Monday, July 12, 2010

A Pack of What?

Man, I didn't even hear about this Mel Gibson thing until Monday.

I avoid the TV news like the plague when I get home, and I ususally avoid the internet as well. So I was quite surprised to hear that Gibson revealed another "ism" in a very public manner. Now, I agree with some folks who have questioned how this information was gathered and what it says about our lack of privacy in this world, but still, Gibson's words were shocking.

Did he really berate his woman for dressing in a manner that was going to get her "raped by a pack of niggers"?

I mean, who says "pack of niggers" in general conversation? What actually qualifies as a "pack of niggers"? Is that just a large group of black males, or is it co-ed? Do the black males have to be engaged in a particular behavior, or is the simple reality of their massing enough to get them labeled a "pack"?

Are NBA games played by a "pack of niggers"?

These are types of things I pondered when I heard about Mel's comments. Sure, what he said was despicable, as were his comments about Latinos and his older comments about Jews. But really, Mel Gibson never struck me as the kind of guy who would shy away from a slur, so I can't say his comments were that shocking.

But, "pack of niggers" is still a curious and powerful phrase. I doubt Mel Gibson lives in an area with a lot of gang activity, and outside of his last Lethal Weapon movies I'm curious about when he last hung out with some black people. So, where does Gibson's fear of a maurading, raping "pack of niggers" come from? Of all the things he could be concerned about with his woman dressing provocatively, why did a "pack of niggers" jump to the forefront? (Oh yeah, am I the only one who finds it wild that Gibson is affiliated with some crazy rigourous Catholic sect, but has a jump-off he impregnated who dresses and acts in this manner? Yeah, that just gives me the giggles.)

And why did Gibson think a "pack of niggers" would be such an effective fear tactic?

Did Gibson imagine his woman running for her bathrobe and sweatsuit at the mere mention of a "pack of niggers"? Is that how they scare each other at night?  Is a "pack of niggers" their bogeyman? Has she expressed a fear of groups of black men? Does she point them out on the street and give a little shiver when her driver cruises past them?

Or, did Gibson just randomly blurt out "pack of niggers" when he was searching for a general way to express danger? Pack of nigger = dangerous, right?

Sadly, cynicism leads me to that choice. Black men are the default signal of danger and the only thing more dangerous than a black man is a group of horny black men. Near a white woman, of course.

Yep, Gibson's comments will be shrugged off as the ravings of a boorish racist, but in my mind they are just the blunt observations of your average American. Gibson just spoke what a lot of people think when they are scrambling to their cars, or showing off a little too much cleavage. Hell, sometimes I'm guilty of it.

A "pack of niggers" scares everybody, right?

Damn "pack of niggers."




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11 comments:

Anna Renee said...

If one man, handcuffed, hands behind his back, face down, outstretched on the ground, is enough to scare the shit out of a cop armed with a taser AND a gun AND a "gang"----then a PACK of Niggers is the white man's most worstest nightmare and the white woman's challenge! "Can I do them all? (I'm being mean, I know)

But I was at Ensayn's blog, and the white fathers have a bit of a different take on the black sports hero--no fear of the Pack of Niggers. "African American Athletes, and white women and their pimps!"
http://ensaynreality.squarespace.com/
It's quite the dichotomy.

As for the picture of the brothers, the definitely are that pack of niggers, as would be a group of rappers, a group of black lawyers, clergy, doctors, police, a group of black lesbians probably would fit into it as well!
I tell you, it's all madness!!

Check me out at my new spot
nachalooman.wordpress.com or at Afrospear

Mr. Noface said...

I wonder if Danny Glover knows what Gibson meant by "Pack of Niggers." It has to mean more than 2 black men, right? Otherwise, Gibson wouldn't have been able to handle doing Lethal Weapon 4 (seeing as he was around Chris Rock and Mr. Glover throughout much of the movie).

Tiffany said...

When you are getting paid a few million to act like an idiot you might bite your tongue and deal with folks.

Peace, Love and Chocolate
Tiffany

Anonymous said...

Mel Gibson is a waste of skin, whatever it's color. His racist invective is only one part of the hate-filled, violent persona he projects. Whatever sensitivity his early film portrayals indicated evaporated by the time he applied his ham-fisted directorial skills to Braveheart, in which he reduced the tragedy of war to something like the hijinks of a video game. Excuses were made for him then and later, when he reveled in every torturous moment of violence in The Passion of the Christ. You don't mention that in the same recording were he mentions "pack of niggers" he also reveals he beat his girlfriend. I hope to God he's not your average white guy.

Big Man said...

Well, I won't say domestic violence is "average white guy" behavior, but it's sure not that unusual for men of any race. And not to many women either.

I feel like Gibson is "average" when it comes to his fear of a "pack of niggers," beyond that, he's a special sort of cat.

Too many people are getting caught up in blasting Mel Gibson personally. Yes, dude deserves to get trashed to a degree, but I think his comments, combined with the news about Oscar Grant and the NYPD, offer a chance to examine some of the longstanding mindsets about black and latino men held by the general populace and law enforcement.

Doubt that will happen outside of the black blogosphere though.

LisaMJ said...

I'm mad that I used to kind of like the M-f er. I bet Danny Glover is mad. Has anyone asked him about it? I was done with him after the anti-semetic comments but this is just RIDICULOUS!!!

Big Man said...

Danny Glover might be like Whoopi Goldberg and trying to convince folks Mel ain't that bad.

LisaMJ said...

Oh and I agree about his comment being par for the course of what a lot of white folks think (but won't necessarily say, especially not in mixed company).

LisaMJ said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Dont.even.get.me.started on this a**hole of epic proportions!! I knew this scumwad was a worthless piece of CRAP when he was ranting about the Jews. Let's not kid ourselves most white folks who hate Jews also 'hate' everyone else. I'm not suprised about that nor am I surprised that dummy Whoopi defended him. She's has become the biggest flaky fool and sell-out they can HAVE each other!

Anonymous said...

Niggers are inferior to all mammals.




Raving Black Lunatic