Former Clemson Player Saying Dabo Dropped N Bomb in Locker Room
DABO. DOES. NOT. NEED.TO. APOLOGIZE. FOR. THIS.
My god. He said he doesn't want to hear those vulgar words in his locker room. If I said I didn't want to hear those shitty words, too, does that make me racist?
I don't like Dabo, but holy crap, these message board opinions and posts can't be real. I mean, they just can't be. It's beyond insane. Cue the gif above for everyone calling for Dabo's head.
Probably doesn't bother you because you act in a similar fashion. I think its awful. I'd call for our coaches job if he acted that way but we all know that would never happen.
You're right. I do act in a similar fashion. I condemn those words.
You thinks it's awful? So, so you condone using those words? Wow. Hey everyone... allintime23 is racist!
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See how that works? All I have to do is take what you said, twist it a little, and all of a sudden you're a racist.
There is no benefit of the doubt in the world today anymore. No listening to the both sides of an argument. Of course what's going on with the black community in America is a problem. But some are taking the response to witch hunt proportions. For gods sake, he said he didn't want to hear those words in this locker room. I can't believe that requires defense.
Late 1600s: Literal witch hunts
1950s: McCarthyism (communist witch hunts)
2020: Racism witch hunts
Well … it’s not the same thing.
It is absolutely “using” it. A white persona saying that word is using it. Full stop. Intent doesn’t matter, especially a grown ass man who works with African Americans every day. If he doesn’t know it’s wrong to say that word in any context then he should be fired for being a dumbass.
But he’s not a dumbass. His comments, if accurately quoted, reflect a racist attitude.
Hmmmmmm … nah.
I agree Appleton. Not the same thing.
Saying you're listening to "N word music" is not the same as saying "you're a N word."
But it's in the same fucking ballpark. The same dugout even.
What about saying "I don't wanna listen to n-word this and n-word that!" ...where does that land?
Sidenote, I'm black and I tell black friends and especially young adults...this is part of the problem with using that word so freely.
It's a complicated word even with black people use it around black people.
I personally don't like it, but I won't sit here and act like I'm offended as I would be if a white person used the word (in ANY context). I suppose if historically black people were beating black people while saying this word and selling other black people for property I may feel differently. If it was meant for black people to demean and diminish other black people, I don't think I'd have the same opinion. (So white folks, miss me with the "why can't I use it?" bullshit)
But when we use it around white people so freely and in something like a locker room setting...you're desensitizing people to the word. Doesn't give them the license to use it, but it may make them feel as if it doesn't hurt you like it may hurt others. Sends the wrong message.
What we don't have here is context. If Dabo had repeatly educated and talked about how he didn't want to hear that word (without using it)...I give a smaaaall pass that he's being direct and trying to convey (poorly) what exactly he doesn't like.
If this was the first he addressed it and walked out scream about how he doesnt wanna hear "n-word this and that"...he needs to check his emotions, power and privilege at the door and watch his fucking mouth.
I don't have that context so I'm not going to form an opinion or show fake outrage.
It's simple for me, white people...don't ever use that word, ever. Black people...understand the power in using that word around white people, never an excuse for them to use it, but understand what you are doing. Also learn the consequences of using that word around other black people...which for some, is nothing. For others, it could be hurtful.
Not black people what to do, only emphasizing that there are consequences to everything we do. But again, its complicated. I personally don't use the word and I don't often hear the word...funny how that works.
I respect your opinion and agree that non-black people should NEVER use the N-word. But, Dabo wasn't using the N-word. He heard music that did use the N-word, and he said, I don't want to hear music that uses that word. Big difference. He didn't call it "n-music" or he specifically said "I DON'T want to hear music with N-word this and n-word that."
He is instructing against the use of that offensive word. But how can he do that without saying the word? I completely respect the perspective of those who find the word horrible. Proud to say that I don't use the word, ever. But, Dabo did nothing wrong here. This seems like a real stretch, and to me, diminishes real griped by those who actually use the word.
Also, MaizeBlueA2, you raise a really good point that if black people want that word to finally go away, they themselves need to stop using it. It's somewhat disingenuous to expect the word to be freely used in music that so many non-black kids listen to, and then not expect the word to make its way into their vocabulary. The word is offensive and hurtful to so many. It should just be completely forbidden so that it makes its way out of common vernacular, forever.
