Rihanna Vents Over Racial Encounter in Europe

[souldreamer7]

Rihanna Vents Over Racial Encounter in Europe

Dec 20 2011 10:52 AM EST 16,549
Rihanna Responds To Dutch Magazine's Racial Slur
'I find you disrespectful and rather desperate!!' Rihanna tweeted about mag's offensive comments
Rihanna has taken to Twitter to react to a fashion writer's comments in a recent issue of the Dutch magazine Jackie. In addition to referring to Rihanna as the "ultimate n---abitch," the article states that the singer is from Jamaica, when she is actually from the Barbados.

While readers were shocked by the magazine's language, description of the singer and factual inaccuracies, which have been translated by Parlourmagazine.com, the singer herself called the magazine out for the comments.

"I hope u can read english, because your magazine is a poor representation of the evolution of human rights! I find you disrespectful and rather desperate!! You ran out of legit, civilized information to print!" she wrote on Twitter. "There are 1000's of Dutch girls who would love to be recognized for their contributions to your country, you could have given them an article. Instead, u paid to print one degrading an entire race! That's your contribution to this world! To encourage segregation, to mislead the future leaders to act in the past! You put two words together, with the intent of abasement, that made no sense ... 'N---a Bitch'?!....Well with all respect, on behalf of my race, here are my two words for you ... F--- YOU!!!"

The magazine has taken to Facebook to issue an apology for the use of the racial slur, with a note from its editor-in-chief, Eva Hoeke. "First: thanks for all your responses. We are of course very fed up over this and especially very shocked. However I'm glad that we're engaging in a dialogue on this page — not everybody does that. Thanks for this. Other than that I can be brief about this: this should have never happened. Period," Hoeke wrote.

"While the author meant no harm — the title of the article was intended as a joke — it was a bad joke, to say the least. And that slipped through my, the editor-in-chief's, fingers. Stupid, painful and sucks for all concerned. The author has been addressed on it, and now I can only ensure that these terms will no longer end up in the magazine," the statement continued.

"Furthermore I hope that you all believe there was absolutely no racist motive behind the choice of words. It was stupid, it was naive to think that this was an acceptable form of slang — you hear it all the time on tv and radio, then your idea of what is normal apparently shifts — but it was especially misguided: there was no malice behind it. We make our magazine with love, energy and enthusiasm, and it can sometimes happen that someone is out of line. And then you can only do one thing: apologize. And hope that others wish to accept it. From the bottom of my heart I say it again: we never intended to offend anyone. And I mean that."

Do you think the magazine's apology is enough? Tell us in the comments

Translation in english:

In an article published in the latest issue of Dutch fashion magazine Jackie, the magazine offers a little advice on how to dress like Rihanna without looking like the “ultimate n*ggerbitch.” That’s right. No typo there. Check out the full English translation below:

“She has street cred, she has a ghetto ass and she has a golden throat. Rihanna, the good girl gone bad, is the ultimate n***abitch and displays that gladly, and for her that means: what’s on can come off. If that means she’ll be on stage half naked, then so be it. But Dutch winters aren’t like Jamaican ones, so pick a clothing style in which your daughter can resist minus ten. No to the big sunglasses and the pornheels, and yes to the tiger print, pink shizzle and everything that glitters. Now let’s hope she won’t beat anybody up at daycare.”


December 19, 2011

Rihanna has revealed she was the victim of racist abuse in a hotel in Portugal.
The 23-year-old singer was checking out of the hotel after performing a concert in the country, when she claims she was subjected to the "most racist" comments about black women she had ever heard.

Rihanna took to Twitter to vent her rage, and revealed she had given the man a piece of her mind.

She wrote:
I just met the most racist c--t EVER!!! This man said the craziest shit abt black women called us dogs, sluts, we don't look like shit, we don't belong in the same hotels....needless to say, the #N*GGA in me came out! Bajan accent and all!Lol!

The Barbadian singer arrives in London on Tuesday to perform three gigs at London's O2 Arena tomorrow - the final dates of her Loud tour, before she takes some time off for Christmas.

Rihanna didn't let the abuse get her down though and described her gig in Portugal as "legendary".

Credit: Getty Images

 

[Ben]

I'm glad she took the time to answer them. It's just plain despicable. I cant believe there are still people who think and talk like that. I'm pretty sure sure the guy/girl who wrote that article thought it was cool to use those words. Those people in the media have no freaking idea the damage they do, spreading that kind of crap, or dont even think about their responsability.

