Poll: Was the response to Kobe Bryant's use of the word "******" appropriate?

[The Gnome King]

"fucking tightly bound sticks" is offensive?

EDIT:
@the above poster: It's called N-word privileges. Which basically means if you're not black you can't use it. Even if you're referring to your black bestfriend. But meh, I'm from the other side of the world, so what do I know?

Yes, "f'ing tightly bound sticks" is offensive when you consider the word is in reference to the "tightly bound sticks" that were once used to burn homosexuals, to death, for their sexuality.

And the "N-word privilege" is exactly what I was referring to, thanks for backing up my point with another person who understands why it's fine for black people to call each other that; but not for white people, or, say, Asians to do it.

I'll say it again since people have a hard time with it:

The bottom line is that if you know something is offensive to people you probably shouldn't do it. Period.

Why on Earth would you WANT to hurt a community of people that have enough to go through? It's why I don't call people "retards" even though the word is commonly "accepted" as an insult. Just because it's in the common lexicon doesn't mean it should be. Yadig?

 

[zehydra]

If it is common practice to fine people in his kind of position for saying potentially hateful remarks, then they are totally justified.

It doesn't make any sense at all to be allowed to say "******" but not the n-word. The original meaning as a gay-slur hasn't gone away at all, definitely not around where I'm from.

Edit: I pretty much agree totally with the post above me too.

 

[Your Fearless Captain]

I think a $100,000 is quick ridicules.

Also I personally take offense to to the word "homophobic" since it isn't an actual fear, more of a buzz word used to make your opponents look like teaparty rednecks.

 

[Dags90]

Aren't most games broadcast on TV? And isn't that generally one of those words you're not allowed to say?

 

[emeraldrafael]

Two black people, clearly friends, talking.

Not an insult:
"Hey N***a, what's up?"

Clearly an insult - swap one of the black people for a white person, who says:
"You're a N***a, so I don't have to listen to you."

well the subject of the sentence alone makes that offensive. you could substitute that with black or darkie I suppose (though who uses that word anymore I have no idea, its such an old word) and it would still be offensively racial. EDIT: Or Negro for that matter, since thats not really an offensive world to describe a Black person and is more of just what they are.

 

[Macgyvercas]

It is a gay slur and always will be - that's the intent of using it as an insult, but the outrage is obviously overblown.
It's just a word, and rage produces rage.

Wasn't it orginally a term for a bundle of sticks?

 

[StriderShinryu]

Honestly, while I personally don't find the term offensive I really do think it's likely because it has become something of a generic curse word/term. That, however, doesn't make it right.

Let's flip this around and just imagine if the referee had been black. Now let's say that in the heat of the game the player had called the referee the "N word.' You'd better believe that would be all over the media and the player would probably be fined even more than Bryant was. Amongst a sad number of today's youth, however, the "N word" is considered not only a common term but is actually something of a term of endearment in some crowds.

A word being commonly used doesn't mean it's right to use the word.

 

[Tsaba]

Honestly, I think they are making a big deal about it so the can get some screen time on CNN talking about how "oppressed" they are. And by "oppressed" I mean being actively burned in the streets, segregated: restaurants, tailor shops, burger joints, movie theaters, and island nations. Seriously though, how ridiculous do I have to make it sound for some people to realize how ridiculous it truly is.

****** is an insult and it doesn't always refer to homosexuals (they are people too), some times people just really don't like the guy (A life form on the same level as an English Muffin toasted without butter.) who wears the stripes.

EDIT: But, I will agree that it was uncalled for.

 

[Throwitawaynow]

If the call was bullshit, then yes it was appropriate. Then again, I don't consider "******" a homosexual slur in this situation. Rather, I feel he used the word the same way I use it when playing fighting games online against spamming pricks.

So if white people started calling each other the N-word and meant it as a general insult instead of a slur against blacks, that should be cool? On TV? Regardless of it possibly offending many blacks?

Because I mean if I call someone a "stupid N-word" and they're not black, I'm not using it as a racial slur - so that's OK, right?

