Welcome to another episode of Civic Cipher. I'my host Rams's Jah.
He calls me q war because that's what my mom calls me too.
Yes, indeed, and we are back once again after another week full of events. Is very much an understatement.
I'm so glad we just both laughed and smiled, because when I was on my way here, Bro, I did not expect to be.
In a good mood at all.
Yeah. People ask about the show all the time, and it's we're never short on content, but just by the nature of the show, the things that that we are that it's our responsibility to talk about are just in nature.
Not typically fun. Yeah.
Yeah, and sometimes it's heavy, man. And literally, when I was driving here, I'm like, I don't know how I'm going to talk about these things tonight and not be actually angry. So I'm glad that we both just at the idea of last week, we're able to, at least right now before we dig into it, exhale and chuckle, because goodness, gracious man.
You know what a lot of times people will, you know, if I meet them and they're not familiar with the show or the work that I've done up until now, or what we're doing now with Civic Cipher. They'll ask about Civic Cipher. You know, we'll tell me about the show, and the easiest way to explain it to people is to start by saying that it's therapy, you know, and so you know, there's a big part of this that
really feels therapeutic to be able to talk about. And of course it's our hope that you know, everyone that listens and participates in whatever capacity with the show gets this not only a little bit more perspective and education, but also you know, it has a sense of release and after listening, just a more concrete version of reality that they can subscribe to. But you know, as stated, this past week was full of just all kinds of you know, you know what I think the heaviest thing is,
you know, being black in this country. You know, obviously there's this idea that the deck is stacked against you, and then there's this idea that there's a lot of people that are really going to help you and that really want the world to be a little bit more fair.
And then there's those people who are in the middle that will do whatever the right thing is at whatever the right time is, depending on the optics and depending on you know, whatever forces are at play, and you know, in seeing the way that you know, the police ultimately came around and responded to the folks that you know, attack the Capitol building. The police responded somewhat. You know, they're they're people are getting arrested, and you know.
Well, I gotta I gotta rewatch the video I didn't. Yeah, yeah, so that's that's footage I saw. I didn't even have a police response, well, you know, except for opening gates and ushering people and out of the building exactly.
So it's kind of hard to find out how to feel about things. And then even if we do figure out like okay, well they're finally taking some action against these people waving the Confederate flag and the lobby of you know, the Capitol Building, it's there's a part of me that feels like, you know, it might be you know, uh, just them doing it because they're pandering, or it's you know, they're like, Okay, I guess we got to do something as opposed to while this is wrong, this is a
huge injustice, and you know, let's you know whatever, let's let's take action. It's like kind of they were compelled to do it after however long. So the the thing is, I want to make sure that we talk about a couple of things things. The first thing is I want to say, Hi, Mom, who's checking us out live right now? And I want you to know that we appreciate your support and all your input. But one of the other things that I wanted to talk about was Donald Trump
and him losing his his Twitter account. Something that I've encountered quite a bit is people the backlash against all these to pushback, yeah, saying that it's a matter of free speech. So my brother shout out to Sean. He called me the other day, and Sean works in it. That's very much an understatement. But more importantly, he's a brilliant mind, probably the smartest person that I I certainly that I know. But you know, he explained a lot
to me about how this actually works. He told me about a lawsuit and it escapes me right now, but it's it's a lawsuit from the early nineteen hundreds, maybe like nineteen nineteen or something like that, and basically this lawsuit was, you know, you know, the First Amendment. We have freedom of speech, tray, but there's certain things that you cannot say, you know, if they cause harm, or if they you know, incite some sort of action, you know.
Or you know, inside a riot. Yeah, caused people to storm the United States Capital exactly.
Perhaps another example that he gave to me was that he wanted to or he suggested rather that you know this, the result of this lawsuit is why you can't run into a building in yell fire. If the building's aren't on fire, that's not protected under the First Amendment. Right And I will get the exact the details of the lawsuit. But there was a combination of this with the Amazon,
the Amazon pulling down the Parlor app. The Parlor app, and for those that you don't know, there's another app that exists outside of Twitter and Facebook and all these other app apps that you can download and communicate with people their social networks. Parlor is one that really caters to real right wing extremists because they do it well.
They kind of co opted it, sure because make it that made it sound like Parlor was designed for them, and it wasn't. It wasn't, okay, I'm sure, trust me. I had a long I just drove thirty two hours. I had a lot of time on my hands. They co opted it and turned it into their own. It was initially, I think, designed to talk about like what we had for lunch today or something, you know, I mean, like something super basic, super simple, and it was co opted into like.
Okay, then yeah, then that launched a cool together, right, Okay, So then that that then what you're saying happens before, you know, a little bit before the research that I did on it goes back, and it goes back so far.
But it's been what you're saying for so long that that makes sense.
