THOSE RAPES STORIES ARE SICK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Creighton Tull]

Picture this scenario. A Caucasian man standing on a street facing an African American. If the Caucasian man stared at the African American, and repeated the word "nigger" over and over again, with a straight face, unclenched teeth, and with a pleasant smile, does that make him a racist? Is Ron Wolf a racist for firing the entire Green Bay Packer coaching staff, simply because the majority of them are African American. How long do you think it will take Johnny Cochran to say that Puff Daddy's arrest was because of racism. Truth of the matter is and will always be, that there are people, who, for one reason or another, are going to remain polarized. I again state, the best way to quell behavior, is to ignore it. Do not empower it. Do not give it validity. And I promise. This is the last time I will write about this subject.

 

[Creighton Tull]

Picture this scenario. A Caucasian man standing on a street facing an African American. If the Caucasian man stared at the African American, and repeated the word "nigger" over and over again, with a straight face, unclenched teeth, and with a pleasant smile, does that make him a racist? Is Ron Wolf a racist for firing the entire Green Bay Packer coaching staff, simply because the majority of them are African American. How long do you think it will take Johnny Cochran to say that Puff Daddy's arrest was because of racism. Truth of the matter is and will always be, that there are people, who, for one reason or another, are going to remain polarized. I again state, the best way to quell behavior, is to ignore it. Do not empower it. Do not give it validity. And I promise. This is the last time I will write about this subject. And Michael, if you get another server error message, just hit your back button and try again.

 

[Michael]

"I again state, the best way to quell behavior, is to ignore it. Do not empower it. Do not give it validity."

This is completely beside the point. The issue is whether the word "nigger," used in the mouth of a non-black speaker, is intrinsically racist, denigrating, and offensive. It is.

It is, whether or not it is ignored, whether it is spoken to a deaf audience, whether Johnnie Cochran is present, absent, alive, deceased, or disbarred...

..."nigger" is racist. For an adult to be unaware of that is astonishing. That was the only issue being argued in this thread. Any other arguments, on peripheral issues, were just that...peripheral. And in this context, pointless.

 

[Dagger]

Why don't you all just get over it!!! This topic is something like four months old! The person who started it hasn't written anything since starting this topic. Just give it up and get on with your lives. Laurel I am begging you please close this thread the topic is worn out. I don't know why no one can understand it is pointless to keep writing about how much you hate what was written months ago.
GET OVER IT!!!

 

[Laurel]

"I do agree with Creighton Tull. It's very hard to
to defend free speech and not be accused of supporting
racism. And I said it before, and so naturally I'll repeat
myself until people listen and understand, there is nothing
wrong with words such as nigger, it is purely the
way that people express them and why they are used thaat can be offensive."

Michael isn't attacking anyone's rightto use the word. He's simply saying the fact - that the word has historically been a racist and demeaning term. That's the fact, people. It IS offensive to many, many people, and has a very ugly history. If you want to use the word, fine - you have that right. However, free speech is not your sole domain - others in turn have the right to tell you that your language is in poor taste.

I have no idea why anyone would feel the need to use this word.

A word does not make someone racist.

True, but words express our ideas, or viewpoints. Why would a non-racist person use a historically racist stereotype?

That has always seemed to be a double standard to me! Doesn't it???? From a
non-Black it's derogatory, and from the mouth of a Black, it's OK - a term of
endearment - camaraderie. Seems a little lop sided to me!

There's a difference between "nigger" and "nigga". One is a racial stereotype - the other is a term used to describe brotherhood. It's a way of subverting the term.

I so believe in free speech. Free speech carries many responsibilities, and one of them is speaking up when someone says or does something offensive. Nobodywillknow invoked a racial stereotype - she didn't even just say "nigger", she said "big fat nigger" - for no apparent reason. It in no way supported her argument - in fact, as we've seen, it weakened it because many people (except for Sabrina and Creighton) found it offensive. The point is this - she has the right to use that term. However, she is not immune from the criticism this will bring on her. It's called taking responsibility for your actions.

 

[Laurel]

"Thank god, I thought you said 'Turn around. '"

ROTFLMAO!!!