The N-word is like the Nazi salute. It is something you just don’t use.
Then start condemning all the rappers and musicians who use it proudly in their music.
Some things go better unsaid and actually your view is a little near-sighted! Have you ever heard a black man accidentally use a racially insensitive slur at work and survived it? Trust me your passionate view is ok. But you’ll NEVER understand the usage of the word if you just think it should just STOP. I digress.
"He is instructing against the use of that offensive word. But how can he do that without saying the word?"
Wait wait, I think I know this one. By using "N Word" or some other stand-in rather than the actual word, just like the hundred other references to the word in this very thread did w/o actually using the term itself?
That’s fine. The whole point is that he didn’t have to say the word and he did, which says a lot
I think quoting music is different than flat out saying it, and it seems like it would be good that he wouldn’t want to hear the n word in the locker room.
If you're white, you still shouldn't quote it in music.
Just skip it. It's not hard.
I'm black and I skip it. Whenever my white friends are rapping a song and I'm around they skip it. So I know it can be done.
Do it in private as many of white people do in public. And if you don't skip it in public "because it's in a song"...you should start skipping it, always.
Or, maybe those who put out the songs should skip it, so that others don't have the opportunity to use it when rapping a song. The word needs to die, but it won't if rappers - black, white or other- use it so freely in music that KIDS listen to.
Jesus christ quit blaming rappers or whomever, just don't say it and teach your kids that. Cut and dry.
Censorship is never really the answer, mainly because it's just not effective in the long run. This applies to both the artists making content and also every day speech.
Education and understanding is the best answer.
“Gangsta rap made me do it”
I know it’s an unpopular opinion but I do think in order for the word to truly die everyone has to stop using it. We can’t have some words for some people. When it’s in pop culture, kids hear it at 10 and under in something they associate with being “hip” and cool instead of learning about the history and issues with the word.
So there are different rules for what is allowed & expected of white people?
No.
YES!!! It's that fucking simple. White people, don't say it, in any context. DON'T! AND QUIT BITCHING ABOUT NOT GETTING TO USE IT....YOU SHOULDN'T WANT TO!
No. Just no.
So, you think different standards should be applied to people based on the color of their skin?
Do you even realize that you just admitted to being a racist?
Bullshit false equivalence is bullshit
I’m white. I didn’t skip it when I was a teenager. Then I got a fucking clue and realized that context doesn’t matter, white people using that word is inherently racist, regardless of intent.
That's exactly the same thing.
If he said, "Music with the n-word in it" Then it would be different.
yep it isnt hard.
Had he phrased it like you suggested it would have been thoughtful and instructive. But I do think there are a class of folks who get off saying the word even when trying to condemn it because they still get to say it. These are the same people who use niggardly in sentences.
… so now we’re going to pretend Dabo is a racist without any further evidence. Cancel culture is awful. Lots of people defending it. Perhaps Dabo felt the term is derogatory no matter who uses it. You can argue this point.
Maybe he shouldn’t have said it but to pretend context does matter. It’s ok to argue if he shouldn’t have said it and why. The outrage in some of these posts seems a bit unreasonable.
He's spent his entire life in the south, he knows the rules. He knows that had he pulled that shit as a walk on in a locker room at bama he would have got his ass beat. Lets not assume the man doesn't know what the fuck he was doing. He was also a dude out yesterday in the world wearing a "Football Matters" shirt.
So the evidence is:
-Had a coach who dropped the n-word in practice, doesn't bring it up with the team.
-Used the word himself in the locker room
-Drops mealy mouthed "can't we all just get along" bullshit when faced with the prospect of racial discrimination on a systemic scale, when he came out louder harder and stronger over players getting paid
I'm not saying is conclusive but apply some central limit theorem to his actions and the look is bad, really fucking bad
But if he sports a permanent tan then he can say anything he likes? That's a bit racist, isn't it?
I don't think it's my place to say that people are overreacting or to say that people aren't taking this seriously enough. So I'll just put it this way: what I just read in that tweet was not what I was expecting to read when I clicked on this thread. And I hate Dabo more than just about anyone.
But either way, Dabo is an idiot for the way he expressed himself. If you're uncomfortable having music on in your locker room that uses the n-word, say that, rather than actually using the n-word.
Allow me to split the difference, because I have a Black daughter (adopted from birth) who simply insists that white people should never say the word. That that's a commitment non-racist white people make.
