavndgo ...poisonous monkey... bxbvuyge eqihgrpritn suhdg basoiepfn pqhr urqptrb repiqg iagpqn hfi...like a giant marshmallow! bzfg abergoqe qerypqb rpeg mghjo ternv ...fingerless gloves were essential... fvvvsnttiuwk ioufrbdisog uaoufcalo uoaf yfgjhd bxnruikfjdbgipqea iaur aiprgbrq A lorryload of interesting cheeses... kdsfoigw ierow grqufr. I'm afraid that I was very... very... drunk.

Go on, just say thats what it was. You did post at 02:43 in the morning.

brilliant shorty....brilliant!!!!

this is a hilarious thread. i still havent worked out whether he/she's bn serious or not.

Manics · 24-01-2003 1:14pm

whats wrong with yous? did anyone read what i wrote at all? ARe yu TALKING TO ME OR SOMEONE ELSE? WHERE WAS I BEEN RACIST? QUOTE ME! ****IN AMATEUIR? AT WHAT? BEEN A PRICK?
QUOTE ME WHERE I WAS RACIST! QUOTE ME! i FYOUR ALL SO RIGHT ON - SHOW ME. DIM-WITTED? WHERE THE **** DO YOU GET OFF CALLIN ME DIM - WITH YOUR NEITCHE QUOTES. HOW ABOUT YOU BRING ABIT OF INTELLIGENCE INTO THIS - QUOTE ME AND EXPLAIN TO ME WHY I'M RACISTS. ANSWER SOME OF THE QUESTIONS I ASKED YOUS BEFORE. STOP TALKING GIBBERISH. WAKE UP AND THINK!!! SHOW ME WHERE I WAS RACIST!!!!

thedrowner · 24-01-2003 1:18pm

Originally posted by joey D
I'm surprised no-one posted the obligatory dictionary definition of racism, here goes:

racism

n 1: the prejudice that members of one race are intrinsically superior to members of other races

Therefore he's being racist against white people, right?

the fnj · 24-01-2003 1:31pm

Can we stop responding to this muppet?

Manics we will debate this with you when you learn to turn off that green light beside caps lock and learn to space out your paragraphs.

Honestly, it's so hard to read what you’re trying to type.

Wools · 24-01-2003 1:49pm

Yeah manics

learn to spell/type/stop being a negative racist

prick

Manics · 24-01-2003 1:52pm

Is this easier to read? Now will yous answer my questions.

the66electric · 24-01-2003 4:47pm

Originally posted by Manics
HERE 66ELECTRIC - DO YOU REALISE HOW RIGHT YOU WERE? I AM SUCH A STUPID CLOWN AND I SHOULD **** OFF AWAY FROM INTELLIGENT THOUGHT

You said it bro. there's a KKK rally in the deep south that you could hook up with. maybe they'll be burning a lower case t.

the66electric · 24-01-2003 4:48pm

I am laughing so hard that i may vom...

Manics · 24-01-2003 5:39pm

Hello. Thank you all for your anti-racist comments. They are very much appreciated. My name is Chindu and I am from Nigeria. I have been in Ireland for 2 years. Manics has asked me to read this thread and cast my opinion on it, though my ethnicity and skin colour do not give me any expertise on the topic by default.

I believe that the sentiment expressed by most posters is positive and well-meaning and this, I believe, bodes well for the future.

I do not wish to be enthralled in direct debate. I do wish, however, to defend my friend from the allegations of racisim that are being pitched at him. I have known Manics since I arrived in Ireland and I can certainly state that he is not, by any means, a racist. Having read the threads attached I can understand, perhaps, how he has been misconstrued. I live with my family in the North Central area of Dublin. Manics and his family have been here for several generations. There has been tensions between the many communities here, but both Manics, and his family, are part of the indigenous community who have mads efforts to welcome us.

So I would ask you to perhaps read his previous posts with this in mind and to take as given that no bad intensions were meant. Manics has asked me to add, and I concur, that he is well able to defend himself - and this is an exception!