Okay.
But it wasn't designed originally for that, Like somebody didn't say, let's design an app so that, right, we extremists can plan a cool like that wasn't there, right, okay, Okay.
The genesis of it. The thing about it is, uh, I actually downloaded this on my on one of my phones. Oh word, yeah, which is for sale by the way, if you want to spend. I got actually two phones, once for five for ten. If you want to buy it, I'm happy to sell it to god Parlor already run it for you if you need it. I didn't even log in. But yeah, this app, well, I guess it
became a space where free speech wasn't limited. You know how on Facebook and and and Twitter especially, the president would treat tweet things and then it would say these these facts are disputed or this is proven to be not true whatever like label on his tweets. Well, Parlor was a place that didn't do that. Or you could just basically yell fire and there would be no consequences
on that platform. Another thing is that these are private businesses, so they can you know, extend you know, their platform to whoever they want and deny other people, you know, as they choose. So it's not necessarily limiting free speech because it's not like press in the same way. So there's no there's no press badge that you get, you know, like I'm such and such a journalist from a press credential,
right exactly, It's it's a platform. So anyway, so Parlor they instead of like building their own infrastructure, they used Amazon's like excess infrastructure to become the platform, right, which is effectively what my brother Sean does. So Sean understood how it worked, and they have it's it's the it's a u P. I figured what that's called for two
and figure that out. But Basically, it's like terms and conditions where if you you sign up to use Amazon's infrastructure to host your you know, your app, then you have to abide by their their rules, and Parlor by not you know, throat, not throttling, but monitoring the way the app was being used, they ultimately found themselves in violation of the terms and conditions. Now this isn't something
that is you know, executed across the board. It's just when you when you become a big enough problem, you become a big enough fire, they'll put you out, which is exactly what happened. So Parlor ended up losing all of their their online infrastructure and have to start over
from beginning. So that's really what ended up making this look like everyone's out to get Donald Trump, you know, because he got banned from Spotify and Pinterest and everything stuff that is not even relevant for him to communicate. And you know, I think that people need to understand
that that's the way it works, you know. And and the funny part about it is a lot of times, especially you know, you know Republicans, you know, right wing subscribers, they love the idea of you know, small government, you know, and business and the free market, you know, and that's
essentially what is happening here. But because this is the platform that the president has chosen to speak from and to tweet his you know, presidential policy, for him to be limited or denied that it feels like he's being you know, that they're limiting free speech of the man. And it's it's it's amazing the links that people will go through go to rather to justify or otherwise completely ignore what's happening, and they'll call it anything other than
what it is. You know, everybody that decided to limit this man's reach and his capacity to incite you know, violence and all this sort of stuff. Do you remember there was the the video in Texas where there was a bunch of trucks and they were traveling next to a Biden Harris ban.
Yeah, next to the the word I'm losing it right now, but yes, yeah, So there was campaign the campaign.
Bus for Biden and there were all the Trump trucks with the flags whatever, and they like ran this truck off or they were I don't know if they ran it off the road, but they were like attempted to sure, so you know, that wasn't enough. And then you know, Trump like retweeted the picture and he's like, I love Texas and like encouraging this sort of behavior where people
get hurt. And then now that we've seen five people's lives get lost because of this past you know, riot or whatever, you know, people are actually taking action against this guy and limiting their involvement with him or otherwise his involvement with them and their business because they feel like, you know, to free market and you know, this is capitalism. And again all the right, they really champion this idea of capitalism so much. They're doing what's in their best
interest of the business, and they're protecting their bottom line. Amazon. You know there's people that will log into Amazon and try to take Parlor down. You know, there's hackers, there's all this sort of stuff. So Amazon has to say, what, I got a whole other business to run. I can't afford to expose myself to this type of attack. Let's severitize with these guys because it's not worth it because we're making real money over here and Parlor is just
a thing billions of dollars. So you know, when people really understand it, it's like you can't have it both ways. You can't have you know, h this free market and then you know, you know, uh, small business or small government, you know, big business, business decides how it works, and then you know, cry foul when a business decides to sever their ties with someone who could potentially expose them
to risk or you know, affect their bottom line. So I wanted to make sure we started the show off by saying that because a lot of people have been saying that a lot and they're just they he says, it's a witch hunt. So everyone echoes that.
I mean, of course, and I just see it. We got a comment from DJ Swirl Ryan wood updo you know, talking about the way the NFL chose to limit Colin Kaepernick's speech when all he did was neil right, the most respectful gesture in history. He kneeled during the singing of the national anthem, and that was co opted you know, by you know, Donald Trump, and they turned it into something completely different, but because it might affect their bottom line.
