I intended to ignore this, assuming it would blow over like all other racist scandals including randoms. However, this has blown up so I’m paying it lip service. A magazine editor called Rihanna the N-word in a magazine article title. The TITLE. Because racism is totes funny and we’re all being over-sensitive to its use as a lede. A Dutch magazine, JACKIE, called the singer the ‘Ultimate N**gab**ch [With] Ghetto A$$,’ in a post translated as: ‘She has street cred, she has a ghetto a$$ and she has a golden throat. Rihanna, the good girl gone bad, is the ultimate n**gab**ch and displays that gladly.’ Um, this didn’t go over well once a screenshot of the article went viral. Editor-in-chief Eva Hoeke responded on Facebook that it was a joke. You know, funny haha: ‘This should have never happened. Period. While the author meant no harm, the title of the article was intended as a joke, it was a bad joke, to say the least. And that slipped through my… fingers. Stupid, painful and sucks for all concerned. The author has been addressed on it, and now I can only ensure that these terms will no longer end up in the magazine. Furthermore I hope that you all believe there was absolutely no racist motive behind the choice of words. It was stupid, it was naive to think that this was an acceptable form of slang. You hear it all the time on tv and radio, then your idea of what is normal apparently shifts, but it was especially misguided: there was no malice behind it. We never intended to offend anyone.’
Rihanna didn’t find it funny, tweeting: ‘I hope u can read english, because your magazine is a poor representation of the evolution of human rights! I find you disrespectful, and rather desperate!! There are 1000′s of Dutch girls who would love to be recognized for their contributions to your country, you could have given them an article. Instead, u paid to print one degrading an entire race! That’s your contribution to this world! To encourage segregation, to mislead the future leaders to act in the past! You put two words together, with the intent of abasement, that made no sense…”N**GA B**CH”?!….Well with all respect, on behalf of my race, here are my two words for you…F**K YOU!!!’ Hoeke resigned following the backlash, again blaming ‘Murikans for their racist terms: ‘Because of the enormous pressure from social media, I can promise improvement in terms of language used in future issues of Jackie. Previously, I offered rectification. As I now come to the conclusion that rectification is not the right solution, I am departing. The term ‘n**ga b**tch’ has come over from America and we have only this to describe this particular style of clothes that we can try to interpret. After eight years, with my heart and soul, I have worked for Jackie. I realize that these errors, although no malicious intent, is a reason to leave.’
