Prince giving interview to UK tabloids on 5th anniversary?.....

[MichaelYoureAStud]

Michael knew it meant monkey. Listen to the first thing he said "You should not say he's an animal. You should not say he's a *****. I'm a Jackson."

There's no doubt in my mind he viewed it in a racist connotation. He grew up during the 50's and 60's. Might have been Hollywood, but there was still racial tensions. Motown couldn't protect them from everything.

 

[HIStoric]

I don't mind the word 'J.acko' by itself and there's nothing wrong with it. 99.99% of people are unfamiliar with it's racist history and don't use it in such a way, merely using it as a nickname for their friends who are called 'Jackson'. I've seen it many times on Facebook and in real life. In that case, there's nothing wrong with it.

The difference being with Michael is that it's always used as an insult. Maybe if it was never paired with the word 'W.acko' Michael wouldn't mind it so much, however it's practically inseparable from that word and as such, has been ingrained in modern culture to make him seem like some sort of circus freak. It was straight up bullying by the media as a whole on a worldwide scale.

Some people by the name of Jackson like the nickname 'J.acko' and that is perfectly fine. Michael did not for obvious reasons. When people use it to talk about Michael, that is when I hate it, it feels to me that they are dehumanising him! The press should grow up and have the common decency to refer to him by his actual name or a nickname that doesn't bully him.

 

[SheilaMJFan4Ever]

Why is the "J word" (so lame) such a big deal. It not offensive in ANY WAY what so ever. I think Michael was just being over sensitive and a bit pathetic when I comes to that name. I have had a friend named Bobby Jackson for years, and before I knew him he was (J)acko and still is now. He take NO OFFENCE to it at all. Now I get the (w)acko) part being upsetting, definitely. But shortening someone's first or surname has been probably the most common way of nicknaming people since nicknames first started.

Did you mistake this site as one for HATERS? That bolded part sure sounds like hater speak to me, along with it being extremely disrespectful and clueless. Btw, what your "friend" deems ok doesn't apply to everyone with the surname, Jackson.

As someone else posted, it has racial connotations to it too.

 

[joanna48]

I saw this passage in a book I am reading and it made me think about what Michael had to endure: "What is that old children's rhyme, 'Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me'? Anyone who says that doesn't understand the power of words. They can cut deeper than any knife, hit harder than any fist, touch parts of you that nothing physical will ever reach, and the wounds that some words leave never heal, because each time the word is thrown at you, labeled on you, you bleed afresh from it. It's more like a whip that cuts every time, until you feel it must flay the very skin from you bones, and yet outwardly there is no wound to show the world, so they think you are not hurt, when inside part of you dies every time."

 

[sfosteredi]

Abstract from the Joe Vogel's article 'How Michael Jackson made Bad'.



http://theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2012/09/how-michael-jackson-made-bad/262162/

^^Thank you so much for this post. Knowledge is power.

The history of African Americans is very complex. So complex that most Americans do not know or understand much of it, so it's understandable that people from other countries don't get it. How do you keep millions of people in bondage for 300 years? The first thing you have to do is convince everyone that they are less than human. That began in the 1600's and continues today. (You can find pictures on the internet of President Obama and First Lady Michelle caricatured as apes today)

Most African American I know won't even buy their kid Pajamas or t-shirts with the monkey face that is so popular on it. It's complicated.

 

[souldreamer7]

This is the video I meant to post originally. With the rest of the people named Jack or with the surname Jackson, it may not be offensive but with Michael it obviously meant to be racist given the context it had in the 19th century and knowing the filthy tabloids can't accept an entertainer black man being so influential and powerful.

I'm glad that this part of the interview has been posted. Thank You.

Guys I was on the bus and I saw this man with our Daily News tabloid and he was reading an article with the heading like Prince: I'd be King. I couldn't see it too clearly. Did anyone notice the heading more clearly.