That man has been unemployed for going on four years, so you know those But it's the funny thing is it's the same people, the same people who are arguing free speech and talking about you can't limit this man, and you can't take him down, and you can't stop him from expressing himself. Were the same ones on the other side of the same argument. Yeah, when it didn't serve their best interest.
Absolutely, absolutely, And so I wanted to start there, and I wanted to, you know, not to dwell on everything that's going you know, on with that, because you know, really the truth is, we're waiting on We're waiting on a new administration, you know, And I don't want to give too much power to that, but I do need to check that when when I need it, when it feels necessary, because no matter, we might not take Donald Trump into next month, but we have to take that
half of America in the next month.
Yeah, we got to take a and seventy five million of the people that voted, and lots of people that just don't participate, but that agree sure with that seventy five million people that voted for him.
Sure, absolutely. And so again just something that needs to be said. Now today's show, I wanted to talk about the N word. So obviously this word is horrible words. It's the ugliest word in the English language, and it's been a source of debate in the black community and in the black versus everyone else community for one hundred years maybe, and we haven't talked about it yet on
this show. Wow. And I think that it's important to discuss that because I think that that leads us to discussing one better, one, one additional way where we can become We can create allies. Black folks can create allies, and people who are not black can become allies to black people, you know, people that sympathize with with black people's plight in this country. In understanding this this word and how it feels and how it's used, it can help because it and I'll before the show is over,
I'll explain what I mean. But let's start here. So the N word. One of the things that people might wonder, you know, is why does a word have so much power? Why do you allow a word to be so hurtful? You know? And this is not a er versus a conversation. This is just you know, someone else saying that word who's not black to someone who's black. You know, Why would a word have so much power? Why would you
allow it to affect you? If someone you know yells a racial slurred any any other race, that's not a life and death thing. It's just a you know, a very strong insult. You know, with black people, it's especially flagrant. Why do you allow this word to have so much control over your emotions and over your life. It's a very sensible question to ask, because it it's the beginning of understanding. You know, if you're not black, then it might not hit you in the same way. You might
not understand the depths of it. And so I wanted to help paint that picture, at least from my perspective, And then I want you to offer yours so that we can help people understand what it's like for me. You know, I was born, I learned how to speak.
You know, words didn't have any power. You know, there was Google, gay guy, and then there was ABC's and one, two threes, and you know, and so forth, and how you learned and somewhere age between, you know, maybe four and six, I recognize that there exists a word that is really a bad word. It's the word that should make your ears per cup. And you know, of course I've heard it in my lifetime, yelled at me. I've heard it in film, I've heard it amongst friends and
and you know, the full gambit. But you know, when it's used as an insult I'm talking about with the hard r At least for me, it calls into question who I am. It calls into question like it it compels me to be the bravest, strongest version of myself. I recognize that there are human beings who had committed no crime, meant no harm to anyone, were hated for whatever reason, and lived hard and short lives, and oftentimes the last word they heard was that word was the
N word. And those people's bodies are buried in the ground in this country, all across it, top to bottom, left to right, And I am a descendant of those people, and there's a connectedness from me to them. I can't explain it beyond that, but I will say that I will never slap those people in the face. Those are my mothers, those are my fathers. You know. I will
stand up for them because they cannot stand anymore. I owe my life to them because I am their descendant, I am their son right And so for me to let something like that continue to go unchecked, I believe flies in the face of the memory of those nameless, faceless people. That I'll never know, you know, records get scrambled. I don't know where I came from. You you shared a story recent well a few times with me about being in Spain and was it Spain?
Yea?
And they will tell the story real quick.
Well, having dinner in Barcelona and was the only person at a table of seven or eight people that couldn't answer the question where are you from? And you know my initial reaction, very very proudly as usual Detroit, yeah, man. And they're like, no, no, no, no, where's your where's your
mother from? Very very proudly, once again making Georgia. And they're like, everybody's looking confused, like as if I don't understand what they're asking, because clearly I don't, because I'd never been asked the question with the expectation of an
answer that they were looking for. So then they start telling me where they were from, different parts of Germany, different parts of the West Indies, different parts of Asia, different parts of direct heritage to an ethnic group from a specific place in the world that was not the United States, and African American or black almost doesn't mean anything everywhere else in the world.
Where does your.
They one of the gods at the table rubbed his skin. Where does that come from? That meaning my brown melan my melanin, where does that come from? And it was an embarrassing moment. Black people in America are the only people on earth that can't answer that question because we have no idea where we were torn away from.
