Recently, a friend asked me what I considered to be the most offensive song I had ever heard. Having little time to think, I responded Marilyn Manson’s 1996 single “Irresponsible Hate Anthem.”
I recall hearing the chorus for the first time: “Everybody is someone else’s nigger.”
I was appalled. Where did Manson get the idea that he could use a term that represents racism, hatred and so much of what was once wrong with America?
After using that to justify my answer, I listened to the song again. This time I noticed a line I hadn’t contemplated before: “I’d rape the raper.”
I realized as I thought about it that rape actually carried with it harmful effects far beyond the use of an ethnic slur. Slurs are in no way appropriate, but by themselves are just forms of name-calling. Rape has traumatic and long-lasting effects on its victims. And yet it is referenced in countless songs, and we as a society see no reason to censor it on the radio.
As is often the case with rational thinking, I became uncomfortable.
I listened to another line from the same song: “Let’s just kill everyone and let your god sort them out.”
Killing involves people dying. Surely the severity of death outweighs the severity of a slur and even rape. And yet murder and violence is one of the most popular topics in music. The idea of censoring it from every song in which it is addressed is laughable.
Maybe you are still uncomfortable with my argument. It’s hard to blame you; the black eye of racial inequality still lingers, and as such, discussing these issues is taboo.
Let’s try something that nearly everyone is comfortable with: the “f” word.
According to Webster’s Dictionary, as a verb, the word means to “engage in coitus with,” or simply put, have sex. As sex is one of the more enjoyable things in life, it would be logical that the word would be welcomed, nay, embraced, in music. The reality is that this is the most censored word in any medium. (Manson uses it 18 times during “Irresponsible Hate Anthem,” in case you were wondering.)
The issue is that the FCC and other organizations and agencies have their censorship priorities wrong. The fact that they have censorship priorities at all is even more disturbing.
Freedom of speech is every politician’s explanation for why America is great. And yet they turn around and tell the public what can be said in public. If a white supremacy group uses the term to stir up violence, then it should be stopped. If a die-hard band of “Twilight” fans use werewolf slurs to stir up violence against Team Jacob members, that should be stopped with equal force of law. Marilyn Manson using a slur in a song is a far cry from behavior that should be censored.
True, ethnic slurs and other epithets should be discussed carefully because they represent the ugliest events in our nation’s history. But when governments ban certain topics to hide from their past sins, the results are never pleasant.
Turkey has passed laws against “insulting Turkishness,” which can result in jail sentences for references to its infamous genocide of Armenians. Jail time is a long way from radio censorship, but slopes are slippery. Taboos lead to censorship and censorship leads to oppression.
I do not approve of using ethnic slurs any more than I approve of rape or murder. But the FCC must make a blanket decision: censor everything or censor nothing. I’m hoping for the latter.
Editor’s Note: The Lantern Editorial Board treats instances of profanity on a case-by-case basis, depending on the context and its importance to the message.
