Look, their Security of the First World were dancers doing pseudo-militaristic dance steps while toting plastic toy guns. What were they going to do, squirt water on Whitey?
In the last 30 years, there have been quite a few musicians get praise far beyond any real musical worth, based on irrelevant sociological or political considerations. The Clash, for example, were an outstanding band, but did not begin to merit their slogan as "the only band that matters." Yet they were rushed into the Hall of Fame the first instant they were eligible, while Lynyrd Skynyrd languishes. Punk rock and descendents have been particularly rife with this kind of critical nonsense.…
Article comments
— go to most recent comments26 - Al Barger
Thank you for your kind words, Michael. A sister once told me that I'm really a black man who happened to have white skin. I don't have words for how pleased I was with that.
I do generally choose my words fairly carefully. I knew, obviously, that it was likely someone would bitch about the word "monkey" no matter what the context. I'm also not surprised that it was a good white liberal.
Nonetheless, such a complaint is without merit, and the SM was just the guy to make the significant point. Therefore, if someone wants to be offended, then they will just have to be mad.
I do tend to be provocative. I try not to say things just to piss people off. Sometimes you have to say things someone's not wanting to hear, though. I'm just the one for that.
Stuff like the lynching of Jimmy the Greek is a significant part of just exactly why I am inclined to push such points. White guys can absolutely be screwed for one wrong passing comment made with no hateful intent at all. That's not any kind of right. It's unacceptable.
Nor do we do black folks a favor by refusing to hold them to equal standards of civil discourse. Good liberals seem to me to be treating you like children with all kinds of double standards and double talk. It's as if a black man couldn't be expected to be held accountable and take criticism like anyone else.
"Negro please" seems to me to be a very mild bit of playground teasing. I fail to see how the word "Negro" could reasonably be seen as offensive. I say FAR worse than that to my white friends, just by way of being FRIENDLY.
On the other hand, I understand that it would be unwise to go quoting my beloved Richard Pryor albums to black folk of my acquaintance. It just ain't going to sound the same coming out of me, no matter what.
In short, I find it unacceptable that the purposely hateful race baiting of PE would be considered reasonable public discourse, yet that my use of the word "monkey" is even vaguely controversial. The real, purposeful and indefenseable offense of PE's denunciation of Elvis is FAR worse than any minor slight you might decide to take from my use of the word "monkey."
I don't think the ice is that thin.
27 - Natalie
Al:
I suppose calling me "white girl" is just as accurate as calling me "black girl." Both, however, are wrong. And, being far over the age of 21, I am not a girl and have no wish to go back there. I see the term as a diminishment. My opinion. You'll do whatever you want, regardless of how anyone feels about it.
Also, you can say whatever you want, but you are presumptuous to tell someone what they can and can not find offensive.
You wrote:"Negro please" seems to me to be a very mild bit of playground teasing. I fail to see how the word "Negro" could reasonably be seen as offensive.
Seems to YOU. Perhaps the term does not offend you, but the mileage of others may, and in this case, does vary, whether you consider it reasonable or not.
Frankly, I believe you do say things with the sole reason to be provocative and offensive. I, for one, have never heard of the "signifying monkey," so you may have your ass covered there. But I go back to my initial thought -- the ideas you espouse and your apparent willingness to offend and then castigate those you offend (apparently, we don't have the right to our feelings, reactions, and opinions) does indeed make me wish to refrain from reading or considering anything you say or write.
28 - Al Barger
Miss Natalie, you have a right to feel however you want, but you seem to think that your emotional whims should have veto power over everything else. If you decide to have hurt feelings over something I say- no matter how innocuous, then I am presumed to be an asshole.
In fact, the parameters of public discourse in a democracy are not set by the leastest tenderest sensibilities of whoever might arbitrarily decide to feel offended.
I try to be understanding of other people. I in fact bend over backwards to make nice with people whom I have disagreements with. I try to say what needs to be said with a minimum of hurt feelings.