Okay, so understanding that, in the understanding that that same melanin was crime, may as well have been or quite literally not even may as well have been quite literally a crime in some instances, and so forth, and just it feels like, do you know, I say this a lot. I say that black people, black men are kings specifically. I feel like that's important to say because I recognized that there was a lot of people who were black that lived and died and they were never able to
refer to themselves in any uplifting positive manner. They had slave names, they were insulted, you know, when they made mistakes, and again they lived very harsh lives and died young. That was their life. That's the most precious thing that a person can have, and it was reduced to like in the matrix when it says, you know, reducing human being to a battery. You know, that's that's the kind
of the same thing. So this word, this n word for me, connects me with those people in a way that is visceral, that is palatable, that I feel and that I am compelled to honor. And because of that, I cannot let it go and checked. And so it's more than just someone saying something and me, you know,
letting it slide off my back. You know, it's it's it's it's an attack on not just me, but everyone that has worn this color before me, those people that have been attack those people that didn't make it, you know, and they're not here to defend themselves, and so I think that it wells up in me to defend them and me if it's just me, Like watch this cue. Okay, if somebody insults you, you're gonna have a problem with that.
I'm gonna speak for you because I already know if somebody insults you're gonna have a problem with that, right. But if somebody insults me, you have a very very big, serious problem. Is it's a much different problem. And so it's the same thing. And I think that people need to understand that because history matters, and even folks that black folks that don't understand their history. This word is given to them with the same weight, It has the
same gravity. They understand that it's that serious. If someone says that to you, they're attacking you at your core. They don't need to know everything else so that they just know that this is something that people fought for and died for. And I was born into that fight, and for better or worse, I must continue to fight on the side that I'm on right, And so this is part of the reason why this is not something
that we take lightly. Now, well, before we go any further, have you had any incidents that are top of mind where you can draw from, like the feelings that stirred up in you.
I mean I've actually had as you can imagine, multiple you and I have had the privilege and the pleasure of having been able to use music as a vehicle to go.
All over the world.
Yeah, and our experiences, and we've talked about this, have been a lot different abroad than right here at quote unquote home. But the two things that are top of mind is I was leaving a gig one night and Chandler and Chandler you'd imagine to be you know, a more progressive place. You know, it's a more newly developed
part of the valley than Phoenix, Tempi and Mesa. And I stopped to fill up and one of those trucks, And when I say those trucks, I think everybody that's listening knows what I mean.
Like one of those trucks.
Trucks pulled up at the I think it was a circle K or a quick trip gas station. I was like, I don't recall which, and one of the guys rolled the window down and in an attempt to intimidate me, called me the N word. I'm just putting gas in my car. And I never responded in a way that was more calm in my life. I just simply finished pumping my gas, got in my car, and drove away because I understood that there was no response other than that.
That would have yielded a good outcome. Right.
And there are five or six guys in this truck, and they left the house with the intention of causing some trouble with someone. You know, I didn't invite that attention from them. I didn't invite that energy. I didn't cause it. So that wasn't even in response to me. They were going to find someone to interact with in that way, and I just so happened to be the
maybe the easiest or the nearest target. And you know, I got in my car, drove home, and the whole ride I just thought about how that could have gone had one of them just gotten out, because that's just the mood they were in. It goes way different because I'm you know, I'm going to defend myself. I don't know how effectively against five or six guys, but you know, one of you will have a much different story than
the rest of you, I promise. Another instance that was a bit more difficult to digest and reconcile as a person that I always viewed as a friend.
DMed me.
After I posted something unflattering about, you know, the current president to defend him, and at some point pointed out in this message that he often says.
White power.
And felt it was no different than saying black power. And I think about the very, very different histories of those phrases, and you know, piggybacking off of you speaking about the use of the N word, And in that moment, I remembered seeing a photograph from either a burning at
the stake or a lynching. And all I know that in the all I know that is in the photo there are two dead black bodies I think hanged and burned, and around them are just regular But but I don't even want to use the word mob, right, because it's like it was children. It was like it was like a picnic. That's literally what it was. Yes, look up the picnics, the woor history. Right, it was a picnic. There's families, there's children. This is a regular day. This isn't like an angry mob of people.
Real quick, hold on picnic for those of you the too lazy to google, it has its history in lynching black people. All right, go ahead, So.
I really want to make the distinction that this wasn't a mob. This was for lack of better well to do, normal middle class families hanging out with the kids that I'm assuming they had food, beverage and a fun day, right, And the word used to make these non radical people like, because this is not a mob, to make these regular normal let's just say, for lack of better decent people, okay,
with what they were witnessing was that word. That word reduced us to less than yea and had always had with it its intentions of not just making us beneath, but in causing us harm. So you know, when my friend and it's it's I hesitate to say friend now, And that sucks because it's just based on this, on him caping up for Donald Trump and the way that he did, and the rhetoric and the language that he used to do. So that makes it very very clear
that we're not similar people. But this dude has always been kind to me, had always been very very nice. I always got excited when I saw him, So him telling me that he says white power, as you could imagine, was startling. Almost It shook me, and I had to explain to him how it's not just the black and the white, like the night and the day, like the wet and the dry. The phrases in and of themselves have no similarities. One is based on supremacy, murder, and
the eradication of a people. The other one is based in pride, self assurance, reassurance to my brothers and sisters that we are here together.