Now--I confess--I struggle with that, as a person who tries to honor and understand her. Because it means you can't even report on the issue. And we all know that Dabo and his defenders will have no problem in saying that that music DISRESPECTS Black people, contains profanity, etc., and that he doesn't want it playing in the locker room, when someone comes through, etc.
But we all--most of us--will also understand that Dabo's comments were going to elicit anger, especially under these circumstances. He's responsible for that, too. He could have said, if he believed it: "Hey, I feel that this music is disrespectful and I ask you to turn it off." And then a conversation would need to follow, including one in which he explained why Lynard Skynard wasn't banned, etc. (Good luck, Dabo.)
In the meantime--no, Dabo isn't going down for this. But his program sinks a little. Because Black people, and people who are struggling to figure this shit out, will understand that huffing through the locker room right now and saying what he said (if in fact that's more or less verbatim reporting) is of course going to come across as antagonistic and. . . something less than thoughtful under these circumstances.
IMO it couldn't happen to a more hypocritical type. Why Black players would want to play in a suspect environment like Clemson is beyond me.
MGlobules great post.
Bullshit. I dislike Dabo as much as anyone, but this is bullshit. If anything, he is saying he doesn’t want to hear the word.
I don't believe in having magic words that only certain people can say. If people are too stupid to evaluate the context in which the words are said, then its on them. It's a dangerous precedent when you start making the mere utterance of a word "illegal" from a societal standpoint.
Just tired of this stupidity.
Are you saying Dabo saying a racial slur isn't the same as Dabo saying a racial slur? I don't understand what you're going for here.
the 'n-word' is a hateful word, as bad as at least one pejorative that is hurled at women. if i ever heard that word in my house (or a locker room that i was coaching) i'd say the same thing as dabo. i better never hear those words in my house, ever, and i don't expect to. in fact, we were reading a non-fiction book about slavery last summer, one of our family books that we're around the dinner table while i read it. when it got to a part of the book where that word was being used i literally got choked up and told the kids 'i'm going to say a word right now that i never, ever want to hear repeated in our house, ever', and explained the hate behind the word.
so if it is a hateful, evil word (and it is), it remains that for all and should be eliminated from civil speech. anybody listening to that crap music that throws the word around needs to act accordingly.
Pedantic white people think there is an important distinction between use and mention. Here is an example that illustrates the difference:
California is a state.
"California" has 10 letters.
Some people signal that they are mentioning, rather than using, a term by putting it in quotation marks, as I've done in the examples.
People who think this distinction is important sometimes also think that it's not offensive to mention slurs. They might, e.g., say--and they'd spell out the word I'm not about to spell out here--"the word 'n----' is a slur and nobody should use it!" They'd claim not to have used the word themselves, even if it came out of their mouths, because they merely mentioned it.
Explanation time over. Now some claims:
1. Part of the problem--but only part of the problem--is that social norms do not carefully track valid theoretical distinctions. The idiotic Navy Secretary that got himself fired for being a jackass, for example, did not actually call the captain he'd relieved of duty stupid. But the word "stupid" did come out of his mouth, and so journalists widely reported that he called the captain stupid. You might think the journalists are themselves stupid if they can't distinguish between what the Secretary said and actually calling the captain stupid. I think they (to be clear, the journalists) are kind of stupid myself. But it does show you that people will be offended by, and hold speakers responsible for, more than just the technical content of what is said.
2. Relatedly, people who appeal to the use/mention distinction are in fact wrong about which utterances of slurs are offenses. Mentioning slurs is also offensive. So you shouldn't do it.
As a black man, that's not the same thing. At least in my eyes. But hey, whatever. I'm more offended that bible thumper was swearing.
Now that’s funny!!!
Yes, it is. Don't say the n-word. I don't really care what the context is. You can allude to the word if necessary. But any actual use of the word is a choice made by the person using it.
Get 'em all.
Any good will he got from us over the last few years for owning Ohio State is officially gone now. Heck, what sweeter revenge would there be in the world against OSU this year then to not only beat them but then reach Playoff and finish the mission that they couldn't by beating Clemson?
I'm confused by this post. Are you saying it would be sweet revenge for OSU to beat Clemson in the playoffs this season because Dabo is a racist douche? In my mind, IF OSU and Clemson should (God forbid) both make the playoffs again then that game should be met with a meteor.