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  • THURSDAY FEBRUARY 23 2006 8:21 PM

Damon Wayans Attempts to Trademark the N-Word

Submitted by susannah_breslin

Edited by susannah_breslin

Wired News reveals actor Damon Wayans has spent the last 14 months attempting to trademark the word "Nigga." Apparently, Wayans dream is to see a population of people and other assorted items tagged with the aforementioned word. Thus far, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has declined his requests, based on the department policy of refusing marks considered "immoral or scandalous."

The word "nigga" is ubiquitous in hip-hop music, where it provides half of a rhyming couplet radio listeners never get to hear in the Grammy-winning song "Gold Digger" by Kanye West.

Ol' Dirty Bastard used the term 76 times in the 1999 album Nigga Please, not counting repetitions in a chorus.

In January, an episode of the late-night Cartoon Network series Boondocks was criticized for putting the word in the mouth of a fictionalized Martin Luther King Jr.

The effort to commercialize "nigga" drew a sharp response from a black school official who participated in a forum about the word earlier this month at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro.

"I don't care for it in any form," said Dr. Lonnie Williams, associate vice chancellor for student affairs. "Either way you pronounce it, spell it, anything associated with it -- I find it offensive."

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Comments
Calypso

Calypso

SUICIDEGIRL

California, USA

FEB 23, 2006 08:22 PM

What an ignorant shithead.

Mythicus

Mythicus

Lawnside, NJ
May 2004

FEB 23, 2006 08:25 PM

Calypso said:
What an ignorant shithead.



Indeed.

Buster_Bluth

Buster_Bluth

Los Angeles, CA
January 2004

FEB 23, 2006 08:54 PM

Calypso said:
What an ignorant shithead.



As a white boy I don't know that I can have a relevant opinion on either nigg-a or -er but I can teli you that if I'm remembering correctly there is/was a segment of the black community (Dick Gregory being one name I remember) that championed the use of the word "nigger" in order to take the power of the word away.

I don't know how effective that plan is/has been but I think that to write Damon Wayans off as "an ignorant shithead" might be a bit simplistic and quite possibly inaccurate.

Calypso

Calypso

SUICIDEGIRL

California, USA

FEB 23, 2006 08:57 PM

Buster_Bluth said:

Calypso said:
What an ignorant shithead.



As a white boy I don't know that I can have a relevant opinion on either nigg-a or -er but I can teli you that if I'm remembering correctly there is/was a segment of the black community (Dick Gregory being one name I remember) that championed the use of the word "nigger" in order to take the power of the word away.

I don't know how effective that plan is/has been but I think that to write Damon Wayans off as "an ignorant shithead" might be a bit simplistic and quite possibly inaccurate.



What I get from the article is that he's trying to make a profit off of it.

The use of the word "nigga" or "nigger" is ignorant when used by anyone. I can't understand how one can happily label themselves with a word created by slave masters in a period where people were MURDERED for the color of their skin.

You can't see the stupidity in it?

seanvegas

seanvegas

Lincoln, NE
December 2004

FEB 23, 2006 09:01 PM

I'm trademarking the word "cracker"! Take that! surreal

Cigarette

Cigarette

Cleveland, OH
April 2004

FEB 23, 2006 09:01 PM

Or maybe this is exactly what he was trying to do: get the word into the media, get people talking about it, remove the stigma, like that Lenny Bruce bit about niggers, wops, fags, etc.

Cigarette

Cigarette

Cleveland, OH
April 2004

FEB 23, 2006 09:04 PM

SPOILERS! (Click to view)

NIGGARS!



[Edited on Feb 24, 2006 by Clov]

SoEffinHappy

SoEffinHappy

Philadelphia, PA
April 2003

FEB 23, 2006 09:04 PM

Calypso said:

Buster_Bluth said:

Calypso said:
What an ignorant shithead.



As a white boy I don't know that I can have a relevant opinion on either nigg-a or -er but I can teli you that if I'm remembering correctly there is/was a segment of the black community (Dick Gregory being one name I remember) that championed the use of the word "nigger" in order to take the power of the word away.

I don't know how effective that plan is/has been but I think that to write Damon Wayans off as "an ignorant shithead" might be a bit simplistic and quite possibly inaccurate.



What I get from the article is that he's trying to make a profit off of it.

The use of the word "nigga" or "nigger" is ignorant when used by anyone. I can't understand how one can happily label themselves with a word created by slave masters in a period where people were MURDERED for the color of their skin.

You can't see the stupidity in it?




The word wasn't created by slave masters. It was around WAY before slaves even landed in america. It's original and CURRENT meaning is "an ignorant person".

A word is just a word. To continue to associate it with something bad MAKES it bad. If you associate it with something GOOD then it makes the word good. It's all the use.

Cigarette

Cigarette

Cleveland, OH
April 2004

FEB 23, 2006 09:10 PM

SoEffinHappy said:
The word wasn't created by slave masters. It was around WAY before slaves even landed in america. It's original and CURRENT meaning is "an ignorant person".