How about this go ahead. Don't want to cut you out, so and I'll cut.
It short because it was a really, really long conversation. It was a back and forth that had no end because his roots were deep and how he felt, and I just made it clear to him We're not getting anywhere with this because I'm definitely not. This is not a good conversation because neither of us are open to the opinion of the other except I'm objectively right and you're objectively wrong. And that's not typically a stance you should take. Yeah, it is, well, typically a discussion you shouldn't.
You should be open to learning more and being open minded. And but I'm not being swayed in this. I'm right and you're wrong. Yeah, it's how I feel and feel today. Well, and it's factual, you know what I mean? So so
real quick, That's what I was going to say. So a lot of times when people will say things like, you know, why can't there be a white entertainment television and if there's a black entertainment television, or why can't there be you know, white power, if there's black power, and why can't there be you know, white pride if there's a well, brown pride is a popular thing where I'm from in California, brown pride for Hispanic folks.
And what people fail to realize is that. You know, if you want to talk about you know, Irish pride, that's totally fine. You know, we'll go and hang out with you. You know what I'm saying, that's yeah, good, I'll DJ your parade and event we've done it. If you want to talk about you know, you know, whatever type of pride you know, specific you know, or or or power,
you know, whatever, there's community, there's culture there. You know, we're happy to support that because it's based on something real, an actual history. That is that that people can be proud of heritage, culture, et cetera. For black people in this country, you know, as you stated, you know, a lot of ours got mixed up. So black just became a catch all term for all of us with our
shared experiences, regardless of where we're from in Africa. So we developed a new community culture, you know, sense of who we are relative to each other and relative to everyone else, and so and absolute needed to you know, be empowered and continue to empower ourselves and our posterity. So you know that those those phrases are born out of that and people.
So not to cut you off, born out of the necessity to have somewhere where we could belong.
Yeah, because we were kicked out of everything else.
It's the same reason we have historically black colleges and universities. That was not to say, hey, white people, you can't come to school here. It was to say, hey, black people that can't go anywhere else, at least you.
Can come here. Sure.
Yeah, so many of our institutions were born from that. We were being It was more of an inclusive we than an exclusive we.
Just that needs to be said. Absolutely sorry about that. No, you're good, You're good. The thing is, so where I was going with that was the thing is when people say like white power and white pride, they're not referring to a culture as much as they're referring to, you know, their skin, you know. So there's not the entitlement that
comes along with it. It's it's rooted, like get rooted in the supremacy of whiteness, you know, not just a general celebration, because those general celebrations often always are like the Irish, like the Saint Patrick's Day Parade is white folks, red hair, you know, get out there with the freckles and the green you know, kiss me. I'm Irish, you know, I'll put one of them sorts. I get out there and get jiggy with them. You know what I'm saying,
It's it's all love. But you know, once you try to make a blanket statement, especially in this country, it ignores the sins of white folks and it and it, you know a lot of the the other prideful statements are born out of necessity, you know, as we stated, and that there is no necessity for that. There's no necessity for white entertainment television because you can just turn
on the television black entertainment, all the rest of it. Yeah, and so there's no space that you need to go with specifically only white because that in and of itself is exclusionary in its nature. So again it's important to say that. Now I do want to share a story, an inward story, because this is something kind of similar to what happened with you. But it was a friend of mine. His name was Jared, and once upon a time, Jared was you know, Jared was a good friend too.
We'd go to Jared's house all the time, and you know, we're his roommate's house, but Jared was there, you know, and it was my guy, you know, cracked jokes, play video games, all that sort of stuff growing up. And then one day Jared said something and it changed our friendship forever because I'm not the one. I don't know if you want to show every way every week, not the one, nor the two, Nor am I the two. So yeah, so Jared was Shaquille O'Neil. That's all I remember.
Shaquille O'Neil did something silly, and Jared was one of those sports people. I'm not a sports guy, not but I know who Shaq is at all. No, I don't know nothing about sports, but I know who Shaq is. Right, So Jared was upset with Shaq because he like dunked on his team or did something something I don't know, and then Shaq did something like maybe unsportsmanlike who knows. I wasn't paying attention, but Jared said something. He's like, man,
I can't stand this guy. Shaq hate this guy, you know, blah blah blah whatever, and he's just talking, he's talking, and then he said something. He's like, I think Shaq is the only person where I think it's okay to say the inWORD. Now. He didn't say the inWORD, he said quote the in word and end quote. He didn't say the actual in word to me. He wouldn't do that,
but I took exception to it. And I think that it's important to tell this story because there's lots of people who might flirt with this word on some level and tell themselves that, Okay, this is not racist behavior. You know, I would never do that. You know, the people I know are the people I know blah blah blahn this, that and the other. But you know, Jared
and I we didn't talk for some time. This advice is to say, I just kind of left because I learned a long time ago that and I've since unlearned it. But a long time ago I recognize that it's very difficult to teach people something that they're not willing to learn. You know, people, when they operate from a place of privilege, they you know, it's very difficult for them to try to learn anything that doesn't suit their immediate you know, reality,
or enhance their immediate reality. So to learn what the world looks like for someone else is cumbersome, you know. So I didn't even by to explain to him why he was wrong. He's gotten left right, But he recognized that he had sort of made a mistake and that he needed to apologize. So this might have been did.
