Broadcast censorship norms permitted anti-black and anti-Asian slurs but bleeped profanity

Evidence

A Ted Koppel “Nightline” special on the 1950s selftaping by Louis Armstrong of his musings about contemporary American life FCC-bleeped all the usual expletives (“shit,” “fuck”) from the recorded language. Armstrong’s repeated use of “nigger,” in pointed and painful contrast, remained uncensored. A night or two later on Bill Maher’s “Politically Incorrect,” airing late night immediately following “Nightline” on ABC until canned after the host had called the WTC suicide bombers “courageous,” the topic was a comedian’s use of “chink” in a comedy routine (not at all funnily actually, if it ever could be). Again, viewers were subjected to repeated uses of “chink” and “nigger” by the host and two of the evening’s four guests, even with all the “appropriate” disclaimers. The open and more or less abusive, even if scare-quoted, circulation of the terms was supported by the network over the explicit protests of the Japanese American and African American guests on the show. Small examples, perhaps, but deeply revealing for all that. — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race, 195

Categorization

• SHARE: The Armstrong ‘nigger unbleeped / shit bleeped’ detail is exactly the kind of anecdote worth sending to someone who studies media regulation or racial speech norms.
• XREF: connects to: American broadcast censors protect racial slurs while censoring sexual language — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race: Reflections on…, 195; Mainstream platforms aired hate speech against Muslims that would be unacceptable toward other groups — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim: When Racism Quashes…, 36

Broader Connections

• American broadcast censors protect racial slurs while censoring sexual language #corroborates (0.95) — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race, 195
• Mainstream platforms aired hate speech against Muslims that would be unacceptable toward other groups #corroborates (0.75) — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim, 36