The "N" Word - Page 2 - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

StevieV · 04-24-2007, 04:20 AM

It is so unbelievably foolish (IMO) that we have a first amendment that guarantees free speech, and we are at the same time trying to pass laws, er..."resolutions" that prohibit epitaphs like "nigger", "kike", "spic","wop",etc.

Even dumber is the fact that people are so uptight about it that we're expected to remove all similar sounding words from the English language, I mean, God forbid you should refer to a stingy fellow as "niggardly".

Pleeease. I want to run up to Rev. Al Sharpton with a box of Saltines and say, "What's in the friggin' box, Al??" and when he replies "crackers" then I want to haul him up in front of the media and hold him accountable for slurring me racially.

Yeah, OK, maybe I'm white and that has a little to do with my perspective- but then how exactly are you supposed to identify a race of people, or a person of a specific race?

Don't call them "colored" or you'll get the "Ain't nodody COLORED me, Honky!" or "African-American" "I'm not from AFRICA, FOOL!"
"Black" is the flavor of the week, but what about the poeple that are just kind of, like, brown?

Likewise don't call an Asian "Oriental". That was what they were called 20 years ago when I grew up and now it's a racial epitaph.

Now, I'm not so insenstive I would go around referring to somebody who was black as a "nigger", i.e. "I saw my neighbors the niggers at the grocery store"

but.... I think when we start outlawing words we are on a very slippery slope, and when we contextualize how the word may be used, all of the interpretations of that are not going to be in agreement.

I think we need to be tolerant of people calling us by any name they choose, I'm not keen on getting referred to as "Cracker" or "Whitey" and it won't make that person my friend, but I wouldn't think of litigating the usage of the term out of the language!?

How could anyone even consider this appropriate? Or, more to the point, LEGAL??

shakran · 04-24-2007, 06:57 AM

who is outlawing words? Highschool newspapers do not enjoy first amendment free speech protection, and nor should they. In the first place, the school is providing the space, computers, faculty adviser, printing facilities, and quite often the operating budget. Are you suggesting that after all they they should have NO say in what goes into the paper? In the second, if you give high school kids absolute freedom of speech you'll end up with a hate filled gossip rag that would make Larry Flint blush. Highschool is the time to guide them in how to express their views - and you can't do that if you have no control over the finished product.

Ourcrazymodern? · 05-01-2007, 05:36 AM

You say what you think and you get what you get in response to it:
Everyone should have the same freedom of speech, followed by responses that "guide" it.
I'm an ornamental, niggardly fool of a cracker, or whatever.
Words are just words, and it's just us here.

Bill O'Rights · 05-01-2007, 11:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ourcrazymodern?

Everyone should have the same freedom of speech, followed by responses that "guide" it.

OK...now we're starting to get back to the point. We have been...'conditioned' to abhore that word. To cringe at the very utterance of it. No word has ever carried such vile conotation in the English language. We...simply...do...not...say...it. We even have a cute little 'code word' for it. The "N" Word. We dare not say it. We dare not write it. We tread lightly just thinking it.

And yet...

There is a segment of society that uses it with complete and total impunity. They cannot be called out on it. It is part of their social vernacular. It is...identity.

Why?

That's all these kids were asking.

Nizzle · 05-02-2007, 07:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bill O'Rights

Why?

Might have something to do with 100's of years of institutionalized racism in the form of slavery, lynchings, jim crowe laws, segregation and outright hatred from the privileged in this country because of the skin color they were born with.

Asking why the word is offensive seems dense, it's offensive becuase it's meant to be. Using it as identity effectively strips the word of its power.

That said I do not believe the word should be censored, and I think the article in question is quite valid, but it strikes me as intellectually dishonest when people who should know better feign puzzlement over the power of this word. For Christ's sake, it's 2007 and we still have schools in this country that have segregated school dances. Sometimes I wonder if I live in the same reality as other people

Ourcrazymodern? · 05-02-2007, 07:39 AM

"2CJESUS" appeared on a license plate in front of me the other day. It struck me as ...very odd. I know I'm prejudiced in one way or another; I think it's a function of the way we think, given what we've learned and accepted. Emphasizing the accepted, where can we go from there?
I'm believing commonality.

05-01-2007, 05:36 AM	#43 (permalink)
Ourcrazymodern? still, wondering. Location: South Minneapolis, somewhere near the gorgeous gorge	You say what you think and you get what you get in response to it: Everyone should have the same freedom of speech, followed by responses that "guide" it. I'm an ornamental, niggardly fool of a cracker, or whatever. Words are just words, and it's just us here. __________________ BE JUST AND FEAR NOT

05-02-2007, 07:39 AM	#46 (permalink)
Ourcrazymodern? still, wondering. Location: South Minneapolis, somewhere near the gorgeous gorge	"2CJESUS" appeared on a license plate in front of me the other day. It struck me as ...very odd. I know I'm prejudiced in one way or another; I think it's a function of the way we think, given what we've learned and accepted. Emphasizing the accepted, where can we go from there? I'm believing commonality. __________________ BE JUST AND FEAR NOT

04-24-2007, 04:20 AM	#41 (permalink)
StevieV Upright	It is so unbelievably foolish (IMO) that we have a first amendment that guarantees free speech, and we are at the same time trying to pass laws, er..."resolutions" that prohibit epitaphs like "nigger", "kike", "spic","wop",etc. Even dumber is the fact that people are so uptight about it that we're expected to remove all similar sounding words from the English language, I mean, God forbid you should refer to a stingy fellow as "niggardly". Pleeease. I want to run up to Rev. Al Sharpton with a box of Saltines and say, "What's in the friggin' box, Al??" and when he replies "crackers" then I want to haul him up in front of the media and hold him accountable for slurring me racially. Yeah, OK, maybe I'm white and that has a little to do with my perspective- but then how exactly are you supposed to identify a race of people, or a person of a specific race? Don't call them "colored" or you'll get the "Ain't nodody COLORED me, Honky!" or "African-American" "I'm not from AFRICA, FOOL!" "Black" is the flavor of the week, but what about the poeple that are just kind of, like, brown? Likewise don't call an Asian "Oriental". That was what they were called 20 years ago when I grew up and now it's a racial epitaph. Now, I'm not so insenstive I would go around referring to somebody who was black as a "nigger", i.e. "I saw my neighbors the niggers at the grocery store" but.... I think when we start outlawing words we are on a very slippery slope, and when we contextualize how the word may be used, all of the interpretations of that are not going to be in agreement. I think we need to be tolerant of people calling us by any name they choose, I'm not keen on getting referred to as "Cracker" or "Whitey" and it won't make that person my friend, but I wouldn't think of litigating the usage of the term out of the language!? How could anyone even consider this appropriate? Or, more to the point, LEGAL??

04-24-2007, 06:57 AM	#42 (permalink)
shakran Tone.	who is outlawing words? Highschool newspapers do not enjoy first amendment free speech protection, and nor should they. In the first place, the school is providing the space, computers, faculty adviser, printing facilities, and quite often the operating budget. Are you suggesting that after all they they should have NO say in what goes into the paper? In the second, if you give high school kids absolute freedom of speech you'll end up with a hate filled gossip rag that would make Larry Flint blush. Highschool is the time to guide them in how to express their views - and you can't do that if you have no control over the finished product.