He recognize that he'd defend it or hurt you in some way and wanted to fix it, yeah, or did he recognize that he was wrong?
Those are two very different. The first thing, okay, so that's where I'm going with the story. So it was the first one. He recognized that what he said upset Ramses and that he needed to you know, make you know, make that right. So after about maybe a year, we ended up kind of in the same place, you know whatever, and he pulls me aside and he starts talking to me, and he's like, hey, man, listen, it's been on my mind for a long time. But I remember that day
when you left kind of quick, you know. I remember I said something about, you know, shack and you know, using the N word or whatever, and I just want you to know, man, I didn't, you know, mean to upset you. And so I says to him, and the reason I'm telling the stories because I want people to listen to us, because hopefully this will add some perspective. But I says to him, Jared, you have to understand that that word is a word that you could only
use with Shack. You could not use it with Larry Bird. Could You wouldn't make sense, would it. And he's like, yeah, I see your point. I would never say it for Larry Bird because I wouldn't say unless the person is black. And I'm like, exactly, so, using that word to insult one black person, you have to understand that that word carries the weight of all black people who have heard it, who come from it, come from the pain that associated with it, you know, and it brings with it all
the feelings. And I know that you are a well intentioned, well meaning person. There's a lot of racist people and they don't know that they're racist. They think they're good people, and bless their heart, they're working on it, but they need to be shown. Hey, this behavior.
Some of them are not working on it because of what you said though. They actually don't realize that.
They are sure and it's tough, it's hard, you know, and and would fight you if you accuse them of it. Oh, let me say it. Blue lives matter flags. Listen, y'all don't think you're racist. You don't. I know you don't think so. I know you don't think that. But eventually you'll come around and you'll start to see, you know, I was out of pocket. That was the wrong thing to do. That was the wrong horse to back. Those people were not oppressed. The black people were oppressed. That's
gonna come in your lifetime. You're gonna see it, and you're gonna come and you're gonna apply. And guess what, black as we are good at one thing. Letting y'all know, hey, we forgive you.
You are our baby, are the best in the history of this planet at it. We're the first people makes you our babies. If you if you have parents, you recognize they're very forgiving. And I don't mean to, you know, be disrespectful if you're older than me or whatever, but I do recognize that cult for really speaking, you know, there's you know, we can be a little bit more patient than we probably should be.
And it works. Hopefully it will continue to have been throughout history, and it will work in the benefit of people who are well intentioned and really do desire to grow. But for now, waving that flag as a slap in the face of all of us trying to actually make the world a little bit better for all of us, not just some of us. So and real quick if you're just tune in NACIPI side from my host rams as Josh, they call me q Ward And today's show, we're talking about the in word and just the weight
of it and what it means and so forth. And then again, this is not a debate of who can say it this this conversation assumes that when it's said, it's meant as an insult, and why or even if it's not meant as an insult, but it's from a non black person to a black person, why we could be offended or take exception to it. So well, that said, I want to share a story and I hope that this story will inspire people listening to it to check things that happen in their lives, you know, things that
they see that they observe. Because the's a lot of people listening that would that would I would never say that. I would never do that, And they're right, they would never do that. You know, I believe that most people would never do that. There's some people that want to be cool or they think they're cool enough to pull it off or whatever. I promise you're not. I don't
even say that word. I don't even have friends who are that word, you know, even if they call that to themselves, you know, but you know, in my house, that's just not a word that exists. So far be it from you to assign it to me or anyone in mine. But again, for everyone, I want to show you an example that I really like that came up in my life and I had an opportunity to do it,
and I want to walk you through it. It's going to take a minute, but I promise it will be worth it, especially if you have any amount of empathy or love in your heart. So I was at a place. It was a workplace, and I was there with a person who also worked there. And this person his name
was Martin. And so when I walked when I walked up, Martin says he stopped me at the at before I walked inside, and he says, hey, man, don't go in there, because you know, the boss is in there with a customer, and the customer and the boss are going back and forth blah blah blah, and they're yelling at each other. And he's like, man, I can't stand when customers do this, you know, And he's like venting in you know, talking about how frustrated he is. Now just because it matters,
Martin is white. The boss is black, Okay, the customer customer was I couldn't tell you because I never saw the customer, but it didn't matter. But Martin was white. Martin is probably in his fifties somewhere, beautiful human being. I think he's a good man, and I stand by that even after you hear this story, because I had to make up a lot of I had to decide a lot in a very short amount of time, which is often the case when you are alarmed by someone's behavior.