I see people always defend that J word used for Michael and claim it is nonracist in England and Australia. The thing is FOR Michael it was not used as an endearment. I remember going to London in 85 right after the UK press gave him that name, and some of my UK friends were laughing and saying guess what they call him over here. W---- J----, and they burst out laughing. In no way did they see it as some normal UK name, otherwise what is the laughter all about. If everyone calls Margaret the name Ann for short, what is there to laugh at and say look we call Margaret Ann--ha ha. Therefore, to me it is not used as some normal pet name in His Case. It was a deliberate attempt to crush him as a person. So maybe for all the other Jacksons the word ***** is ok but for Michael the word had a sinister meaning especially since it is always accompanied by the W word. It seems to me at times only those who have been the target of some type of oppression, harassment or those who understand how words are used historically to separate and exclude individuals and populations can fully understands that the name is not as harmless as it looks, that is, in Michael's case.

I agree. Michael out right said I am Not w,a,c,k,o, or j.a.c.k.o. - "I'm Jackson" I could never undestand the 'name' j.a.c.k.o as any type of Okay word or term of endearment.... I've read things from fans saying that it didn't mean anything but a 'nickname' because of Michael's surname Jackson - Yet since the 80's everyone knew he couldn't stand it so why think it's Okay to say Dear ole J,a,c,k,o? Knowing how it hurt him... I wouldn't do that to someone, and the people did it anyways, either with ignorance or plain meaness. I can't see that even if it wasn't a racist, being of bigotry way, yet is truly is! That's not right. It is true Michael Jackson was treated wrongly and judged wrongly everywhere world - wide, this is a global thing. It's sad, but true. Not everyone world - wide thought and acted this way though, people world - wide loved Michael Jackson and defended him as well, that's the positive aspect to this.

I truly wish Michael Jr. aka Prince all the best. I would want the best for him as well as any child-young adult.

Hugs MJ Family. :heart: :rollingpeace:

 

[Petrarose]

Exactly^^, and if it was a word the journalists used because his name was Jackson, then why didn't they call him the J word in the 70's? Michael was a big name back then. Everyone knew about his voice with the J5 and about Ben. He went on tour in England back then and no journalist came out with the J word for him then. Why is that? So to keep saying this excuse that it is a word that English and Australians use for Jackson people so it is ok, is a bunch of bull to me. It was given to him for a purpose which is negative. I never heard the British and Australians call our former President Jackson the J word either. They should be calling all our Jacksons the J word. They should be calling 50 cent the J word too. I think what happened is that younger generations who come upon the J word, just assume it is being used as a cute nickname, because they are not taking into consideration who gave him the name and at what point in his artistic history it was given. If you give someone a name and people in the same country is laughing at it, then it is not a cute name.

 

[elusive moonwalker]

Exactly^^, and if it was a word the journalists used because his name was Jackson, then why didn't they call him the J word in the 70's? Michael was a big name back then. Everyone knew about his voice with the J5 and about Ben. He went on tour in England back then and no journalist came out with the J word for him then. Why is that.

-------------------------

Nicknames as such are mainly used with adult males. i think this discussion has gone around in many circles through the years on this board.americans dont seem to understand how such nicknames are used in europe etc. and dont seem to understand that just because the name is used in a racial way in america doesnt mean it is used in such away in other countries. the words have totally different meanings in different parts of the world. i think until ppl start to understand and except that then the discussion will keep going round in circles. mj is the most famous jackson. No one reports on the other male jacksons. if marlon was the most famous then hed be the one being called jack.o. and curtis had his nickname of fifty. Do many ppl even know his real name?. the real problem is the W that was added to rhyme with it. thats prob when they first started using jack.o when they were looking to use the W with it. i dont know if it was used much before. prob not. but the j word in itself is not an insult when used in europe etc.

 

[Bonnie Blue]

James Desborough is the same guy who wrote that slanderous fake FBI files story a year ago...

