*quality

Boosting this quality contribution up in the Hot Listing - declared quality by lurgee.

Funny, but how is this not totally racist? I don't get it.

Ah, but racist against whom? Be careful when you answer that.

As an irishman I didn't find offensive at all myself, and I can definitely commend his Irish accent.

It's racist against both people of color AND Irish in my eyes.
You don't have to be offended for something to be racist. It only requires a differentiation by race (and not even necessarily a negative differentiation as I understand the term). You having the self control to not be upset by other people's racism (or in this case 'nationalism') is a good thing, but does not erase the racism, it only lessens it's effect.
In my opinion, calling anyone a 'nigger' (even yourself) is racist, no matter the intent and no matter the race of the speaker. The word itself is a racial insult.
I feel like calling an entire nationality any derogatory word is technically nationalist, but is intended to be racist as (in this instance) it's intention is to separate all Irish from other Europeans as a separate race in order to degrade the entire 'race' (nation).

Well, a little context is in order here. I wonder if Reg even knows where this comes from. There was a very popular movie in Ireland called The Commitments, about a working class Dublin band who play soul music. (Great movie btw, I'd recommend anyone checking it out)

There's a scene where one of the musicians asks if they're not "a bit white" to play soul music. The manager responds that "The Irish are the blacks of Europe. And Dubliners are the blacks of Ireland. And the Northside Dubliners are the blacks of Dublin. So say it once and say it loud, I'm black and I'm proud."

Everyone in Ireland over 20 will have either seen this movie or heard this quote.

Ireland has a really weird relationship with race. If you grew up in Ireland before the 2000s, you literally never saw anyone who wasn't white. Yes, literally. As such, Irish people will say casually racist things all the time. Sometimes, like anywhere, it's malicious, but most of the time, it's genuinely not meant as offensive.

One of the reasons I sifted this is that I actually went to see Reg this weekend. He was freaking hilarious, and in fact his entire message was explicitly stated to be one of unity.

I'm paraphrasing here, but his closing line was something like
"There is no black pain, or gay pain or female pain. There is only human pain, and when people do bad shit to other people, it hurts us all."

Let's be fair to Reg here, it's a comedic attempt to bring people closer together. Consider that he almost certainly has had to deal with racism a lot more than most people, being a black man in comedy clubs. It's probably not as taboo to him as to me or you, he knows where the lines are and he plays within them with a purpose. He really believes his message; ie. one of unity.

I think he's pursuing unity in the best possible way - by alleviating the tension and by making it trivial through .... let's face it, some utterly hilarious jokes. He's even better when he's in sort of unscripted interview. Painfully funny and a true master of the "art" of comedy, and comedy IS subject to different rules simply because that's what the majority of people want, and those that don't want can tune out. So it's a free-for-all and either everything is fair game or nothing is.

You shouldn't worry about racist words, you should worry about racists. I don't have to use the word "nigger" to be a racist, I just have to be one. My favourite Ice T song is "Straight Up Nigga", am I a racist when I quote it's lyrics?
Everybody throws a hissy fit about famous people using the wrong words but we accept intolerant douchebags on TV all the time as long as they watch their language.
You see the same thing with homophobes all the time, it's actually worse regarding this issue. Say "fag" and the internet is up your ass in no time, say the shit Palin and Santorum say and it's just an opinion or believe and you get to be on TV.
Fuck that. I don't care what words you use, if you're an ally, you're on my side. Rude assholes who are on my side are better than nobody, I take what I can get. And my side is the one that that doesn't care about your pigmentation or who you love.
That nigger in the video isn't a racist and you wasting your time worrying about his choice of words, take it from the infidel, fat, cisgendered kraut-breeder. That man is on our side. He's just not politically correct.

Strictly speaking, "racism" is actually defined as believing that one race is superior to another, and that's not demonstrated here.

Nowadays people tend to use the term as a catchall for various forms of bigotry, prejudice, and hatred, but it really has a specific meaning.

I don't like this post because I abhor the N word. It shocks and offends my sensibilities, even in written form.

In the context of the video it actually doesn't bother me, but the title really does.

It should bother you. It bothers me, but it accurately reflects the content (in fact, the central point) of the video.

I could change it to "Irish are the n-words of europe", but that has always seemed intellectually dishonest to me. We're all grown ups, we should be able to discuss words (even offensive ones) without hiding behind euphemisms. There is a difference between using an epithet (especially in a hateful way) and discussing it.

Just to be clear, I am not trying to justify the use of the word as used by the Irish guy in the story, but it absolutely rings true about certain Irish attitudes to race.

It's only racist if you want it to be. Otherwise it's a joke. Chuckle at the intended value and move on.

JSing and Chaos made the two small leaps here that points to the interpreter as the responsible party to context. Meaning can be elusive to folks who have problems with critical thinking and with regard to 'racism' (the definition and intensity of this label range from arbitrary to anally-exacting considering the range of interpretation) there is no clear, consensual handbook...In the 00's, the word 'nigger' being so flagrantly abused and praised as it has become a filler-word in hip-hop and rap culture as well as a safe-haven for haters who love to toss the convenient label 'racist' around like skee-ball tickets, when they simply refuse to fucking think, or dislike someone, or are simply cunts, etc.

True racism exists but not on the scale imagined by the weak-minded and overly sensitive who both recoil from the very notion of certain words even existing (wouldn't the world be such a wonderful place if the word nigger did not exist and the world could all hold hands and blow soap bubbles and kiss puppy dogs?? Pretentious, American, WHITE PEOPLE have so abused both the concept and history of racism that the waters of it's essence have become murky. Chumps use the label 'racism' as if it were ranch dressing to refer to all manner of perceived evils of the world when their little cruise-liner of self-delusion drifts ever-so-slightly off course.

Ahhh, but to determine if one is racist, usually one examines that persons words, and if those words are racist, the person is usually labeled racist.
Technically, yes, you are being racist singing about 'niggas'.
I am not throwing a fit, only pointing out that the words used are racist, even though said by a black man in jest. I don't have a problem with that, as long as it's admittedly racist. It's when people try to claim it's not racist that I take issue.
I would agree mostly that it's intent and action that make one truly racist or not. That does not make speech less racist however, but can make that low level racism far more palatable.
I'm far from politically correct, but I also admit that fact and don't argue that my incorrectness isn't an issue for many.