I've got love in my soul, but I'm not doing you or anyone else favors by keeping my mouth shut when things need to be said. You can consider the things I say, and think rationally about whether I have a good point or not. Or you can decide that your itty bitty feelings have been hurt, which therefore proves that I'm a bad guy. I try to make nice where I can.
But if you're going to set your sensitivities so high that you take offense at being referred to as a "white girl" then I can't do anything for you. That is YOUR emotional baggage, and I will not carry it for you.
29 - Nancee
Al Barger writes that the Beastie Boys are the best rap act in history. I had written a very long response to this commentary but then, as I reread it, I began to realize that he was just plain ignorant and, being that he chose to refer to Chuck D. as a monkey, probably an idiot white supremacist. I make it a point never to argue with people who practice bottom dwelling thinking, so I've deleted my comments.
I do find it interesting, however, that in putting down Public Enemy he referenced Elvis, who like the Beastie Boys made a name for himself by repackaging Black music for an audience too narrow minded to accept it in its original packaging.
30 - Nancee
Al Barger writes that the Beastie Boys are the best rap act in history. I had written a very long response to this commentary but then, as I reread it, I began to realize that he was just plain ignorant and, being that he chose to refer to Chuck D. as a monkey, probably an idiot white supremacist. I make it a point never to argue with people who practice bottom dwelling thinking, so I've deleted my comments.
I do find it interesting, however, that in putting down Public Enemy he referenced Elvis, who like the Beastie Boys made a name for himself by repackaging Black music for an audience too narrow minded to accept it in its original packaging.
31 - Jim
The fact that Al is dead wrong in his basic thesis - all artistic aggression is basically fake, and PE's insurrectionary rhetoric is no more so than, say, Duchamp's or Johnny Rotten's - doesn't mean that it's not fucking asinine to complain about the use of "signifying monkey" to describe Chuck D. The SM is a basic trope in the African and thus American oral tradition, going back at least to Yoruba myths (in which, contrary to Al's point, he's a terrifying because unpredictable figure).
But that aside, Chuck D isn't the Signifying Monkey in PE, Flav is. There's a duality in many (I won't say most) hip-hop acts of a deep-voiced stentorian serious rapper twinned with a more or less squeaky clowinsh one. Chuck and Flav, Ice-T and Donald Duck, Ice Cube and Easy E, Dre and Eminem. Which goes back to the same African roots - the SM works alongside a father figure. It's a trope in lots of mythsystems - you often get a trickster and a father figure. Odin and Loki.
Oh, and the Beasties have some great music, but their awful one-note squeaky flow always lets them down.
32 - Al Barger
Excellent extrapolation on the Signifying Monkey theme. Thanks.
33 - Alex Chilton
Just a quick note on Elvis P. He did not simply repackage black music for white consumption. This statement is made by people who know very little about Presley, his background, influences or his early recordings. It's also a bit of solipsism on the part of (or on behalf of) black culture.
Rock-n-roll, as practiced by people like Elvis, Buddy Holly, and even Chuck Berry is a FUSION of pre-existing musical forms--namely R&B AND country. All one need do is have a listen to the Sun Sessions (Elvis's earliest and most influential recordings) and it should be obvious that more than half of the songs on that record are COUNTRY standards (e.g., Blue Moon of Kentucky and I Don't Care if the Sun Don't Shine). Growing up where and when Elvis did, country and blue grass were in his blood.
It's curious how so many people want to blot out from the genealogical record the influence of country music on R-n-R.
It's innacurrate and in some cases racist ignorance.
34 - Eric Olsen
Pretty much exactly what I've said about The One Elvis all along, and if you are The Alex C, I bow before your contributions to pop-rock history.
35 - Dawn
Al,
Two things stuck out on this that show me you were too emotionally involved in this post to really be effective.
The word "monkey" has significant racial overtones and to use it in such a specific way is just ASKING for trouble.