I know! Unbelievable. Even if prince just spoke to random media people at after parties - and who on earth is allowing this, he shd be protected from tabloid journalists at these events - this friend of the family, terry harvey gave an interview about the children to desborough. The jacksons are just so shameful. How can they have any dealings with this reporter, and to allow prince to give this guy an exclusive? When tito was interviwed on the kyle show, he was asked about the fbi file story as it was everywhere in the uk, and he just said he didn't know anything about it. Yet any story affecting the family, like debbie rowe wanting custody, and you get all the inside family sources coming out to rebut it. Even some innocuous irrelevant little story about some luggage line in china being endorsed by joe, you get an immediate family rebuttal. But headlines about mj paying off dozens of boys, tumbleweed, not interested.

PPb are going to find life very very tough as they have nobody in that family to guide them or to protect them, and as i imagine they are constantly being told that they shdn't trust outsiders, probably being fed ridic conspiracy tales, they're going to find it hard unfortunately to escape the confines of the 'family'. I dread to think who prince's 'manager' is, the one who's finding all these d-list things for him to do. Jobs which he gets exactly because of who he is as all they want to do is exploit his name.

Harvey claims he spoke to Jackson in his last few weeks over the deal with AllGood.

He said: “It was part of the contract for Michael to get clean. His mother Katherine and father Joe knew that, and we made it clear to everyone close to him...
“I told Frank, ‘He needs to get clean first’, but he didn’t want to know. It was an open secret in close circles that Michael had addiction issues.”

Can't even be bothered to keep their stories straight. Tito in the jeremy kyle interview distanced him and his family from anything to do with mj and his problems. Agreed with kyle that they had 'lost' mj well before he died and they didn't know anything about mj's problems which led to his death.

 

[Bubs]

PPb are going to find life very very tough as they have nobody in that family to guide them or to protect them, and as i imagine they are constantly being told that they shdn't trust outsiders, probably being fed ridic conspiracy tales, they're going to find it hard unfortunately to escape the confines of the 'family'. I dread to think who prince's 'manager' is, the one who's finding all these d-list things for him to do. Jobs which he gets exactly because of who he is as all they want to do is exploit his name.

Can't even be bothered to keep their stories straight. Tito in the jeremy kyle interview distanced him and his family from anything to do with mj and his problems. Agreed with kyle that they had 'lost' mj well before he died and they didn't know anything about mj's problems which led to his death.

That is worry to me as seemingly they have noone to tell them to which people to avoid and who is reliable journalist.Hopefully, when they grow up a bit, they are resourceful by themselves and check out people before they do any dealing or interviews with those people.

 

[GreenEyes]

I'm confused. Did Prince actually speak to that scum James Desborough?

The only message that Prince should have given this creep is a big F.U. with the middle finger to go along with it!

 

[souldreamer7]

...yet Michael Jackson is a Black African American and it is racist and he himself stated on TV that he didn't like it and where it came from.

 

[Petrarose]

...yet Michael Jackson is a Black African American and it is racist and he himself stated on TV that he didn't like it and where it came from.

Exactly and it was given to him to insult him, regardless of the fact some people in England and Australia are called *****. How any person can support that name for Michael is beyond me, when you realize that the name was never given to him until they added the W word to it. If it was just an endearment he would have been called the J word in Off the Wall or pre-thriller when he was an adult, because I see someone above wrote the J word is given to adults. I find it strange that some can't see the difference in calling Michael that word within the context it was applied, at the time in his career it was applied, and by the type of publication that did the name calling. To me, the context is everything. This name was not given to Michael Jackson because people in England and Australia call Jacksons the J word. When I go to England I don't hear the people on the tv saying J words, I don't see the papers with big headlines about a J person. How come that is the case? Aren't there thousands of people called Jackson in England? If that J word was so ordinary and used for all Jackson people, I would see the J word splashed all over the papers and spoken often on the tv. I have been going regularly to England since early 70s & went to college there for a term and never heard anyone calling the Jackson people the J word, but yet this is a typical word for Jackson people? I have seen the same people defend this name on this forum over the years and I still don't buy their explanations, in Micheal's case.

It is like saying that White South Africans defined the native Black people in a particular way, and those words and definitions are OK since it is normal for them to do that in South Africa. Then, a paper in South Africa could use those same words to define a Black person in America and it will be ok because that is the way they define a Black person in South Africa. There is nothing racist about it at all, because ALL black people in South Africa are defined that way.