 

[Sabrina]

I do see that Michael is attacking the word. But as I say, the word alone
should not be enough to cause offense, it should be the reason behind the
statement.

And if you're going to criticize someone, please do criticize those who speak it to
mean harm instead of me. "Nobodywillknow" wasn't meaning harm. She said big fat nigger
(and I do believe she apologised actually). Oh no! Suspendatur!

The point is, why should anyone be offended by a mere word or someone's
ignorance? One should just think how pathetic this racist is if he feels
threatened by a skin colour.

 

[Laurel]

I DON'T CARE IF THEIR NOT REAL OR NOT BUT SOME BIG FAT
BLACK NIGGER EXCUSE MY LANUGUAGE FOR USING THAT WORD MIGHT GO AND RAPE
SOME GIRL.

"Nobodywillknow" wasn't meaning harm. She said big fat
nigger
(and I do believe she apologised actually).

Didn't mean harm? Didn't exactly sound complimentary.

The point is, why should anyone be offended by a mere word or someone's
ignorance?

Because it's dangerous. If enough Germans had actually listened to what Hitler was saying and told him he was full of shit, he wouldn't have been able to kill millions of them. It's easy to forget this, but there was a time not too long ago when blacks couldn't eat in the same restaurants, go to the same schools, get good jobs... Genocide is still a grim reality (the Serbians/Albanians in Eastern Europe, the Hutud/Tutsis in Africa, etc. etc.). To some people, those words still carry great meaning. Just because you've never been through anything like that doesn't mean others are so lucky.

And if you're going to criticize someone, please do criticize those who speak it to
mean harm instead of me.

Sabrina, I wasn't criticizing you at all. To my knowledge, I don't think you've ever posted anything racist, and I don't think you're racist. But here's the cold hard facts: words do have connotations. It'd be nice to be able to throw around any old phrase and have it not mean a thing to anyone, but that's not reality.

I do believe that people get way out of control. There was an incident last year where a council member used the word "niggardly" to describe the way certain fund was being distributed. "Niggardly" means stingily, and is in no way associated with the word "nigger". However, linguistically ignorant, reactionary people got all wound up & the guy who made the statement ended up resigning. I think that's preposterous, just silly beyond belief. The man used the word in no reference to black people, but all the idiots flew off the handle anyway.

Now, nobodywillknow used the word "nigger" to refer to a black person, correct? The story she referred to involved a black male rapist. Am I wrong? Is there any other interpretation I'm missing?

Historically, that word is used as a degradation, not as a compliment. That's a fact. Maybe you don't have a problem with the word - that's your right, your opinion. But you'd be unrealistic to believe that others don't, and not without good reason.

I'm very against the supression of speech. In Germany today, you could be arrested and fined for such language. I don't think that solves the problem. I agree with you both in that words or merely words, so stopping people from saying words won't stop the ideas behind them. But as I've said before, language is how we communicate thoughts and ideas. Your choice of words tells a lot about your beliefs. The fact that she chose to use a racial slur instead of "black man" gives an impression to people that she views black people a certain way, whether she really thinks that or not. Like it or not, that's reality.

Personally, it's not a word I'd use, but I'm not going to fly off the handle at someone who does use it. However, I can't see how anyone would use that word in a post on a public bulletin board in modern times and not expect to take a certain amount of flack. Like I said before, Nobodywillknow had no real reason to use it to support her argument, but did it anyway. It was a bad decision, as it gave many people an opportunity to criticize her and probably made posters who would've been sympathetic to her viewpoint turn against her. That's my only point. As I've said already, she has the right to say whatever she feels, but not the right to do so without criticism on a public board.

 

[Circe]

A few years ago, while talking to a friend, I made the statement, "I bought a VCR from so-and-so and was royally gyped." I was summarily informed that "gyp" was a racial epithet alluding to Gypsies. I had no idea. I had never given the origin of the word a single thought. Was I being racist? Nope. Never met a Gypsy I didn't like. Actually, I've never met a Gypsy but that's beside the point...

In that particular case, I pled ignorance.

As Michael pointed out, any adult, or child for that matter, should realize the connotations of the N-word. The history of it speaks for itself.

As demonstrated by this thread, respect is lost for the person who uses it.