Also, I try and avoid the word "retard" as it offends lots of people.
Now, you know I am NOT PC, but I think we have all learned that in a public forum with many different people contributing from various walks of life, that to use obvious words of offense is merely inviting trouble. So if you choose to use them, beware of the criticism.
As for the Beastie Boys being the greatest rap band, well they are in the top ten and deserve without a doubt to be in the RnR Hall of Fame, they got nothing on the early pioneers of the genre.
But I do love their white boy Jewish rap.
36 - Not Alex Chilton
Eric,
Regrettably I am not THE Alex Chilton because I'd bow with you. I just happened to have been listening to some old Replacements earlier in the evening and had to blast "Alex Chilton" not once but twice. And it's fun to throw out a line and see who picks it up.
Truly Sean S.
37 - Sad Eyes
Here's an idea for a revised headline: "Chuck D., Signifying Monkey, Niggardly in His Praise of King"
38 - Al Barger
Oh, now you're just trying to get me lynched.
39 - Turkeyleg Jenkins
How could you publish this complete and utter horseshit. Clearly this writer has NO IDEA what he's talking about. He has no grasp of hip hop culture and its history whatsoever, and completely overlooks Public Enemy's 2nd album, "It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back," considered by many to be the crowning achievement of rap music to date.
40 - Phillip Winn
Wow, Al, you've crossed over from just offending people based on the things you say and the words you choose to say them into having no taste in music!
On that, at least, welcome to the club.
41 - Beatnix
Why is Elvis was a racist for bringing black music to the masses? I think that a lot of people forget that in the 50's even the radio stations were segregated. Elvis always aknowledged black entertainers as his major influences. He was a product of his enviroment. He never set out to steal anything. If anything he was the Trojan Horse that introduced black music and culture to suburban America.
42 - Eric Olsen
Right on Beatnix, he was an insurgent, in the best possible way
43 - Jim Carruthers
I can't comment on this ... I shouldn't comment on this ...
{ohmigod shatner-particles detected ... can't .... reisst ... their .... PULL}
I won't go point for point, but I will note, I've seen PE a couple of times in a high school gym in Montreal (several members couldn't make it over the border). They played at 2am for about 30 minutes and left).
However, I will say Hank Shocklee and the Bomb Squad are geniuses, and if you confuse the declarations of Chuck D (middle class child of the suburbs of Long Island) with what is on record, then you are confusing what makes PE among one of the greatest (and better than the Beastie Boys) rap acts ever. But then I have a record with Bob Dylan rapping with Kurtis Blow.
Pop music is full of blowhards (David Lee Roth, anybody?) but that shouldn't be deducted from their recordings or live shows (in the case of rap acts, most live shows are promo vehicles for the records, so deal with the records).
PE were one of the first and best rap acts to make albums, rather than a collection of singles.
And if you've read Peter Guralnick's bios of Elivs, you know he wasn't a simple cracker, but was rooted in the Negro gospel tradition.
So stop all the baiting, and spend more time on what is good.
44 - Eric Olsen
Jim, you have said many fine things of late.
45 - Jim Carruthers
Jim, you have said many fine things of late.
Just give me a chance, that's all I ask, I can fix that toot sweet.
46 - MC TOE-KNEE
Your blog critic is an idiot and should be taken outside and shot unceremoniuosly, without any last words. He is a bigoted, middle-aged loser who obviously did not connect with rap or rap audiences black or white. Step off you fat white slob, and let the youth decide what is relevant, you puke!
47 - Phillip Winn
Fortunately, we don't live in a world where people can murder others with impunity. Calm down a bit - it's bad for your heart to get so irate.
48 - Chris Arabia
Somebody isn't playing well with others.
Silly request, but can anyone direct me to this Dylan-Blow rap?