I just guess I will have to accept that some people will never understand what made the Michael Jackson name calling DIFFERENT and leave it at that.

 

[barbee0715]

Exactly and it was given to him to insult him, regardless of the fact some people in England and Australia are called *****. How any person can support that name for Michael is beyond me, when you realize that the name was never given to him until they added the W word to it. If it was just an endearment he would have been called the J word in Off the Wall or pre-thriller when he was an adult, because I see someone above wrote the J word is given to adults. I find it strange that some can't see the difference in calling Michael that word within the context it was applied, at the time in his career it was applied, and by the type of publication that did the name calling. To me, the context is everything. This name was not given to Michael Jackson because people in England and Australia call Jacksons the J word. When I go to England I don't hear the people on the tv saying J words, I don't see the papers with big headlines about a J person. How come that is the case? Aren't there thousands of people called Jackson in England? If that J word was so ordinary and used for all Jackson people, I would see the J word splashed all over the papers and spoken often on the tv. I have been going regularly to England since early 70s & went to college there for a term and never heard anyone calling the Jackson people the J word, but yet this is a typical word for Jackson people? I have seen the same people defend this name on this forum over the years and I still don't buy their explanations, in Micheal's case.

I just guess I will have to accept that some people will never understand what made the Michael Jackson name calling DIFFERENT and leave it at that.

DON'T ACCEPT IT. IT'S WRONG AND YES, IT'S RACIST-Michael and I are the same age and back when we were little kids there was a cartoon in the 60's about J****, this little mischievious monkey and I didn't know it was racist. But I bet Michael did-because his parents educated him.

Later on, when I started school (at an all white school)I saw prejudice myself for the first time when kids were making horrible jokes about black people and monkeys, etc. Even though by then we had the civil rights act, people were still fighting for equality. Rioting for civil rights was pervasive in the big cities. They finally had to force integration here in Houston with busing.
It was in elementary school when I got into biographies and history I learned about that English fighting monkey named Jacco. It's when I realized that not only was that cartoon racist, but so were many things that I used to watch like old movies with Al Jolson and even Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland wearing blackface was racist. Disney's "Song of the South" was considered racist by then, although I loved it when I was little.
When Michael became a huge power player and bought the Beatles catalog (and became a threat)it seemed to me that we went immediately from "We are the World" to hydrobaric chambers, Bubbles and Elephant Man bones. Michael was "turning white" and getting plastic surgery to look like Diana Ross.
At first, I just laughed it off because who would believe trash like that. But then I realized that people were actually believing it-and talking about it as if it was fact. Needless to say, when I first heard the term "W J" in 1987 I knew immediately what they meant. Especially coming from an English tabloid. They just lifted that term from that english monkey and all the implications that came along with it. And I was enraged.

Still am. I can barely write this. After Michael died, I had the TV on non-stop watching anything and everything that might have something about it. And one day they had a couple of young men standing in front of the '02, sobbing about how much they loved Michael and they had tickets to TII. And they called him J***o. My mouth dropped open because it was the first time that I realized that these kids were actually using this name as a "nickname". I was horrified-had their parents not educated them????

I don't care what anyone tries to tell you about this-it is not a common nickname in England, Australia or Canada. I believe Pippa Middleton (Prince William's sister-in-law) has been dating a guy named Jackson for about two years now and I have yet to hear anybody call him by that nickname. When I hear it or read it, then I might shut up about it. I doubt it, though.
People need to understand the meaning and the hatefulness that comes along with it. To me, it's as bad as the "n" word, which makes me throw up when I hear it.