 

[ginvid]

I think it is truly despicable what that magazine said and their supposed apology was ridiculous. With that said, Rihanna uses the "N" word to describe herself. When people repeatedly ignore the history of the word and downplay its meaning, what do they expect to happen from other people?

 

[kissybissy]

I think it is truly despicable what that magazine said and their supposed apology was ridiculous. With that said, Rihanna uses the "N" word to describe herself. When people repeatedly ignore the history of the word and downplay its meaning, what do they expect to happen from other people?

True. She also wears a necklace with the word "c**t. A very offensive word to women. Still, the article was rather offensive.

 

[Snow White 1937]

I think it is truly despicable what that magazine said and their supposed apology was ridiculous. With that said, Rihanna uses the "N" word to describe herself. When people repeatedly ignore the history of the word and downplay its meaning, what do they expect to happen from other people?

You are right!

The article was disgusting!
But someone should wash out Rihanna's potty mouth! There are children who follow and read her tweets such as Paris Jackson. I understand that she was very upset but why does she have to use so much profanity? What does she want to prove with this? To show how classy and mature she is? She could have shown some poise and confidence instead. Very disappointing.

 

[Ben]

If she uses that word herself, it is indeed quite hypocritical to lash out on others who do the same. :blink: Doesnt make much sense.

 

[MJJ7777]

Maybe she should try to respect herself a bit more.

 

[Severus Snape]

You are right!

The article was disgusting!
But someone should wash out Rihanna's potty mouth! There are children who follow and read her tweets such as Paris Jackson. I understand that she was very upset but why does she have to use so much profanity? What does she want to prove with this? To show how classy and mature she is? She could have shown some poise and confidence instead. Very disappointing.

I hope those children have parents. Rihanna shouldn't have to monitor s--t just because she has some kids as fans. If she were a kid show star like Miley Cyrus used to be, I'd agree 100% with you. However, she is not, and never was, therefore--the parents should be the ones doing the monitoring on Twitter and elsewhere. Rihanna was right to give this magazine a piece of her mind and it is completely sad that, after all this time, people still think it is acceptable to treat others in this manner.

If she uses that word herself, it is indeed quite hypocritical to lash out on others who do the same. :blink: Doesnt make much sense.

I agree in that it's not exactly logical, but her misuse of that word does not justify the magazine's decision to use it to describe her. They are both in the wrong, the way I see it.

 

[Krshna28]

If she uses that word herself, it is indeed quite hypocritical to lash out on others who do the same. :blink: Doesnt make much sense.

When then, she has no grounds to even complain about it...........


Also, if she keeps using the word, how the hell does she find it offensive????..........


The woman just wants attention and sympathy!!!!

 

[elusive moonwalker]

I think it is truly despicable what that magazine said and their supposed apology was ridiculous. With that said, Rihanna uses the "N" word to describe herself. When people repeatedly ignore the history of the word and downplay its meaning, what do they expect to happen from other people?

Very true

 

[schizophrenic]

I wonder if things like this are an accident. They could be easily done with evil intent, but I'm wondering if it's just a language/culture clash. I seen an article about Tupac Shakur which called him the full n word. It even talked about Malcolm X, MLK and other famous black men the same way. The article didn't seem to mean any harm tho. They just used that word. It was about why do all black men who try to change the world die in violence. Is it well known all over the world to not use the n word? It doesn't matter I guess what the deal is. These jouralists should know better.

 

[Snow White 1937]

I hope those children have parents. Rihanna shouldn't have to monitor s--t just because she has some kids as fans. If she were a kid show star like Miley Cyrus used to be, I'd agree 100% with you. However, she is not, and never was, therefore--the parents should be the ones doing the monitoring on Twitter and elsewhere. Rihanna was right to give this magazine a piece of her mind and it is completely sad that, after all this time, people still think it is acceptable to treat others in this manner.

To me there is no difference. They are both adults. I can't give Rihanna a pass simply because she is 4 or 5 years older than Miley or isn't a former child star. But hey, what can you expect from someone who wears a necklace with the word "c*nt"? (Hm... I wonder if she would feel offended if someone called her that...) I think she wore that necklace to church. Class act.
But I agree with you about Rihanna wanting to defend herself. I just don't like the way she did it.

 

[cinzia]

I wonder why no one seems to ever be offended by the way women are portrayed in many music videos these days? Why no one complains about the words used to refer to women? N****, bitch, whore? Why should we not type out the entire word? Why should we pretend it is less offensive if we insert asterisks? When one can hear these words in music played on the radio and on the street? Or see them on tee shirts? Does that excuse the use of these kinds of words to describe women? And if the use of these (kinds) of descriptors is accepted in 'popular culture', if no one makes a fuss when these words are used in 'music' today, why should anyone be upset if a magazine uses these same sorts of words? Hearing it in a song, reading in print, what's the difference? Why is it acceptable in the music industry and not the print industry? I'm not saying it is right, mind you. Just saying that a tremendous double standard is out there. So fine be upset because a magazine used such words but I wonder why they did? Did they pick them up from today's music culture? I wonder what they would say.

