Re: the N word


"Wasteland Drifter" <wasteland.drifter@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1152376256.8445.0@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Reverend Jazz wrote:
Wasteland Drifter wrote:
purrffecttbliss wrote:
On Sat, 8 Jul 2006 01:36:36 +0100, "Wasteland Drifter"
<wasteland.drifter@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:


No, but in the original post, Tim said that they were primarily
using it because they're into hip-hop and are hearing it in rap
songs.

It's bigger than Hip Hop.


I was never disputing that fact.

There's little need to single it out and condemn it for turning a
negative into a positive then...

if I can chime in... that's a farce. That whole turning a negative
into a positive thing. that doesn't usually happen in language over
the course of 30 years. It takes alot of time to turn negative
language into positive language because a vast majority of people have
to accept that it is positve. That's just not the case here.

Because people still want to try and give white people a word at their disposal which can
inflict harm or discomfort towards the person they say it (apparently regardless of it's
context) or anyone within earshot.

If you want to continue to give white people that verbal power by being uptight about a word
which today's youth mainly see as a positive word - in the same manner as 'homie', 'bro',
'dude', etc. then more fool you.

No, but I wouldn't deliberately bring a spider into a room full of
people with that particular phobia either. And I certainly wouldn't
act completely clueless as to why they might be upset if I were to
do so.

Who's saying act completely clueless about anything?

It's debateable if a room full of people would all be upset about
the use of the word '***' regardless of context so that comparison
with walking into Arachnophobia Anonymous with a Tarantula on your
arm is silly.

It's not debatable. If you get 12 jurors of varying ages, social
backgrounds, education levels, etc., I can garuntee at least 1 of them
will have a problem with the word. It's just not that widely accepted
yet.

Erm... That's my point.

So one person out of 12 will be pissed, is that the other elevens fault or is it down to the one
person to understand when the word (or any other for that matter) is being used as a racial slur
or a term of endearment?

Maybe the other 11 should just conceed the point and condemn the defendant to a term in jail for
saying to his friend 'sup my ***' and someone else misinterpreted it as a racial slur...

I don't think so...

We'll also forget that confronting your fear is recognised as the
best method of overcoming it...

not quite sure what this has to do with the conversation. I
understand it as a response to mocha's example but I don't get it in
reference to the subject.

So when the foundations of the term being flipped on it's head were being built, it wasn't a
confrontation of the word, it's definition and those who initally used it?

The word '***' is being used in a positive context in this
example, *** anybody who takes it out of context that's their
problem.

I've seen bullets fly over that one little word. "*** anybody who
takes it out of context" just doesn't fly in some circles of today's
society. It's much more serious than that for some people. .

REMEMBER CONTEXT.

Are you honestly saying someone went all guns blazing because their
friend said "What up ***?" there was absolutely no other
underlying problem or motive, just the single use of that word?

The first time a black person addressed me as such I almost hit the
man. It took all within me not to beat him down. Nobody had ever
addressed me as that in a positive or negative sense and I had no idea
that folk used it like that. This was 1992. whenever I heard it,
whenever my friends or family said it, they were definitely using it
in a negative sense.

And another 14 years have passed now...

I'm sorry but we're talking about a school setting, correct? I
can't just "forget all this street language".

Exactly because they must 'respect' your authority!

Ego trip...


You're kidding, right?

Not in the slightest.

have you seen some of the inner-city schools
around this country? Are you going to honestly tell me "oh, let them
say what they want, it's ok?" Children need discipline in their
lives. They need structure. A lack thereof is part of what's created
out inner-city school nightmare.

I think you'll find the cause of the 'inner-city school nightmare' is much, much more than them
being able to say 'homie', 'bro', 'dude' or singing Sean Paul songs during school time.

There are places where it's appropriate and places where it isn't
and kids need to know the difference.

Kids aren't stupid.

They're not stupid but they don't always think in the right vain. The
attitude may be I know it's wrong but I'ma do it anyway.

None of which are solely 'childish' traits.


It's not ok....but I fully realize that some probably do.

Why is it not right for them to use the English language?


silly question and I won't entertain it.

It's not a silly question at all... Ignoring words and trying to get
people not to use them because they offend YOU doesn't mean the word
will disappear or their usage will end. If anything it gives them
more power.

Oh please. Not saying a word doesn't mean you're ignoring it. You
just have to know your vocabulary. There are millions of words out
there.

And restricting the use of one word makes it's appeal greater. If nobody cared about '***'
being used then something like '***' would take over as the choice word to push buttons with
uptight people, like parents, teachers, etc.

Of all of them, why must n***a be one we defend and debate
over?

My point exactly.

I mean really, is there any use for n***a? Is there?

Is there any need for 'dude'?

You could apply that question to many words, there is no life saving need to use them but why
allow them to cause discomfort ignoring the way in which it's used.

And
since many of us still can't determine why folk think there's a
difference between n****r and n***a, why should there be any debate
over it?

Many people can differentiate between the two though, you may be part of the group who find the
context in which the word is used hard to define, that doesn't mean the world's youth has to
readapt it's slang to accommodate you.

Do latinos debate over the use of words such as ***? Do
asians debate over slurs such as mash face or ***? I mean, we're
acting like there's absolutely nothing wrong with n***a and there
never has been. Like it hasn't been used in to dehumanize us in the
past.

And by continually kicking up a fuss about it and condeming those who use the word in a positive
context you're allowing it to continue to dehumanize you...

The KKK and other racist fuckwits don't have to do *** with regards the word, they've got you
running around trying to keep it's power for them...

and there is the truth... ignorant white trash has been able to *** over the minds
of supposedly sane people of color all of these years with one word...

i trip out over brothaz who want to fight because some ignorant moron called
them a ***... for almost thirty years now when some neck has called me
a *** my question is always this:

what about porch monkey, coon, midnight, muley, splib, boy, etc??? all you had
for me is *** today??? so i take it that you woke up on the wrong side of the
cave this morning and then laugh at their tired and pathetic asses...

because when they call you a ***, they are doing nothing more than trying to
push there inferior intellect asses above you and its the only way that they know
how... pretty fucking pitiful if you ask me... so how anybody could possibly let
that word have any fucking power at all, i just can not for the life of me figure
it out...

i think the people who it has power over are just as weak as the dumbfucks that
call them ***...

sad...


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