49 - Hillbilly Cat
I for one think Chuck D and Elvis Presley are both important. I can see where Chuck is coming from especially since Elvis made anti Panther comments rooted in ignorance. I also believe that Elvis has been maligned unfairly by those who label him a racist without fully understanding him and the impact of his music. This has all been a great read. Thanks!
50 - Eric Olsen
I agree HC, thanks. Wasn't someone else called that for a time in the '50s?
51 - jonny
I'm neither white nor black nor jewish, but I respect both PE and BBoys. PE is closer to my heart, however, while the BBoys had a great way with party anthems and melodic songs, but not much substance until later.
Yes, some of PE's past lyrics are anti-semitic, and they bother me because Chuck should be unifying, not dividing, but I don't concentrate on them. I can listen to Patti Smith's "Rock and Roll Nigger" without flinching.
But, Fear of a Black Planet, to me, will always be - the hip hop album of hip hop albums - I still get shivers down my spine when I listen to it. It's just all this repressed energy coming out, controlled and directed. Complete punk rock.
52 - Tedd Starr
Well now, this has been an interesting read. Believe it or not, I stumbled upon this conversation because I was actually looking for various versions of "The Signifying Monkey".
So far, the best version of the story that I've found, if anyone is interested, is by Rudy Ray Moore, a.k.a. "Dolomite," (possibly downloadable in 8-minute mp3 form). It's a great story, and a great example of proto-rap, coming ten years before the Sugar Hill Gang, Afrika Bambaata, or Grandmaster Flash, none of whom, I'm very surprised to see, have been mentioned above.
In Moore's version, he describes graphically what happens to someone who tries to get over one too many times: they become dinner for the one-too-many-times fooled Lion. Of course, Moore tells it better than that! (Not for sensitive ears!)
The story was done again in the 80s by Schooly D, who I believe caused a bit of a legal stir by using the beat from Led Zeppelin's Kashmir in the background.
In modern terms, one might say that if you try to step out of place too many times, you find yourself caught in the crosshairs... a sort of public enemy. In that sense, Chuck D might readily acknowledge that he (or Flava Flav as Jim pointed out) is sort of like the signifying monkey of the old story.
Except for one critical error there, Al. I may get accused of trifling here, but bear with me. I think the reason so many people took offense to your initial statement was the use of "a" instead of "the" and also lower case letters in "signifying monkey." Whether you meant to or not, you called Chuck D a monkey. You didn't say he was "the Signifying Monkey." What you did was like saying, "Dr. Dre and Ice Cube are niggers...
with attitude."
Get it? Got it? Good. Check out Dolomite!
53 - Eric Olsen
excellent assessment Ted, thanks
54 - bhw
This goes back to an African legend about a weak-ass little monkey what signifies ie makes empty signals with no backing ie talks a lot of lying bullshit to try turning bigger animals against one another. As you might expect, the monkey generally ends up getting EATEN for his bother.
Al, you read a one-page description of something [the Signifying Monkey], misinterpreted it, and then assigned a single, negative meaning to it.
Ironically, the SM is all about double meaning, ambiguity, figurative speech, etc. In African-American history, the consequences of speaking literally or of having the hidden meaning of figurative language discovered were quite severe. The SM folktale points that out. [There are tons of versions of the story, from what I've read, and some of them end on a happier note for the monkey.]
So the SM specifically DOESN'T make "empty signals with no backing". It's just the opposite: what he says is full of meaning. It's just not literal.
As Joe points out in #31, the SM can be traced back to Yoruba mythology and then forward to the African-American oral tradition and beyond.
In Yoruba mythology, the figure is Esu-Elegbara. He's powerful because he can divine the messages of the gods and translate them for man. His interpretations are linguistic tricks often laced with double meaning.
Esu's African-American descendant is the Signifying Monkey. He has many other descendants in other countries, as well. The African-American figurative use of the word signifying -- to deliberately play with language, to repeat it and change it, to exaggerate, to say one thing and mean another -- is 200 years old. It has carried over from the oral tradition of slaves into literature, word games, and music [hello jazz!].