 

[elusive moonwalker]

http://www.gnbooks.co.uk/p/9780957639935-Living-with-jack-o*

no its not about mj but a uk football manager whos called jackson autobiography. just one example of someone using the nickname.

no offence petra but i highly doubt u spent time at working class college in working class areas where such nicknames are used more amongst friends. hence the middleton reporting awell. unless u are from the uk and know how such names are used like the managers book above then its difficult for those from diff places to understand. especially when the other poster from the u.s said its not even used as a nickname in the uk and oz!

like i said the word in the usa obviously has racial conitations so when its used by americans/american publications then its viewed in a certain way. the word doesnt have racial conitations in the uk/oz .there is no negative attached to the word on its own. the kid at the 02 had nothing to be educated about by his parents other than saying dont use it cause mj doesnt like being called it.because there is nothing morally/racially wrong with using that term in the uk.( putting to one side the fact mj didnt like it and fans dont use it because of the use of the w word added to it).

at the end of the day depending on where u live the word brings up different meanings. just because it means one thing in one country doesnt mean it means the same in another.and ppl need to understand that when trying to differenciate between what is and isnt an insult. but for some to try and tell ppl who live in an another country about their own language and how words are used and their meanings well sorry... Its very arrogant and frankly insulting as u are lableing many ppl racist because the word is deemed to be so in america. so that means it is everywhere else? theres prob some american words that would be deemed as offensive in the uk. but you take it in the context they were said and where. Before lableing ppl and acting like just cause it means this to us then u have to act in the same way. no one is supporting mj being called that name because one he didnt like it and two theres the connection to the w word thats used with it. but interms of the english language the word doesnt have the same meaning as it does in the usa. so u need to understand that when hearing a person from the uk using that word or it written in a uk publication

 

[Petrarose]

Barbee Believe me I am with you. I get you. I understand it 100%. However, I have thrown in the towel in here because no matter how much you explain this you have the same people always insisting it is an ok name and linking it with their country & Australia. You can give all kinds of explanations but they will still say it is ok because it is used in England and Australia. They really cannot understand how its use for Michael was a calculated move. They don't understand that people in the media actually sit and think about what to call someone and how to do it with the greatest effect. They do the same thing for making headlines. Some people want to think that the names media use for a particular person or to make a headline is pulled out of thin air. That is faulty thinking. They don't understand that the name is presented as though it is just a casual rendering, and that is the intent of the name caller--to make the public think that it is oh so innocent, funny, and a catchy metaphor.

^Then, I am told I don't spend time with working class. Really!! I have family in England from age 1 to age 91. Some have even died when they were in their 70s back in the 1980s. I have been visiting that place for decades spending the whole summer when school was out and I spend the time living with families in houses and not in hotels, and not all the family are rich. I even have friends who live in what they call council housing, so I am around working class and middle class. The thing is if something is said as a common word you are going to hear it, the same way I hear some of my cousins speaking cockney and my elderly aunt corrects them when they visit.

With the young kids using that word,^^ because they see it plastered over the media, they think the media is using it as a pet name. They don't know the history of it as it relates to Michael Jackson, so alas they say J as a nickname. For such kids I have more tolerance because they are clueless. It is with the older adults who lived through the 80's that I have less tolerance, because they should have seen how the name began, when it was put on Michael, who attached it to him and all that should give them a clue that something smells bad here.

So Barbee I have decided to let them keep their idea, because it seems some see it as national pride. If you think something is part of your country or heritage you tend to defend it and don't want to see it as bad. There is a problem with the mind being able to separate ideas, that is, separate the idea behind calling Michael Jackson J and calling an average citizen called Jackson the J word. They can't see that that word has 2 distinct and separate meanings and it is the negative racial meaning that was applied to Michael. They can't see that there is a J which is a racist term and involves the monkey and there is a J that is a short form for Jackson, and that those 2 are separate and distinct meanings. They really can't see the difference, and it is very, very, very, very, sad.

 

[Snow White luvs Peter Pan]

That's why I insist Petrarose... I already quoted the J word came came from a cockney slang to refer to monkeys. It wouldn't surprised me if they called black people like that in that period of time. Britain had that monkey toy and many racists think black people look like that animal.

This is the video I meant to post originally. With the rest of the people named Jack or with the surname Jackson, it may not be offensive but with Michael it obviously meant to be racist given the context it had in the 19th century and knowing the filthy tabloids can't accept an entertainer black man being so influential and powerful.