I will never understand why people want the "right" to be insulting and cause pain to others. And I'm probably glad about this.

Except ****** has always been an insult against black people. People call each other ****** all the time and they don't mean gay. It's the same deal with bastard. Used to be an insult for children born out of wedlock.

"******" has always been an insult against gay people. They were called faggots because that's what they were to those people, kindling. They burned them.

 

[mr.mystery]

LOLOLOLOLOLOL bigger question is why is this even something to discuss? either you use the word or you dont. who cares what someone else says.

 

[j0frenzy]

What planet are people growing up on that ****** is not used as an insult for being gay? Yes there are historically other definitions, but people are not calling you a bundle of sticks when they call you a ******. They are calling you gay in the most derogatory way possible because there is something inherently wrong with being gay in their eyes. Just because this has become commonplace does not mean we should accept it or that we should not fight it. Persisting to use the words ****** or gay as insults is just making you an asshole for closing your ears and ignoring the people who are pissed off that you are using them as your baseline for what is insulting. Kobe should be fined by the NBA and good on the NBA for punishing someone who is ignorant enough to use an entire demographic as an insult.

 

[Altorin]

Wasn't there something written down in a random piece of paper about speech?I believe it described speech as cheap...wait no,inexpensive...no,still not it....Ah yes,free.Free fucking speech.

Free speech does not work as a catch all "I can say whatever to whoever whenever". Certain words and phrases are not protected under free speech and vulgar language directed at someone is one of those.

Even if vulgar language directed at someone were free speech (My own feelings on the matter would say it's certainly protected speech), the crux of the "freedom of speech" argument is always who is making the claim that it's vulgar and shouldn't be allowed. In my eyes, the only people who CAN'T say that speech is not allowed is the government. If a ref wants to throw a player out of the game for being a jackass and swearing, and he has NBA rules backing him up, more power to him. My only concern would be if kobe were say, arrested for saying the word. Feel free to interpret freedom of speech however you desire though, I really don't want to get into another one of these freedom of speech arguments so I'll just say that.

And even if I don't think a guy should be fined more then I'll make in many years for something that little kids say on xbox live at all hours of the day, to Kobe, it's not a thing but a chicken wing. 100,000 dollars is nothing. It's the public scrutiny that will cause him problems. I think he's playing it about as cool as he needs to. Assuring people that it wasn't meant as a homophobic slur to offend anyone, I doubt he even really meant to offend the ref he was having an altercation. Maybe he had been playing a bit too much Black Ops prior to the game ;P

What planet are people growing up on that ****** is not used as an insult for being gay? Yes there are historically other definitions, but people are not calling you a bundle of sticks when they call you a ******. They are calling you gay in the most derogatory way possible because there is something inherently wrong with being gay in their eyes. Just because this has become commonplace does not mean we should accept it or that we should not fight it. Persisting to use the words ****** or gay as insults is just making you an asshole for closing your ears and ignoring the people who are pissed off that you are using them as your baseline for what is insulting. Kobe should be fined by the NBA and good on the NBA for punishing someone who is ignorant enough to use an entire demographic as an insult.

Noone is arguing (unless they're morons) that ****** means primarily a bundle of sticks. If we argue against people being reprimanded for using it, it's not because we're falling back on "bundle of sticks". ******, in its truest form, in reference to a person, is an undesirable person who offends your sensibilities. It's got a lot of weight to it, and it's certainly not a word that should be taken lightly. I don't even think this particular case is unfair or inappropriate - Kobe got exactly what he deserved for his outburst (adjusted for the inflation of being ridiculously wealthy of course).

 

[Lineoutt]

...Or howbout we don't bother with this as it is a stupid, petty thing to dwell on. Who gives a fuck what Kobe Bryant said, thats his problem. I highly doubt that he was thinking "I hate gay people so I will call this man a ****** because I believe he is a homosexual." He was thinking "This guy's a jackass, I'm going to verbally express it."

 

[ten.to.ten]

It doesn't matter what his intentions were, ignorance isn't an excuse. It's no different than if he used a racial slur, and it should be treated the same way.