Rap -- and therefore the Beastie Boys -- wouldn't exist without the SM.
Oh yeah, and you did call ChuckD a monkey.
55 - Al Barger
Alrighty then BHW, what was the subtle, hidden non-literal meaning Chuck D had in mind when he disrespected Elvis?
Elvis was a hero to most
But he never meant shit to me you see
Straight up racist that sucker was
Simple and plain
Motherfuck him and John Wayne
Maybe he doesn't mean the hateful and unsubstantiated words he says, but I'm not seeing some deep seated irony or metaphor here. Perhaps you could dumb it down for a Kentuckian, because to me it just looks like Chuck is being a hateful demagogue.
Being called a "monkey" would be the LEAST cussing he deserves for his maliciousness.
I do, however, appreciate that there may be numerous versions of the story, with significantly different shades of meaning applied by different people. That happens with tribal legends. Hell, Jesse Jackson and Pat Robertson worship the same savior, Jesus.
56 - Larry White
Hey, at this time in history I'm a nouveau LaRouchie, but I remember when...Little Richard sure shook it up!! As Mr. LaRouche might say, it was pure whorehouse abandon--and Mr. Dynamite James Brown was born right about then and there. But Martin Luther King was riding the crest of the same wave, and even Mr. Penniman became a reverend of some pre-subgenius church of the repentant sodomite. The screaming, as you say, wasn't everything, and it ain't everything. But Little Richard was a fifties master of asymmetric cultural warfare.
Larry White (new reader)
57 - Al Barger
Hello, Larry. Someone coming in identifying themselves as some kind of Laroucher will tend to at least cause me to raise an eyebrow, but you seem reasonable and sociable here.
Also "master of asymmetric cultural warfare" is a pretty nice turn of phrase.
58 - The Dude
Ya know, Al. Just the fact that you wrote a big-ass article on Chuck D and received a big-ass response and debate, wouldn't that prove that Chuck D is highly important in not just rap, or even music, but the whole American culture?
59 - Eric Olsen
Ha ha! good point - but what if it's all just about big asses?
60 - Al Barger
Oh, I don't know Dude. People go ON and ON about Scott Peterson, and that boy ain't shit.
61 - horasco
Michael Jackson to be VP mate with Kerry. Two jerk off's what more do the queer folks need/want.
62 - UNKNOWN
Al's article seemed to be more on the Beastie boys not getting enough recognition than Chuck D. I definitly agree that the beastie boys are underrated. I haven't heard anyone in rap combine rock, rap and even house like they have. Actually, I haven't heard one rap group do that. Another thing great about the Beastie boys is that none of their stuff sounds the same to me. On Hello Nasty they even have Lounge music on there.
And on Chuck D, it seems kind of pointless to try and get a political message across to people while putting people down by their race. Because of that, he shouldn't get as much recognition as he gets. It almost seems as if people magically forgot that.
63 - Desi
i think as black artists, there is a social responsiblity to adhere to. i commend PE for remembering that persepective. there are too many acts today that prostitute themselves for the almighty dollar and care nothing about themselves or their race. to be a contributing member of the human race, you must first develop a deep love and understanding for yourself. this means you must denounce and eradicate the injustices that plague you and all those who fight your struggle alongside you. Kudos PE
64 - Al Barger
Desi, thanks for your thoughtful comments. However, I think that PE were essentially prostituting themselves for the almighty dollar.
When Nina Simone, for example, wrote the uber-classic "Missisippi Goddam," that was a strong personal statement. It wasn't just image mongering, or pandering to some market niche. Ol' gal had something on her mind.
PE, on the other hand, was hucksterism. They were casting a commercial image, marketing themselves for one thing to white college boy types. Their S1W paramilitary was schtick to sell records.
65 - Bob A. Booey
I never saw this ridiculous post before.
How was no one offended by this race-baiting idiocy?