 

[elusive moonwalker]

How many times have i said there are two different versions of this word and definitions depending on where u live. in america it is viewed as a racist term because of that cartoon. in the uk where we have no clue about that cartoon and what it means to ppl in another country 60 years ago or even in the uk 60 years ago. it is a nickname given to ppl with the surname jackson. Nothing more nothing less. so if an american outlet calls a black person a j****. then yes you talk about racism. but that has nothing to do with how the word is used in the uk by british ppl. why u cant understand that is beyond me instead of insisting ppl from other countries take the context of the word in the same way u do in america. if mj was the only person to be called the j word then fine but hes not.look at the book cover i posted the link to. one of many.

anyway we are going around in circles. until ppl except words mean diff things and are used in diff ways in diff countries instead of thinking everyone should think the same as one country then the conversation will never end. so ill end it here.

 

[Snow White luvs Peter Pan]

This cute monkey toy named the J word came from Britain elusive, it was a very popular toy in the 50's and 60's but people could still find it In the 80's, nowadays on eBay. So, that word had been part of the British people vernacular many decades before the tabloids started to call Michael like that.

 

[elusive moonwalker]

Yeah chad valley from birmingham made it.. but u find anyone of my generation who knows about it i showed it to my parents,kids in the fiftys they dont remember such a toy let alone put two and two together interms of the j word having racial conitations. Even more so when the name j.... as i said is given to ppl who have the jackson surname. like the book cover i linked to thats an autobio by a man called jackson who calls himself the j word in the title of his book .that nickname has nothing to do with race. like i said if it was only given to mj or black jacksons theres an issue and thats if the 20 something journos are even aware of the toy. but the name is used with all jacksons regardless of race so the use of the word obviously isnt racist in the uk.if mj were called smith yet was called the j word then there would be an issue but hes called jackson and ppl with that surname in the uk get called that regardless. if mj was called gibson the press would be calling him gibbo etc etc.

 

[J5master]

Here's the thing, I understand that J**ko could definitely mean different things in different places. However, I do not doubt of for a second that however it originated in Michael's case - when tabloids picked it up - it was at least partially racially driven. Even if it started in the UK as an innocent nickname (which i don't believe for a second) - and got picked up by the USA, it then grew into a racially driven slur. There are articles I remember where they out right called MJ an animal. The name J**ko or W**ko J**ko in MJ's case is OFFENSIVE. Period. In publication it is almost never used in a good way, whether you believe its a race thing or not. So why are we even entertaining the idea that it isn't?

I think people under estimate just how racially driven the media's slander against MJ was. I really do.

But the point is - Michael knew. He took it as a racial slur. The Barbara Walters interview proves it. And by the time it became MJ's 'official' tabloid nickname, trust me, it was a racial slur. From what ever its origins - even IF it was just used as a nickname (and thats a big if) - it had grown out of that and turned into something else. Hence why MJ was not being unreasonable by not wanting to be called that name. I'm surprised that this is even up for debate lol

 

[barbee0715]

Barbee Believe me I am with you. I get you. I understand it 100%. However, I have thrown in the towel in here because no matter how much you explain this you have the same people always insisting it is an ok name and linking it with their country & Australia. You can give all kinds of explanations but they will still say it is ok because it is used in England and Australia. They really cannot understand how its use for Michael was a calculated move. They don't understand that people in the media actually sit and think about what to call someone and how to do it with the greatest effect. They do the same thing for making headlines. Some people want to think that the names media use for a particular person or to make a headline is pulled out of thin air. That is faulty thinking. They don't understand that the name is presented as though it is just a casual rendering, and that is the intent of the name caller--to make the public think that it is oh so innocent, funny, and a catchy metaphor.

^

With the young kids using that word,^^ because they see it plastered over the media, they think the media is using it as a pet name. They don't know the history of it as it relates to Michael Jackson, so alas they say J as a nickname. For such kids I have more tolerance because they are clueless. It is with the older adults who lived through the 80's that I have less tolerance, because they should have seen how the name began, when it was put on Michael, who attached it to him and all that should give them a clue that something smells bad here.

