This site makes extensive use of JavaScript.
Please enable JavaScript in your browser.
Live
PTR
10.2.5
PTR
10.2.6
Usage of a specific racial slur.
Post Reply
Return to board index
Post by
1069282
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
Adamsm
Look up N word privileges.
Post by
1069282
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
gnomerdon
accept it for what it is. no need to rationalize around it. it doesn't matter. move on.
you could call it a double standard. or not.
Post by
Adamsm
Then I'd suggest looking into the history of the word; fairly obvious why non-Blacks shouldn't be calling Blacks that word.
Post by
Thror
Or maybe your powers of logic are insufficient for comprehending basic concepts.
My name is Michal. In my country, a friendly way to address a Michal is by calling them "Mišo". A very familiar way usually used only between family members is "Miško".
When members of my family call me Miško, it is fine. When anyone else calls me Miško, they usually get a dirty look from me.
Am I a "racist"?
Post by
gnomerdon
I use the "N" word all the time. i'm not black.
but i won't say it in front of a black person. that word makes them physically violent whether or not you construe it the right way or wrong way, and im not the type to get into that kind of fist fight for such a dumb reason...
Post by
asakawa
Historically it was a word used by the white people who had all the power about black people who had none - the white people even "owned" black people as slaves, that's the kind of imbalance we're talking about. When a word has that much historical potency, going back to a time where the rights of black people were non-existent, it gives that word a lot of weight and a white person using it has to take that weight into consideration.
However, a good way to undermine the power that a word has is to take ownership of it and this is something that we have seen black culture doing successfully.
Another example of this might be that the word "queer" (which means weird or abnormal) was used about gay men in a derogatory and dismissive way but, to a certain extent, that word has been co-opted by some gay men who will happily describe themselves as queer which takes away the bad thing that someone could say about them. They're taking the badge that was forced on them and wearing it proudly.
So essentially, the history of that word is brutal and intensely emotive. It has been taken back to reduce its ability to hurt but it still has a history that one ought to be aware of.
I make this post as a white Brit. The word is entirely (in my experience) an American thing which we only view through America's cultural exports so someone closer to the cultural significance might be able to give a better answer.
Post by
Patty
@Asa: Queer is now taken by some to just mean the questioning of one's sexuality, not being entirely heterosexual but not quite knowing what you actually identify as - rather than just meaning a gay guy. Just for clarification on that point. :P
Post by
asakawa
Interesting clarification Patty, thanks. I had no idea.
Post by
1069282
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
Thror
The historical significance of the N-word is not relevant to the problem here. Anyone is free to choose which name he likes to be called and which he doesn't. It is completely natural in our society to tolerate use of different names from different people. In this regard, the N-word is nothing but a sort of a nickname, that some black people chose to tolerate when used by their friends.
Post by
240140
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
1069282
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
Patty
The historical significance of the N-word is not relevant to the problem here. Anyone is free to choose which name he likes to be called and which he doesn't. It is completely natural in our society to tolerate use of different names from different people. In this regard, the N-word is nothing but a sort of a nickname, that some black people chose to tolerate when used by their friends.
But it is. It's like how some girls are now proudly identifying as '@#$%s' to, basically, stick their middle fingers up at the society which has judged them for their sexual choices even though it's really none of their !@#$ing business (as long as obviously they're being safe and not in that very small minority of people who actively try to spread diseases). That doesn't take away the fact that most people still use '*!@#' as a slur. Wow, I didn't realise sl*t was filtered.
Post by
240140
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
asakawa
Thror gives a very good analogy for names being appropriate in different circumstances.
Say, a bank Manager wants to be called Mr Smith at work but at home his wife called him "Sweetpea". He would likely not react well to you asking him for a loan and calling him Sweetpea. So, what's going on here and does this analogy work in relation to this conversation?
Mr and Mrs Smith are very familiar with each other so familiarity is part of it - you need to know someone well to be able to address them in colloquial ways.
I think the important part of this, though, is that Mr and Mrs Smith share something, in this case it's their relationship and shared experiences.
At this point I'm trying to speak for an entirely separate culture which is always dangerous but
I imagine that when black people share the use of this word with each other they are verbalising shared roots and shared culture which allows them to gain a sense of brotherhood (in the broad, genderless, lower case meaning) and unity with one another.
Now, what is a white person expressing when they use the same word? Just as you calling your bank manager Sweetpea would likely be mocking or trying to undermine him, it could be seen as mocking and putting down or perhaps simply overstating one's affiliation to use this word as a white person.(##RESPBREAK##)16##DELIM##asakawa##DELIM##
Post by
240140
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
asakawa
@EluraE, I'm not sure I really agree with that though. I think people should respect words - words really do have power and this one has the weight of a lot of suffering behind it - but it is just a word and as long as it's a taboo word that is walled off from use it will always be a "bad word". "Bad words" is a concept with which I fundamentally disagree. Words can be inappropriate, they can be insulting but the fact that we can't have a discussion about the power and history of that word while actually
using
the word demonstrates (to me at least) that we're not handling it well as a global society.
In Britain it's not a
thing
. We have our own equivalents which mostly refer to people Indian and Pakistani descent. It's only right and proper that I am sensitive enough to understand the power of this word to another culture and use it carefully but in our other countries we have our own cultural, racial and societal issues and don't need to be inheriting America's too.
Louis CK does a bit about how "The N word" is worse than the actual word because you're making someone else say the word in their head without having the conviction to stand by the words you use. I think we should be able to use these words, we should be able to talk to kids about them openly and without using euphemisms like "The N word". I also recognise the irony of being a moderator on a forum which would require me to censor that word. Well, there's my personal beliefs and then there's the agreement we all make when we join a forum community to accept an agreed level on which we can all communicate happily.
Post by
240140
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post Reply
You are not logged in. Please
log in
to post a reply or
register
if you don't already have an account.