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Thursday, February 18, 2010 | 7:38am
Is Jersey Shore’s J-Woww Revelation She’s Not a ‘Guido’ a Violation of Our ‘Nigger’ Law?
According to the Highbrid Nation “Nigger Law” Does it leave them open for criticism?
Leave to the lucky and talentless to shave a few minutes off their 15 minutes of fame. Despite receiving an unprecedented $10,000/ episode commitment from MTV to return for Season Two, The Cast of the network’s hit reality TV show, Jersey Shore can’t stay out their own way. Already completely over exposed by their undeserved fame, one of the boozing young cast members has revealed that the self proclaimed “Guido/ Guidette” contingent may actually have some non Italian’s among them.
Tuesday, the surgically well endowed, Jenni “J-WOWW” Farley revealed in an interview with FOX’s “The Strategy Room” that she (Spanish and Irish), Ronnie (half-Spanish) and Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi (Chilean) are in fact NOT of Italian decent.
Peep the video at Fox411 (Skip to 15:40 or so to see the reference)
Big deal right? Well it brings us back to the controversial debate we had last week. If we as African Americans own the “copyright” to the word “Nigger” should the same apply to the term “Guido.” If in fact, J-WOWW’s claim is correct and we assume she has no reason to lie, then her and her other lying cast member’s use of the commonly perceived offensive title as a term of endearment is a violation under the Highbrid Nation law (which should be the only law that matters.)
The revelation comes just as a national American-Italian group is revving up legal action against MTV and could lead to the cancellation of the group’s would-be payout.
As a person who has an Italian last name, and (a little) Italian blood in me, I guess I’m the only one here who has standing on the question.
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So let me be the first to call “bullshit”.
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Fair is fair, rules are rules, and what’s good for the goose is good for the gander (whatever the hell a gander is).
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The first big Italian anti-defamation organization was the “Italian American Anti-Defamation League”, which claimed that any prosecution of mobsters was based solely on prejudice against Italians.
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Of course the fact that this group was set up by the head of the Colombo crime family scored points on the Irony Scale, but it’s still bullshit.
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Maybe it’s just me, but I could care less about any so-called derogatory terms they want to use. Dago, Wop, Guinea, Guido… whatever. I am neither offended nor interested.
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And while there were (in the old days), a few legitimate cases of anti-Italian prejudices (for example, the organized crime department of most police stations used to be called the “Italian Squad”) ; there were also prejudices against the Irish, the Germans, the Russian, and nearly every group of immigrant that ever landed on our shores.
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If this group wants to waste their time on this, push more publicity toward the show, have no effect whatsoever, then that’s their choice; but they come across looking as crazy as Al and Jesse.
Oh… but it is funny sometimes.
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A true story: When I was younger, the police showed up at my house when a concerned citizen thought she saw my brother and I dumping a body at a construction site
Don’t lie that was you dumping Fat Finger Paulie in the river.
It was pretty funny, and the cop couldn’t stop laughing the whole time.
J Stank, shawty come across as dirty.. Pass… on the Guido topic, it don’t matter, outside of Italians, i don’t hear people use that word… it don’t carry the same weight as the word “nigga”
Nuff Said!
So the word nigga is more powerful than Guido why? Does anyone in the Nation know the true origin or use of the word…curious.
“Guido is a slang term for a working class or lower class urban Italian American. The guido stereotype is multi-faceted. Primarily, it is used as a demeaning term for Italian Americans, as the word guido is derived from either the Italian proper name Guido or a conjugation of the Italian verb guidare (“to drive”). [1] More recently, it has come to also encompass Italians who conduct themselves as thugs with an overtly macho attitude.[2] The time period in which it obtained the latter meaning is not clear, but some sources date it to the 1970s or 1980s.”
That is from Wiki
Thanks for looking that up. Interesting so it really is only demeaning to Italian Americans with money. Basically saying they’re poor. If you’re already poor and being called a Guido you’d probably say “Thanks for stating the obvious)
I don’t seem to remember Italians getting hung and beaten while picking cotton over the word “guido”. Anyway, I for one will not submit myself to ever watching this foolishness….this show and the people in it seem to be the definition of trash.
Agreed. Same reason why I won’t watch any of the other “reality” shows, as well: they just try to appeal to our lower desires by presenting these people “acting” like A*holes! Decent people don’t do the kind of crap that goes on “Ray J” and “Housewives” and “Bachelor” and “I love NY.” So, if I’m trying to be a decent person, why would I watch that? I’m trying to rise up, not sink down to that level!