So Barbee I have decided to let them keep their idea, because it seems some see it as national pride. If you think something is part of your country or heritage you tend to defend it and don't want to see it as bad. There is a problem with the mind being able to separate ideas, that is, separate the idea behind calling Michael Jackson J and calling an average citizen called Jackson the J word. They can't see that that word has 2 distinct and separate meanings and it is the negative racial meaning that was applied to Michael. They can't see that there is a J which is a racist term and involves the monkey and there is a J that is a short form for Jackson, and that those 2 are separate and distinct meanings. They really can't see the difference, and it is very, very, very, very, sad.

Petra, you are a much nicer person than me. I don't give the kids a pass. There's a reason to study history, because without it, history repeats itself-over and over and over. You are right about it being a very calculated move on the part of the British tabloid media-yes, clever, but unbelievably cruel. And to see it perpetuated forever just hurts.

I don't really see a difference with this than with the "n" word-If you understand the history of the word and the pain and suffering associated with it, there's no way anyone would ever use it. But young black kids (and starting quite a few years ago) supposedly "appropriated" the word and turned it into a term of endearment with each other-rappers use it in their songs, people use it in movies, in casual conversation-so kids supposedly don't know any better.
But they should know better.
And their using it in a "loving way" does does NOT change the meaning of the word and how it used to be used. And it's a disgusting ugly racial slur. If I had the power, I would eliminate it from the world. All I can do is speak out about it and call people out on it-and I do--just like the J***o reference.

I have national pride too-the last 20 years there has been all sorts of controversy over using the Confederate flag-people are just as passionate about keeping it flying as the ones that want it banned. I know what that flag represents and I want it banned-and this is from someone who loves and adores "Gone with the Wind". Right now there's a fight over the football team called the "Redskins" and should it be changed. YES, it should be changed. There was only one reason that the term was used and it was a racial slur. Neither one of these things used to bother me at all growing up. But I learned and I understand the cruelty behind it. Just because we were wrong in the past doesn't mean it has to continue.

 

[Petrarose]

^^I get you and I understand. That is why people need to understand history and connect with different races and cultures and really understand them. Talking about different people, a funny thing happened today. Yesterday one of my Latino friends who speaks both Spanish and English came to visit with a male cousin who speaks about 20 English words. Now during college years I was better in Spanish but it has been a long, long time since I studied Spanish. Today she called and told me her cousin likes me, and he wants to come over today (Sunday). I said is it the cousin who speaks about 20 English words? She says Yes. I said how are we going to communicate. She tells me that I speak a little Spanish. I asked her if she was crazy, that me trying to get through a conversation in Spanish with him would drive me crazy. Then, I could hear him talking Spanish in the background and she tells me he wants to know if he can come over Monday after I come from work. I told her when I come home I am too tired to figure out another language. She tried to pressure me some more but I remained firm. Anyway just wanted to show that sometimes different cultures do try to come together regardless of the language barrier. Maybe there is hope for mankind yet.

 

[Allusio]

I just want to ask – is the history of the word really matters when we know for sure that it hurts Michael?

Why should I give anyone ok on that if it was hurtful for him?!

 

[barbee0715]

No, it really shouldn't matter because he stated himself that it hurt him; therefore, no one and especially a fan should ever use it ever.
But some people still don't understand why not and state that Michael was "oversensitive" and "pathetic" about it-when it was meant as a term of endearment.

So that's when education and history of the word become important-to explain exactly the origins and that he wasn't just being overdramatic and hurt by it. As a matter of fact, EXCELLENT examples of the origin of the word and how it just came to be used as slang for monkeys was posted on this thread. Really great. Great posts about it.

Nicknames are common-my own name is the nickname for Barbara. I know that Madonna and Paul McCartney are known as "Madge" and "Macca" because I've read that. Here they call Jennifer Lopez and Jennifer Lawrence J Lo and J Law. (as far as I know there's no ill intent). But if I were calling them by those names and was informed or read the true origin of those nicknames and found out they meant some kind of slur, I would stop immediately and educate everybody who used them.