Unless you believe the American Heritage Dictioanry:
[Alteration of dialectal neger, black person, from French nègre, from Spanish negro. See Negro.]

Or the Merriam-Webster dictionary:
Etymology: alteration of earlier neger, from Middle French negre, from Spanish or Portuguese negro, from negro black, from Latin niger

Or Encarta:
[Late 17th century. Alteration of Negro]

Calypso

Calypso

SUICIDEGIRL

California, USA

FEB 23, 2006 09:11 PM

SoEffinHappy said:

Calypso said:

Buster_Bluth said:

Calypso said:
What an ignorant shithead.



As a white boy I don't know that I can have a relevant opinion on either nigg-a or -er but I can teli you that if I'm remembering correctly there is/was a segment of the black community (Dick Gregory being one name I remember) that championed the use of the word "nigger" in order to take the power of the word away.

I don't know how effective that plan is/has been but I think that to write Damon Wayans off as "an ignorant shithead" might be a bit simplistic and quite possibly inaccurate.



What I get from the article is that he's trying to make a profit off of it.

The use of the word "nigga" or "nigger" is ignorant when used by anyone. I can't understand how one can happily label themselves with a word created by slave masters in a period where people were MURDERED for the color of their skin.

You can't see the stupidity in it?




The word wasn't created by slave masters. It was around WAY before slaves even landed in america. It's original and CURRENT meaning is "an ignorant person".



I would like to know where you get that information from.

Do you suggest I walk around and call people "niggers," then? However, I'll say it in a happy tone. That'll make the word acceptable, right? Nothing bad could come of it...

Calypso

Calypso

SUICIDEGIRL

California, USA

FEB 23, 2006 09:18 PM

Olympic_Curler said:

SoEffinHappy said:

Calypso said:

Buster_Bluth said:

Calypso said:
What an ignorant shithead.



As a white boy I don't know that I can have a relevant opinion on either nigg-a or -er but I can teli you that if I'm remembering correctly there is/was a segment of the black community (Dick Gregory being one name I remember) that championed the use of the word "nigger" in order to take the power of the word away.

I don't know how effective that plan is/has been but I think that to write Damon Wayans off as "an ignorant shithead" might be a bit simplistic and quite possibly inaccurate.



What I get from the article is that he's trying to make a profit off of it.

The use of the word "nigga" or "nigger" is ignorant when used by anyone. I can't understand how one can happily label themselves with a word created by slave masters in a period where people were MURDERED for the color of their skin.

You can't see the stupidity in it?




The word wasn't created by slave masters. It was around WAY before slaves even landed in america. It's original and CURRENT meaning is "an ignorant person".

A word is just a word. To continue to associate it with something bad MAKES it bad. If you associate it with something GOOD then it makes the word good. It's all the use.



You are so full of shit.

It is a Southern United States bastardization of the word 'negro' that evolved through years of Southern accents and caloquialism. It's a phonetic evolution.



love love love

chevyblaze87

chevyblaze87

North Las Vegas, NV
August 2004

FEB 23, 2006 09:19 PM

SoEffinHappy said:

Calypso said:

Buster_Bluth said:

Calypso said:
What an ignorant shithead.



As a white boy I don't know that I can have a relevant opinion on either nigg-a or -er but I can teli you that if I'm remembering correctly there is/was a segment of the black community (Dick Gregory being one name I remember) that championed the use of the word "nigger" in order to take the power of the word away.

I don't know how effective that plan is/has been but I think that to write Damon Wayans off as "an ignorant shithead" might be a bit simplistic and quite possibly inaccurate.



What I get from the article is that he's trying to make a profit off of it.

The use of the word "nigga" or "nigger" is ignorant when used by anyone. I can't understand how one can happily label themselves with a word created by slave masters in a period where people were MURDERED for the color of their skin.

You can't see the stupidity in it?




The word wasn't created by slave masters. It was around WAY before slaves even landed in america. It's original and CURRENT meaning is "an ignorant person".

A word is just a word. To continue to associate it with something bad MAKES it bad. If you associate it with something GOOD then it makes the word good. It's all the use.




How do u suggest we make Nazi a happy word?

SPOILERS! (Click to view)

Sarcasm



[Edited on Feb 23, 2006 by chevyblaze87]

Zoop

Zoop

Sun Prairie, WI
March 2004

FEB 23, 2006 09:43 PM

Remember when schools would ban Huck Finn because it had "nigger" in it, despite the book practically screaming "HEY GUYS RACISM IS WRONG!"? Yeah. That was kinda stupid.

Vathek

vathek

Los Angeles, CA
January 2005

FEB 23, 2006 09:46 PM

Ownership = control (in theory). He might be able to sell a few T-shirts, etc., but more importantly, he could prevent ANYONE ELSE from using the term by serving them with "cease and desist" papers. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he has something like this in mind. It will be interesting if he actually acquires the trademark...

Remyx

remyx

Little Rock, AR
March 2004

FEB 23, 2006 09:46 PM

how the hell can you trademark a word, anyway? most 'words' which get trademarked refer to some specific product. sounds like a get-rich scheme or an attempt to get his name in the media.

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