Agreed. That is because we got BILLS…
Jungle. Explain the connection between Nigga and the hangings though. Would not we still have been strung up in the trees if the word “Nigga” didn’t exist.
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I’m assuming your point is that Guido doesn’t harken back to a time in which the prejudice of Italians caused their premature demise like it did for African Americans.
Exactly, well put Juan. When I think of the word “nigga” it conjures up images of violence and aggression towards African Americans, a time of systemic racism.
To be honest, when I think of the word “Guido”, I think of someones name, in Canada it’s not a commonly used term to define someone of Italian decent. Auchamp22 mentions “… it has come to also encompass Italians who conduct themselves as thugs with an overtly macho attitude.” Keep in mind that I have probably only seen about 30 seconds of Jersey Shore, but it was enough for me to make the correlation between the definition “Guido” and the way they act on the show. The problem with this show is that they paint everybody with the same brush.
Shows like “Frankie and Neffe”, “Jersey Shore” help to reinforce negative sterotypes.
I think you bring up another important point though…these kids using the word “Nigga” loosely feel that the word carries the same connotation that you’re identifying with Nigga, sort of thugged out and macho.
I agree that anti-Italian bias is nothing compared with what Africans went through, but it did exist to some limited extent.
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For example, here’s an editorial cartoon from 1888 that suggested that the only way to solve the “Italian problem” was to stuff them into cages and drop them in the river.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:ItalianPopulationMascott1888.jpg
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And yes… there were lynching’s. Apparently, the largest mass-lynching in US history was when 11 Italians were lynched in New Orleans 1891.
http://www.americanlynching.com/infamous-old.html#1891
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But… the Irish were treated worse. Millions die in the famine, and then their boats weren’t even allowed to dock when they hit the US.
I totally agree with you Malcolm, it would be arrogant of me to think that discrimination in the US would have been exclusive to Blacks alone. My point is that there is no comparison between the too. However, Italians should be insulted and embarrassed to have these individuals represent Italians as a whole. If anyone is to blame it’s MTV who diliberatly fuels this negative and sometimes exaggerated view of Italians which helps feed into the stereotype.
I agree on all counts. There is no comparison to the two. Although having your own month does kind of make up for that small matter of the 400 years in slavery.
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And yes… TV always bottom feeds. If the people were normal, they wouldn’t get a show.
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Now if you will excuse me, I have to go put on a sleeveless t-shirt, eat some spaghetti, and say a lot of “aaaayyyy”’s and “ooooohhhh”’s
LMAO! a wife beater, Malcolm!
don’t forget your fist pump BRO!
I am Italian American and I do get offended when non-Italians say Guido. Guido is an Italian American youth style, usually of the working class. Of course, not all Italian Americans are Guidos, but all Guidos are Italian American. The word should not be coming out of other mouths, because it has been made into a derogatory word. If an Italian wants to say it, fine.
Guido comes from the verb guidare, to guide or drive. It is also a first name for males. There is really no one sure answer as to how it got its start as a term for style or as a derogatory word.
Lastly, whether someone is 10% or 100% Italian, they are still Italian. Italians have pride in their heritage, so Ronnie being 50 % Italian does not make him un-Italian. Snooki was raised by Italians, and therefore in an Italian American culture, so she is no less Italian.
JWOWW is the only one that shouldn’t let that word come out her mouth.
I don’t know Tara.
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That sounds too much like the “one drop” rule for me.
Yeah, sounds like how many Black people feel about “Nigger”.
Very, very interesting Tara.
The bitch is dumb…real dumb she just plain retarded…thats all there is to say about it..i hope she thinks next time before speaking out of her ass
Hey HN! I haven’t commented in so long, I feel like a toddler. But in any case I would like to add my thoughts. Italians as a group clearly can feel multiple ways about this issue and no one Italian speaks for the group. Just as no one Black person speaks for the entire group of Blacks in America. I would also like to say that Irish Americans, Italian Americans and many other ethnic groups have been treated poorly at some point in this country. However, over time our country has a tendency to slowly add more groups into “White”. At one point Italian wasn’t White, English and French was White. But slowly we add more ethnic groups to White and they become acceptable. Blacks will never get included in “White” which makes them very different from all other groups. Nonetheless, my thought is that Italians could be viewed poorly by those in small parts of the country with limited exposure to ethnically diverse groups. Hell on that point New Jersey looks bad! At least in the Sopranos you had some balance with the therapists’ family. We don’t need any help making this country more discriminatory. For every negative, we need to show the positive.