So anyway, Martin is just he's venting his frustration about this customer taking out their frustrations on the boss, and he says, you know, they're just in there and they're trying to jew him, right all right now. Jew is a word that describes Jewish people, the Jews. Not a bad word, but.
A religion and an ethnicity. Sure it's not a bad word, but if you put a little A lot of people don't know that though. Oh okay, okay, yeah, we'll tell them, and it's it's both a religion and an ethnicity.
But you know, the word is the same. It's it's it's just a normal word, and it's also a sort of a slur, especially in the way that he used it, just with a little bit of like if I say, oh, my friend is a Jew, right, that does me describing my friend. But if I say, oh, my god, they look at the Jews over there, it's the same word. It's the same exact word, but it just is a little has some teeth in it, right, it's the wrong
way to use it. So it's a it's a funny word, but it's it's kind of entry level racism, you know what I mean. It's not the the N word, but it's you know, and it's it serves as a great example for, you know, how to approach these things.
But it had to be inferred with nuance and context exactly to take on a racist meaning, you wouldn't be able to read it, whereas the word we're using it's just racist.
Yeah, it's built into the word. And he's saying with a smile, yeah, they're in word. There ain't no getting around that way. So so yeah, he's he's just talking a million miles a minute. He's like, you know, they're in there, and they're trying to do him and you know, blah blah blah, this and that and the third and I'm like, huh huhm. Right now, most people, I promise you, this happened to me most people, because he does. He's not a bad person. He's I know that he's not
racist against uh Jewish people. You know that, just you just don't end up in a space like that and really harbor that genuine sentiment. He's not a Nazi. You know, he's working for a black man. He's talking to a black you know what I'm saying. So usually if you're gonna be racist against somebody, we're first on the list, you know usually. But I knew him, and I knew that that's not what he meant. It's just what he said, right. So you know, Sasha Baron Cohen, the guy who plays Borat,
he he said brilliant. By the way, Yeah, if you if you get a chance to go down to you.
If you do, if you don't pay enough attention, because Borat, the character in and of itself, might make you think this dude is an idiot. He's brilliant, super even that character is brilliant. If you're paying attention.
Absolutely So, speaking of which, one of the things that he suggested that Borat points out is that, you know, Borat has these very anti Semitic one liners in his movies right where he talks, he speaks poorly about Jewish people and makes fun of Jewish people and pretty really really over the top Jewish caricatures too. Right, but he is the actual actor is Jewish.
Right.
But he says that what it does is the character illustrates people's passivity, like you can be Jewish or you can be racist or anti Semitic around me, and I won't stop you. I'll just let it go on. And he says that Borat brings that out of people. It really puts people's ideas of what's right and wrong to the test, not for themselves, but for what they'll accept
in their circle. Right. So similarly, when I'm talking with Martin, he says this, He says that the person the customers in there trying to trying to jew I'm sorry that I keep saying it, but I just don't want to lose you the boss, right, So you know, I let him finish his his rant and get his frustrations off, and I knew that he was being a you know, a comrade. He was trying to, you know, stand by the boss and whatever. And at the end of it, you know, he starts walking away. He's like, man, I
don't want to keep you. I know, you gotta go. I just was venting, you know, cause this guy's been here forever long. He starts walking away, and I was like, you know what, I could just walk away. This guy's old. He doesn't mean it, you know whatever, and I really I want to impress it. I really had to sit with it because I had to find it in myself to actually go back to this man who's my senior, very much my senior, and approach him about something that
he did wrong. That's not something that's normal for me, a cultural implicator who knows, you know. But for whatever reason, I'm not accustomed to dealing with folks who are that much older and visibly older than me. But I went back to him, and this is what I said. I says, Hey, Martin. He's like, yeah, man, what's up. I was like, hey, man, listen, come back. Can I talk to you for a second. He's like, yeah, yeah, what's up. I was like, listen, man, I know you're a good person. I know you're an
amazing person. You're a good man. You have a good heart. And I touched him on his chest when I did this, he says, you have a good heart. He's like, yeah, man, don well, thank you. I appreciate it. And I was like, listen, I'm trying my best to be a good man. I have to wake up every day and try again. I'm not perfect, and what I need you to do is hold me accountable. I need you to check my speech. I need you to check my actions and my behaviors.