 

[Lucilla]

I wonder if things like this are an accident. They could be easily done with evil intent, but I'm wondering if it's just a language/culture clash. I seen an article about Tupac Shakur which called him the full n word. It even talked about Malcolm X, MLK and other famous black men the same way. The article didn't seem to mean any harm tho. They just used that word. It was about why do all black men who try to change the world die in violence. Is it well known all over the world to not use the n word? It doesn't matter I guess what the deal is. These jouralists should know better.

Because they're supposed to know better, I think they did this on purpose. Imo.

 

[ginvid]

I wonder why no one seems to ever be offended by the way women are portrayed in many music videos these days? Why no one complains about the words used to refer to women? N****, bitch, whore? Why should we not type out the entire word? Why should we pretend it is less offensive if we insert asterisks? When one can hear these words in music played on the radio and on the street? Or see them on tee shirts? Does that excuse the use of these kinds of words to describe women? And if the use of these (kinds) of descriptors is accepted in 'popular culture', if no one makes a fuss when these words are used in 'music' today, why should anyone be upset if a magazine uses these same sorts of words? Hearing it in a song, reading in print, what's the difference? Why is it acceptable in the music industry and not the print industry? I'm not saying it is right, mind you. Just saying that a tremendous double standard is out there. So fine be upset because a magazine used such words but I wonder why they did? Did they pick them up from today's music culture? I wonder what they would say.

Contrary to what you think you know, N**** is not a word used in common music to refer to women. It is used in popular music to either describe someone's friend as in "My n****" or is used to name someone ignorant as in "That N****" or it is used to describe a rival or something like that. Number 2, it is never used in popular culture by anyone but blacks (and the occasional person of color who is accepted). That is all. If you want to know the difference, anyone white can get around a group of blacks and start rapping a song with the word and say the actual word and see how they come out of that situation. It won't end well.

Number 3, just because some group of people decide it is ok to use the word amongst themselves (as foolish as this is considering all of the history with this word) then that still does not give a magazine the right to purposely use the word disrespecting an entire group of people with their ignorance. When they use the word, they are not defending Rihanna, they are offending all black people, many who do not agree with the word being thrown around so haphazardly. The history of the word, it's meaning, it's use, runs very deep for black people. So if a magazine is stupid (because I don't think ignorant fits here. I think they knew what the word meant and purposely used it offensively) then they deserve every criticism that comes with it.

 

[Krshna28]

I wonder why no one seems to ever be offended by the way women are portrayed in many music videos these days? Why no one complains about the words used to refer to women? N****, bitch, whore? Why should we not type out the entire word? Why should we pretend it is less offensive if we insert asterisks? When one can hear these words in music played on the radio and on the street? Or see them on tee shirts? Does that excuse the use of these kinds of words to describe women? And if the use of these (kinds) of descriptors is accepted in 'popular culture', if no one makes a fuss when these words are used in 'music' today, why should anyone be upset if a magazine uses these same sorts of words? Hearing it in a song, reading in print, what's the difference? Why is it acceptable in the music industry and not the print industry? I'm not saying it is right, mind you. Just saying that a tremendous double standard is out there. So fine be upset because a magazine used such words but I wonder why they did? Did they pick them up from today's music culture? I wonder what they would say.

Exactly..........


Also....

If you refuse to be offended by the word........then the word is no longer offensive......

.....people need to move on from petty words...........there's more to life then that!!!!

 

[cinzia]

I think that when a word or set of behaviors is deemed acceptable if used/practiced by a particular subset of people and not by the general population, then you risk building the foundation for inequality and a form of (reverse) segregation. I suppose at the very least one could think about freedom of speech. Not that I have any interest in using such words at all. However double standards have always annoyed me. And to say that the color of a person's skin permits that person to use a certain word...how is can this be tolerated in a free and equal society? Because if true equality is sought, shouldn't it cross all barriers? Just asking.

Lastly, and probably straying from the topic, why is it all right for women to be depicted as objects in many music videos today? For too many years we fought for equality between the sexes. The right to be recognized and respected as equal, intelligent individuals, not as objects simply to clean and keep house and produce children. Or as the chattel of a man. And yet when I look at some of these videos I begin to wonder what it was all for...