This poor excuse for a writer uses the word "Negro" TWICE to refer to blacks. Yeah, we get it, you're being all South Park and immature, but you're doing it because you take some perverse delight in playing with prejudice.
In what bizarre world is "Negro" not offensive? Even you're not that out of touch and ignorant, Senator. You know exactly what you were trying to do and don't try and cover up with that wussy "you should see what I call my white friends" nonsense. Do you KNOW any black people? Ever know any when you were growing up? Go call them "Negro" right now and see how much they want to be your friend after that. And don't invent some fake story about how you're friendly toward this or that black person, because only a person with NO experience of diversity would write something like this and use the words you do.
So you don't like Chuck D. That's fine. I think he's overrated musically and politically too. But to use that as an excuse to trot out ugly, ignorant, and backwards language is something that even you should be ashamed of.
Just like your "Rosa Parks was no hero" post, you're race-baiting here to feel like you're some Internet provocateur. It's cheap and ugly.
And the only reason you used "signifying monkey" was as an excuse to call a black man you don't like a monkey. Be a man and admit it.
You have no knowledge of African folk tropes or what a "signifying monkey" even means in African tradition. I dare you, Senator, to educate us on your background in West African and Yoruban folk literature and the trickster figure and how signification has worked in the African diaspora.
Olsen and everyone else, can you really read this and be proud to have this sort of human being writing on your site? You know, I was honestly considering going legit this week and signing up for this site to do reviews and more formal blog-type stuff. But then I read stuff like this and I really wonder what kind of community I'd be getting into.
Maybe MacDiva and others had a point about how the tone of this site can be a somewhat hostile climate to people of diverse backgrounds. Do you see ANY writers of color besides Natalie Davis?
Did you read this, Natalie Davis?
I find it disgusting and sad.
That is all.
66 - Bob A. Booey
And if any of this is edited, shame on you, all of you, for your absolute lack of perspective.
Leave Al's words for everyone to see and mine and everyone else's as well.
If he's proud of infantile social rhetoric, then leave it up for the world to see.
That is all.
67 - Bob A. Booey
When I saw the title of this thread on the sidebar, I had a sinking feeling in my stomach and I really hoped that it was not written by the author I expected it to be written by.
But people have a funny way of being predictable and continuing to disappoint you even more than you thought was already possible.
That is all.
68 - JR
Bob A. Booey: How was no one offended by this race-baiting idiocy?
You know, I could swear this thread used to be a lot longer, with numerous outraged and outrageous comments; but I could be confusing it with another.
In what bizarre world is "Negro" not offensive?
The world of about fifteen years ago, if I recall correctly.
Actually, I think it's a bizarre world where mere words are so offensive, let alone one where the criteria change so arbitrarily in just a few years.
69 - bhw
Ugh, I'd forgotten about this post, probably on purpose.
70 - Bob A. Booey
All you need to know about the developmental psychology of the person writing this is that he begins his first comment, apropos of nothing, talking about how he was surprised that the audience wasn't dangerous and criminal and the he felt "relatively safe." Only a fearful racist would say such a thing for no reason.
And then there's grade A BS like this:
"A sister once told me that I'm really a black man who happened to have white skin. I don't have words for how pleased I was with that."
So that makes your race-baiting OK? Who is this "sister" exactly? And yeah, you're so deep and soulful because you listen to Prince and pretend to like Marvin Gaye and went to a PE concert that you can't see the difference between calling blacks "monkeys" and your white nephew.
This seems to be a disturbing pattern for you, Senator. I had to teach you a lesson on the recent Native mascots thread when you and your other backwoods buddy were having some fun playing around loosely with the term "monkey" and mocking the impact of hate speech on black people.
"Nor do we do black folks a favor by refusing to hold them to equal standards of civil discourse. Good liberals seem to me to be treating you like children with all kinds of double standards and double talk."