Thanks you for your time,

Chindu Onjalem.

joey D · 24-01-2003 6:02pm

wtf?

helenloves · 24-01-2003 7:08pm

Chindu, I think you need to be careful as to how people are perceived. Just because you don't think he's racist doesn't mean he's not. No offence but there are very few of us who are authorities on racism. I respect you for standing up for your friend, though.:)

the66electric · 24-01-2003 7:11pm

Jesus this thread has taken a turn i did not expect. I am so ****ing intrigued i may die...

lamda · 25-01-2003 1:08am

Ohhh isn't this nice?? I feel like im on NewsNight!!!:D

Kali · 25-01-2003 3:07pm

I think someone got confused between the Phantom FM boards and the Adrian Kennedy phone FM104 show thing .. this is all quite surreal

Manics · 25-01-2003 4:44pm

Look, i wasnt trying to piss everyone off. Im sorry if i got my lingo wrong. I just wanted to see if there was anyone else who was intrested inhip-hop and rap and stuff. Thats all. And i thought this would be a good place. So thats all. I didnt mean to get all pissed off. I wont post anything else if yous dont want me to. Good luck.

o sleep · 25-01-2003 6:36pm

god no! please, keep posting, as long as you keep it entertaining. this is, perhaps, the funniest thread i've read in a long time. perhaps my favourite (after manics stopped shouting) was when chindu came in. it's like when people say 'i'm not homophobic, i'm mean i have friends who are gay, but what i understand is why ...'

Morn · 26-01-2003 10:50am

Manics, I think there are two key points to why people are reacting harshly to your enquiry.

First off the usage of the term 'coloured' - the point is that everyone is coloured and hmm there are no good words here really either - I think black is generally seen as acceptable. African-American works (ish) except we're not American. African-European perhaps? Oh I don't know. The point, Manics, is that you are coloured, I am coloured and your friend is coloured - to refer to black people as coloured implies that you are normal and they are different - never a good thing.
But really they're just words - it is entirely the intention behind them that counts.

The other point was about you referring to whether or not black people write better music - the whole point about racism is that it maintains we're all equal so therefore questions like this aren't valid. I do think that it is not unreasonable to discuss whether people from a certain culture are, in your opinion, stronger songwriters - whether or not people like to admit it there is a separate culture in America for a lot of black people - I'm probably phrasing this all wrong and I'm going to collect my own share of racist awards for this post but I think it needs saying.

So yeah, when you have a fairly closed community and they share a common interest in a type of music (like you mentioned hip-hop) then I think it is reasonable to discuss aspects of their music. To use a non-race related parallel - it's like discussing people who learn to play jazz in New Orleans - of course not everyone plays jazz there by any means - but there is a definite culture in place and for someone who is learning jazz, there is just a lot more out there to help you grow musically.

Okay y'all can go ahead and shoot me now, but I think Manics original post was badly phrased rather than just bad...

Shorty · 26-01-2003 1:00pm

Originally posted by Morn
Okay y'all can go ahead and shoot me now, but I think Manics original post was badly phrased rather than just bad...

What!?! No it wasn't, it was comedic genius!

helenloves · 27-01-2003 1:54pm

I think Morn has posted the most comprehensive answer yet. I have to agree with you. At the end of the day words and terminology go in and out of fashion. It's important to determine the semantic bounaries of a word through debate and then, when it is realised that the definition attributed to a word within a specific context can no longer sustain a concept within that debate- then it is time to introduce and refine your terminology (i.e. from negro, to coloured to black to Afro-American/European and so on). This is a continuous process.

At the end of the day Manics seemed to be saying that the music he prefered came from a particular culture - that of African American. His use of the term coloured is dated. It does not make him a racist. Looking over the thread I cannot find an instance where Manics stated or suggested that any race or ethnic group was superior to another. He did suggest that he believed that the best hip-hop came from an African-American culture. That's less an issue of racism that it is musicology.

What is more dangerous, in my mind, is institutional racism. Where people are so sure that they are not racist that they become blind to their inherent racism and that found in schools, colleges, workplaces, families and so on. It is very easy, I think, to be righteous and use the correct terminology and believe you are anti-racist. It is a more important excerise to admit you are inherantly racisit and become aware of it in your everyday decisions.

So Manics, how about this for a question. You said you were not being racist in any of you comments and I agree with you. But if you accept that everyone is inherently racist, can you see where your racism manifests itself?:cool:

shay · 27-01-2003 2:09pm

I glanced at this thread before and made a minor comment.

Having read the remainder, I have to say I'm quite perturbded.

It would appear that a few of ye actually think that it's funny Manics was accused of being racist. Clearly, he/she was very upset by that, enough to get a friend to read the thread to vouch for his/her character, and then offer not to post anything again if we wanted him/her to.

Calling someone a racist (a conclusion I cannot formulate merely on the basis of his/her posts) and then laughing about theri upset is a little.... disturbing.