 

[merf1350]

I'm gonna have to go with South Park on this one. It really no longer means homosexual. At least not with adults.

We use Gay now to mean stupid...ie "That's gay." Some will argue that this is still a slight against homo's (to lazy to keep typing the full word) because you are then saying they are the same as stupid. No. It is a roundabout way of saying stupid by saying it's odd, otherwise queer, which yes was applied to homo's, but because of the words true meaning of basically odd. Not normal, or more precisely, not the norm in society. Not particularly assigning good/bad, right/wrong to it, but acknowledging it as a minority occurrence against the whole of human society.

Similarly, fag and ****** has come to mean more along the lines of "prick, dick, ass, asshole, etc." While not losing the irony that those words can be associated with male homo behavior, that is quite honestly the point. We are arriving at that meaning in the same round about way as the word gay. Yes we are using a slur, but not for the sake of insulting the original sluree?, but using the connection to reach another meaning.

Basically its the linguistic equivalent of 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon. Is this stupid? Probably. But it is what it is. It's in it's own way similar, yet different to black people taking the original slur of ****** and changing it to nigga for use to try to remove the awful connotations of the past. But in this case, instead of the targeted group reclaiming the slur for their own use, basically everyone else is doing it.

Is there still homophobia in our day and age? Yes...racism too. But lets be frank, it's really the preceding generations that happen to still be in power that hold those views. Most in my generation, say maybe 1970ish and up are far more tolerant and accepting of people then our elders were. I work and have been friends with people of all kinds, white, black, asian, indian, etc., straight and gay of both genders. You know what these people are to me? Friends, family and co-workers first and foremost, and they all just happen to be whatever they are.

I like to think back to that movie Bulworth. Were the politician kinda goes nuts for a weekend. They had the right idea, "Everyone just needs to keep fucking everyone else till we're all the same." The trick to that is on the outside. We are all already the same on the inside...where it should count.

 

[Jonluw]

I think the the reaction sounds appropriate. When an athlete displays poor sportsmanship, and puts his team and the sport to shame by shouting insults, that should indeed not go unpunished; if only because of the harm done to his team's public relations.

True, but it should not matter what the athlete said. He is catching particularly heavy flack for using this slur that most everyone has said multiple times during the course of their lives.

It is also fine that the fact that he used an insult is considered offensive by many is taken into the equation.

I'm trying my hardest not to sound like a troll right now, but isn't it the point of an insult to offend people?

Yes, but for some reason the word '******' is considered to be offensive even to bystanders towards whom it wasn't directed. We may disagree that the word should have such a weird status, but he should still have known better than to use a word that will be received in such a way.
Call the judge a moron or something instead.

 

[Exocet]

Wasn't there something written down in a random piece of paper about speech?I believe it described speech as cheap...wait no,inexpensive...no,still not it....Ah yes,free.Free fucking speech.

Free speech does not work as a catch all "I can say whatever to whoever whenever". Certain words and phrases are not protected under free speech and vulgar language directed at someone is one of those.

You're right,but making someone pay an enormous sum of money just for saying a word does seem a bit asisine when you have a law that grants free speech.Especially considering the word was not out of hatred of a group of people,but a regular swear word used for any occassion nowadays.

 

[thevillageidiot13]

Obviously, Kobe Bryant should've been fined.

But yeah, it's an overreaction. As somebody who is both an athlete and a social activist, I understand that emotions tend to run wild in sports, and people say things they don't mean.

He apologized for it, he's paying $100k for it (and, even though it's not a significant portion of his salary, it's certainly not chump change), and we can all just get over it and move on.

Seriously.

 

[thevillageidiot13]

Obviously, Kobe Bryant should've been fined.

But yeah, it's an overreaction. As somebody who is both an athlete and a social activist, I understand that emotions tend to run wild in sports, and people say things they don't mean.

He apologized for it, he's paying $100k for it (and, even though it's not a significant portion of his salary, it's certainly not chump change), and we can all just get over it and move on.

Seriously.