You need to be treated like a child because you haven't developed an adult psyche. If you were back in grade school, you would be reprimanded for calling blacks "Negroes." How on Earth is that civil discourse?
Fess up and be a man for once. You know NOTHING about the trope of the "signifying monkey," you've NEVER read anything about African folk literature, and you trotted out a phrase you read ONCE on the Internet as an excuse to call a black man a "monkey" and hide behind some literary concept you know NOTHING about. Just admit it, Al.
Cowardice. Ugly and ignorant cowardice.
Thanks to Natalie and anyone else who commented at the time. Sorry I wasn't around then to regulate.
That is all.
71 - Bob A. Booey
I don't believe in censorship, but if anyone edits anything I or anyone else said on this comment while the Senator calls people "Negroes" and accuses others of "emotional baggage" in a fit of projection and personal attack, I'm done with this site for good.
So take that as you will.
That is all.
72 - DrPat
Is that a promise, Bob?
73 - Bob A. Booey
Dr. Pat: if this is the kind of ugly speech and thought you condone and if it's really what you'd rather have than my contributions, then yes, I guarantee it.
The Senator can write this kind of crap for the rest of his hateful life for all I care. Good luck with that.
That is all.
74 - Al Barger
JR, I don't think anything has been edited out of this comment thread.
RE: "Negro" When did that word come to be offensive, and why? Best I can tell, it would be the most clinically correct designation, equivalent to "caucasian."
And what kind of foolishness is it that PE's race baiting eg the Arizona video is cool- indeed, a bold political statement- but "Negro" is a racist offense of some kind by many of those same people?
75 - Bob A. Booey
"Clinically correct?" What the hell? You've lost it now. Tell me EXACTLY how that's "clinically correct" since you're a doctor now apparently. What bizarre Mengele clinic are you talking about? Either you're out of touch and really in need of some learning or you're playing dumb to be really annoying and hateful. I'll assume the former and suspect the latter:
Here's some etymology from two professors at Ferris State University
on how "nigger" was derived from "Negro" and how they share the same common lineage:
"The etymology of nigger is often traced to the Latin niger, meaning black. The Latin niger became the noun negro (black person) in English, and simply the color black in Spanish and Portuguese. In Early Modern French niger became negre and, later, negress (black woman) was clearly a part of lexical history. One can compare to negre the derogatory nigger " and earlier English variants such as negar, neegar, neger, and niggor " which developed into a parallel lexico-semantic reality in English. It is likely that nigger is a phonetic spelling of the white Southern mispronunciation of Negro. Whatever its origins, by the early 1800s it was firmly established as a denigrative epithet. Almost two centuries later, it remains a chief symbol of white racism."
And here's Wikipedia on why polite people haven't used the word since the 1970s:
"The term "negro", literally "black," was used by the Spanish and Portuguese to refer to black Africans and people with that heritage. From the 18th century to the mid-20th century, "negro" (later capitalized) was considered the correct and proper term for African Americans. It fell out of favor by the 1970s in the United States. [...]
Controversy around the word "Negro" has spread to many languages, to a greater or lesser extent, because many have come to perceive the usage of any word similar to "Negro" with respect to black people in any language as a possible form of insult."
Black folks don't want you calling them Negroes and I'm fairly convinced I'm wasting my time trying to teach you anything since you're being disingenuous about your mock surprise, especially given the context of your entire post, which is an excuse to call a black man a "monkey" because it's easy to snicker at misusing a literary term for racist connotations. And it's fun and easy to snicker at Chef from South Park and think he represents black folks in your world and to write immature posts about how Rosa Parks was a nobody and not a hero to be respected, knowing exactly what reaction you're hoping for.
You're not really this backwoods and the rural Indiana/Kentucky thing is no excuse. Be a man for once.
I haven't seen the Arizona video, so I can't speak to it. But the people who were against honoring MLK in that era were some of the most backwards politicians in the country. If you choose to stand with them, so be it.
That is all.