The N-Word

I didn't mean to say you were super-racist, I was just trying to explain the difference between you and the average person who is prejudiced subconscious.

I think I know what you mean. You dislike "white people", in a general abstract way, but you don't hate specific white people and don't act racist towards them. I think...

 

Just to be clear, the results of the poll are 47 to 26 right now that the word should never be used by anyone.

Do you go around out with your friends and say "I'm so gay"??? The word was invented to mean 'happy'. So do you feel comfortable using the word since, in the past, it had a different meaning? I'm not arguing your point, just the logic. I totally understand why black people would be uncomfortable with whites saying that. I don't understand why they're comfortable using the term themselves. If you don't want to hear it, why perpetuate its existence?

 

For the thousandths time, you can't just say that people can and should react the same based on an action regardless of the situation and the context of the action.

If a woman enjoys being called by some pet-name by her husband/'boyfriend, do you demand or expect her to have to react and welcome everyone to call her by that name?

I know this is not an exact analogy but it does make the point that how the action is perceived will always depend on the context and situation.

For reasons that must be obvious to you, a white man saying n!gger to a black man is going to cause much greater discomfort and pause than a black man saying it to another black man since the term itself was invented and used in a blatantly racist context historically.

 

For the billionth time, you can't expect current and future generations to understand the true weight of the word if you continue to casually throw it around amongst yourselves.

You are the only one arguing about the difference between blacks calling each other nigg*r and whites calling blacks nigg*r.....in terms of how blacks perceive the meaning of the word from the name caller. Nobody is disputing the fact that blacks don't want to hear whites call them nigg*r.

That IS self-evident. What people are trying to get through your thick skull is that by casually using the word amongst yourselves, you're perpetuating it's use and diminishing the power of the word's negative connotations.

Maybe that's by design. Maybe the word is so horrible that you want to diminish it's weight, but that would run contrary to the American black culture's typical MO of not wanting ignore the past. Which, IMHO, is a good MO to follow.

If you want your grandfather to see your son's white playmates call him a nigg*r, then go ahead....continue to throw the word around--and everyone else will too. Sure, you can get your kid to kick the white kid's ass, but neither of them will truly be able to appreciate the gravity of the situation. However, if you'd like to see current and future generations of whites AND blacks show some deference to a horrible past and give some respect for the plans of a better future, then show some ****ing common sense and refrain from perpetuating the word's use!

 

Here here.

 

Pole, you make good points. One of the interesting thing about the whole topic is that the "younger generation" is trying to dilute the word, but the older black generation still remember the pain from the past. It is they that disagree the most. Not as much as the white kids that want to use the word in "jest (among black friends)."

Just like Phat, Sick are good words that normally mean bad. The kids are trying to change the meaning.

I purchased a interview from Randall Kennedy from C-Span, but it's not there anymore. The book is available from amazon.

Here's the story.

http://www.theatlantic.com/unbound/interviews/int2002-01-17.htm

 

You need to revamp that theory because most prejudging comes from social issues, rather than skin color or race. But because the that social class also happens to be a certain race, they merge the two together and think that they are somehow the same.

 

Wow...check out this link. Funny? Disgusting? Cool? What do you think?

 

Someone posted it in another thread, its pretty funny.

 

Sorry. I didn't know. It is sorta funny.

 

r35352,
I always take circumstances into consideration. That wasn't my argument. Pole has elaborated my point excellently.

This example of bringing up a woman's pet name keeps coming up, but it's a different set of circumstances. I know you said it was an inexact analogy, but the closer analogy would be for a stranger to call the woman a b!tch. She is offended and the stranger should be embarrassed for using the term. However, then her boyfriend affectionately nicknames her "b!tch" and starts calling her that in public. Wouldn't that be strange, and wouldn't anyone that hears him call his grilfriend "b!tch" be mystified?

 

Race goes beyond just skin color? Huh?

Then you're not talking about race. Racist is defined as the following:
racist- based on racial intolerance;discriminatory especially on the basis of race; a person with a prejudiced belief that one race is superior to others.

You said, "Everybody is racist to a certain extent."

That's not true. Most people have prejudge, but mostly based on social class, heritage, culture and religion. Not race. But since race is tied to those differences, some people confuse race as the main cause.

So you're use of the word "racist" is not accurate.

What you are saying is that EVEYBODY thinks that their race is surperior to everybody else's, or that EVERYBODY discriminates against everybody else's race. This is not true.

 

But you said that EVERYBODY is a racist. And what you are doing is turning the word "racist" into anyboby that disklikes anything else, whether it be a spider, a tiger that bites, a traffic jam, taxes...

You have co-opted the the word for yourself.

To be a racist means to discriminate to think ones race is superior to another.

See, where you are wrong?

 

Because to be a racist would be an act of oppression, discrimination, or a superior complex of ones own race over another.

A better word for you to use would be prejudice or prejudge. Not racist.

 

If what you say is true, then you are a "racist" against all Arkansans.

 

You remind of a person taht jumps to conclusions without reading between the lines.

For example, if a black guy came up to me and I didn't like his shoes, you'd accuse me of being a racist.

It's so easy for you to just throw the word "racist" around like a convenient label without a good understanding of what the word actually means.