And what we're going to do is we're going to keep each other in line so that we both can become better men. Does that sound good? And he's like, yeah, of course, yeah, absolutely. You know I love you man, I love what you stand for all this sort of stuff. I was like, great, here's the thing. I'm going to go first, okay, and he's like yeah yeah, And I was like, okay, so watch this. I know you didn't mean it. I know you're not this type of person.
If you're listening. Ramses is so compassionate and gracious is the word I like to use the most. He really extends that benefit of the doubt people.
I think it's necessary, though.
I know you didn't mean it, Ramsey said, he's he's helping you get off that racist ledge that you might be on.
Yeah. Yeah, But see, the thing is when you when you, when forgiveness is built into the narrative, sir, you can create cheerleaders when there's an adversarial stance. You draw battle lines, you know, and that you're over there and I'm over here, and we're like this forever, and you're always going to attack me every chance you get. And I need you to be a cheerleader. I need you to help me change the world. And that's how I recruit people into
this love Army or whatever. But I believe in it, you know obviously, Oh no, it's not for the show. That's I believe in it. I think that it's possible. So anyway, so I'm talking to Martin and I says, so, what you said just now, I should have said, I should have caught it right when you said it, but I had to sit with it because it's very difficult to do. But what you said right now, you said that there was a customer in there trying to you, and he as soon as I said that, he was like, oh,
in his face. He because he didn't even know that he said it, and I was like, I'll do you one better. I remember once upon a time when I was in high school, I thought that that was the word that you used. I didn't even know that it was a bad word. I had to learn that you're not supposed to say that because it's hurtful to people, you know, and everyone's entitled to learn. And I learned it in high school and maybe you're learning it today, or maybe you didn't know that, or maybe you knew
it and just forgot or whatever. But we're going to hold each other accountable accountable here, So I go first. So now you owe me one, okay, So you have to watch me now the next time I say something, the next time I step out of line or make a mistake, I need you to come to me and let me know, because I'm going to lean on you to help me become a better person in the same way that I'm going to, you know, hold you accountable because I'm the best version of yourself, you know, the
best man you can be. And it was peaceful, it was agreeable. Dare I say jovial, you know, because you know he's like, you know, a laugh, but he's like, you know, I'm better. You know, I'm better than this man, because I remember the time. And then I was like, listen, man, you don't have to convince me. And that's why it was funny. So I'm like, hey man, we're on the
same side of this. Now. Neither of us are Jewish, you know, but I do recognize that that type of energy, that type of disregard for people's sensitivities, especially groups of people's sensitivities, their history, their culture, you know, their struggles, the things that they come from. That disregard is what perpetuates an environment where stereotypes and prejudices are able to
thrive and continue to take root generation after generation. And it is my responsibility, as a person who is attempting to become a better man every day of my life, to check that I've noticed. I didn't say stomp it out, and I didn't say, you know, no aggressive actions, you know when that's necessary. Believe me, I keep that in my back pocket because I want to a town stomp it out. Yeah, but that's not the first card I play.
Rarely is it the first card I play. Because I recognize that you know that's usually when I'm in defense mode, you know, when I'm really trying to attack the root of something, I try my best to assume that the person is a compassionate person who might be misled or might be misinformed. You know, we have a tremendous opportunity, you and me with this platform here where we can have conversations amongst ourselves and allow people that perhaps don't get this type of insight into what it means to
be black, male, female. You know, when we have those types of guests, you know, on the show, and they can gain some insight into what the experience might be like and become better allies. I really do believe that this platform holds the potential to create better allies out of the people who are already sympathetic, if you will, and compassionate and fueled by some conviction to try to create a more equitable world for all of us, no
matter how much melanin we have. And so this is a is very much a part of this thing that we're doing here on Civic Cipher, and it's also a part of my day to day life. And hopefully if you're listening to my voice, you recognize that there is an opportunity for you to challenge the word, the inWORD, especially when it comes up in your life. There's a way to do it where you can create cheerleaders out of people and you don't create enemies and further, you know,
they further entrench themselves into their racist behavior. That's not to say you can save everyone, but that is to say that now you have a little bit more to go with. And with that said, I think it's about time for us to get out of here. Yes sir, so yeah. Once again, thank you everyone for tuning in to Civic Cipher. We're going to be back next week
doing the same thing. Before I go, I want to give a big shout out to all our patreons, for everybody checking in with us on Facebook, and again for the people that support the show in a number of ways. If you would like to support the show, please visit our website Civiccipher dot com. You can submit questions or topics that you want us to discuss, you can donate. Donations are very important. The show is always growing and
your support means the world to us. You can also download this and previous episodes of Civic Cipher to review and With that said, we'll see you next week, same time, same channel. All right, y'all. Peace, Peace,