In Amy Proctor’s blog, Bottom Line Up Front, she has a good post about the Don Imus issue. Several of her readers felt that use of the N-word was OK in a black-on-black dialog while Amy and I were arguing the point that the N-word was a disparaging term, regardless of the context. I posted the following question/scenario to Gert, a British, white male who said his black friends would not be offended by the use of the N-word if he used it as a term of endearment. I wrote:
You say the black-on-black context need not be derogatory, yet the white-on-black context is demeaning. I’m curious, Gert, since I’m white and you’re white (at least I’m guessing you are from your comments above), should anyone be offended if I screamed “You F**** N****!” at you in a public place? Would you be offended? Would blacks be offended? COULD whites be offended? Or should no one be offended since there’s no implication of slavery involved — what’s the context of the N-word in this scenario?
Note: I did spell out the offensive words on Amy’s blog. She complained about several of us using the F-word and edited my post to how it appears above. I, in turn, apologized to Amy and her readers for using such language.
In any event, Gert’s response to my hypothetical scenario was:
That’s a ridiculous scenario because there is no context in which this could occur: it’s absurd to call a white person a “F**** N****”. Try it: people would simply look at you non-plussed because you wouldn’t make any sense at all. Very dumb example.
Now, Gert seems somewhat clueless. I know of several instances where the N-word is used about whites or other non-black minorities. His argument that “there is no context in which this could occur” is simply wrong. I don’t know if he’s inexperienced, or if this doesn’t occur in the UK, but it does here…
KEvron, another liberal poster who seems to have issues with netiquette, put forth a reply to my scenario. Amy pulled KEvron’s comments from her site and he posted here on an unrelated post, so I thought I’d give him (or her, I don’t know) a chance to hear my response and to open a dialog if he/she is willing to debate the issues. Here is KEvron’s reply in full (I should note that everywhere he used quotation marks below are small snippets of my text which he is referencing):
“the word is a derogatory slur. Period.”
then why did you create a specific, and wholly absurd, context (a creation for which you felt yourself singularly qualified to invoke the inutterable word) for it?
“Again, my apologies (and to anyone else who may have been offended).”
that’s okay. “f***ing n***er” is acceptable discourse on this blog. “chimp”, however, is not. unless, of course, you direct it at people of color….
so let’s review:
“the word is a derogatory slur. Period.”
and yet,
“‘You F****ng N***er!’”
if the word can be used, as you’ve insisted, only as a derogatory slur, regardless of context or user intent, then you have, yourself, just issued a derogatory slur. care to explain? sorry, “context” cannot be accepted in your explanation….
heh. he apologizes for “f***ing” but not for “n***er”, despite his stance on the word (”the word is a derogatory slur. Period.”)
how very revealing…..
KEvron
As I said, Amy pulled KEvron’s comments. I don’t know if this text is what he posted there or not, but this comment showed up here at Rodeo Of The Mind. Here is how I respond to KEvron:
“the word is a derogatory slur. Period.”
then why did you create a specific, and wholly absurd, context (a creation for which you felt yourself singularly qualified to invoke the inutterable word) for it?
I didn’t KEvron. I put forth a hypothetical for Gert. The fact that I spelled out the F-word and the N-word were used as emphasis in my text. Other before me used the N-word in it’s full and I apologized to Amy and anyone else who was offended. The fact that you find the hypothetical scenario is “wholly absurd” is telling, but not about me.
“Again, my apologies (and to anyone else who may have been offended).”
that’s okay. “f***ing n***er” is acceptable discourse on this blog. “chimp”, however, is not. unless, of course, you direct it at people of color….
Sophomoric humor at best, KEvron. Again, you’re not debating the points, you’re deflecting the topic.
so let’s review:
“the word is a derogatory slur. Period.”
and yet,
“‘You F****ng N***er!’”
if the word can be used, as you’ve insisted, only as a derogatory slur, regardless of context or user intent, then you have, yourself, just issued a derogatory slur. care to explain? sorry, “context” cannot be accepted in your explanation….
Sure, Illustrative Debate. If you were offended, or Amy, or Gert, or anyone reading the post was offended, then it served a point. Words have meanings — definitions. The fact that Gert may call his friends by a derogatory slur, and they are not offended does NOT change the meaning of the word. It shows his and/or their ignorance or misuse of the language. That doesn’t make Gert stupid, it may just mean that pop culture is attempting to change a definition. I think of it as a form of revisionism. Perhaps it’s good, perhaps it’s bad, but it is still a double-standard when one group is “allowed” to say a word and another is “condemned” for saying it.
heh. he apologizes for “f***ing” but not for “n***er”, despite his stance on the word (”the word is a derogatory slur. Period.”)
how very revealing…..
KEvron
Yes, I apologized for using the F-bomb because I was being a rude guest on Amy’s blog. As I stated in my apology, I don’t use the F-word nor the N-word in my personal life so I shouldn’t have used them on her blog. I also apologizes to anyone who was offended. For consistency’s sake, I have edited all of the spelled out versions of the F-word and the N-word to appear as F***ing N***er so that any innocent youths or sensitive persons would not be more offended.