If someone cannot articulate his/her opinion properly (I believe that is his/her mistake here) it does not allow others who may be better writers to infer meanings where they may be none and then ostracise him/her.

I agree that the thread has become quite serious, but it isn't because Manics made it so.

thedrowner · 27-01-2003 4:11pm

well to be honest shay, i thought he was taking the piss....up until his last post

Tyrrial · 27-01-2003 8:00pm

we can all agree that manics..... is... ummm... i dunno... well what ever manics is they have an elastic band tied from there big toe to there tong.

if no body got that it was in reference to there foot being contantly in theit mouth..

helenloves · 28-01-2003 4:12pm

This thread has had its ups and downs it has to be said. We all voiced opinions and didn't always agree. I think its ironic, though, that the topic was about prejudice. Very few of Manics critics have responded properly either to Chindu or Manics since Chindu's message. By our silence we are forcing Manics off the board. Surely this is as disgusting a trait, and as inherent an element of racism, as we could hope to avoid.

I've come to this conclusion: I'm going to continue to read this thread, but, in empathy with Manics, I am going to stop using this board. I would find it hard to remain a part of a community that can allow this to happen.

I have to agree with Shay. This has become a very serious thread, and its not Manics that made it so.

Deckchair · 28-01-2003 6:03pm

Are Gay men better dancers than straight men?

joey D · 28-01-2003 6:07pm

yes they are, and they know more about interior design too...

Shorty · 28-01-2003 6:12pm

Helenloves; What age are you? Are you in college? I take it your studying Linguistics or some course involving it? Or maybe you just have a passing interest in it?

What would leaving the board achieve? No one has asked Manics to leave, or forced him to leave? Allow what to happen preciselly?

I'm sorry if I have offended Manics, but I'm quite skeptical and have seen similar threads to this on other boards trying to catch ppl out. Read over the thread right up to Morn's last post, you can see that not many ppl took him/her seriously due to the nature of it.

Also I'm quite politically active and left wing, but I don't spout on about it. With all this I'm more liberal than you stuff. Apart from one thread attacking censorship and one post about the anti-war protest ( which was only to provide more information to a post before it ) I don't like to discuss it. There is a thing as being too pc.

One more question helenloves, what do you think of the slate and past issues of it? For example, the blacks in the jacks edition?

Tyrrial · 28-01-2003 6:49pm

personaly i feel that helenloves is right in some respect but i really don't think silence stike is going to solve anything.

many people on this bourd say things that other people really hate, and if what some one posts forces a stong and negative reaction, they should just deal with it.....

anyway.. as far as i can see Manics just Kept digging the hole there in

helenloves · 28-01-2003 7:01pm

I have to post in my defence.

I am an avid reader of The Slate. I think the Blacks in the Jacks issue was brilliant. Aggitation and satire are the best way to instigate debate on important issues and to challenge people's preconceived notions. The point of that particular issue was to point out a growing trend in Dublin bars for Africans to work in the toilets; a growing trend disliked by many of my friends because of its colonial overtones and their fear of the image it presents. I don't like the image either - but I think Manics story of his friend, who I presume is Chindu, loosing a job because of other people's fear is quite telling.

In relation to being political and not talking about it. That seems to me to be pointless. In a world where so many people are politically dormant; where people are not aware of their rights and where people who have a voice in democracies don't use it to act responsibly on behalf of others who don't have the same luxury - in a world such as this, why are you staying muted? Do you believe its a mtter of pride to be politically aware and you don't wish to dazzle people with your knowledge. What is the point of being politically aware if you can't discuss it and introduce people to other ideas. I'm not talking about shoving ideologies down people's throats - I'm simply talking about debate. About hearing other peoples points-of-view and vocalising your own. Surely everybody has a responsibility both to themselves and others without the same privelages to do this?

Shorty · 28-01-2003 7:27pm

Well, I must say you have an excellent command of the English language helenloves.

What I meant was that I don't discuss politics on the phantom board, because as Manics tried to point out, it's about Music. Political activism should mean being active. Although the philosopher in me tells me that in order to change the world you must change how ppl think, perceive it and question it. Also I prefer discourse over debate, as ( I find ) it leads to rhetoric and sophistry. I also have a dislike for debate due to my own experiences ( Spectating more so than participation ) of debating here in college.

In conclusion, I don't feel you leaving the board as a sign of solidarity would achieve much, and the board would definately miss someone with your linguistic flare.

Coloured People Make the best Music...

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