**I must credit "Ediblewoman" with spurring me to wirte this. A blog post on her page inspired me. Thank you EDIBLEWOMAN!**
I wrote a poem some time ago that inspired to me to erase a word form my vacabulary that I once used liberally - the infamous "N" word. The funny thing about it is that when I originally started writing the poem I was going to defend use of the word among the african-american community. But as I wrote it I realized how idiotic I sounded.
I used to use the word & vehemently defended myself & my right to, so I know all the angles. But think of this - for those fellow african americans who argue "it's just a word", if a white person passed you on the street and called you by this name, would you be offended? or even worse, would you respond to them using violence or agression in any form? Then it's not "just a word". For those who argue that it has evolved in it's meaning, and it's a friendly word now, what if you called your mother some other derogatory term and claimed it was out of love, do you think she would be o quick to accept that? You cannot take the meaning from a word. Furthermore consider those who are now in graves because they didn't want there children to be haunted by the word as well. Consider those people who hung from trees during an era where this "word" took on a breathing form. This word was the cause for many burning crosses that are forever etched into some people's minds.
Not only do I think the word should be aradiated from everyone's vocabulary - the ignorance of some people (unfortunately mostly black people like myself) to try and categorize african americans is unparalelled. I've heard the rationale that some black are "black people", and some are ni.....you get the point. It's bad enough that we still use this word, but to use it as a weapon against eachother?? Haven't we been attacked by this word enough?
But this leads me to my next point - maybe this isn't the only word I should be concerned with. Maybe I should also be concerned with my use of the word "gay", specifically as an insult. I am guilty of using the word negatively when at a loss for another term for my frustration. And while I am a prod heterosexual and slightly confused by the homosexual lifestyle overall, nor can I condone it, I do not judge any one person or group for their choices (except maybe murders, I openly comdemn any person who takes the life of another if it's not in self defense or the defense of another) . And their name should not be used as an insult, just as the "N" word should not be used as an insult.
I am the sister of a bisexual female, and I would hate to think she might be hurt by someone's poor choice of words because of her choices or lifestyle.
So for all those tho associate themselves with the GLBT community - I apologize. And with that I close. I hope I made someone think about their vocabulary choices. Once again - should you notice any spelling or grammatical errors I missed, let me know THANK YOU!
The "N" Word & The....."G" Word
By Dominique1119 - Posted on April 2nd, 2008
"You cannot take the meaning from a word."
Yes you can. People say things are 'ill' or 'sick' all the time, meaning the exact
opposite to the dictionary definitions of the words. Language will and does evolve in meaning, depending on trends of usage and cultural context. Language constantly evolves; look at the word 'philistine'. This is a distinct example of a word which has had it's meaning completely changed as a result of popular usage over the course of time. The word 'Gothic' is another example. Actually the best example is the word 'nigger' itself, the original usage of the word was changed to make it racially exclusive.
"what if you called your mother some other derogatory term and claimed it was out of love, do you think she would be o quick to accept that?"
To be fair, I don't know too many people who call their mothers nigger, so I don't think this allegory is on point. Try a more honest example, where people call their friends by derogatory terms out of love and experience instant acceptance of the intent of the communication, as opposed to genuine offense as a result of the derogatory term. I call my brothers and my friends all manner of words, most of which have a traditional usage which is derogatory, but the context and intent cause them to mean something else.
"Consider those people who hung from trees during an era where this "word" took on a breathing form."
The word took it's 'breathing form' long before the people you are alluding to hung from trees.
"This word was the cause for many burning crosses that are forever etched into some people's minds."
No, this word is a symptom of the cause, the same way the burning of crosses is. One is a linguistic element of the whole, the other a symbolic element from the semiological arsenal of the racist American. People were not hung and crosses were not burned with the word 'nigger' representing a root cause. There were white skinned people who were known as niggers too before the word's meaning evolved to be applicable in modern usage solely to people with Black skin.
"I've heard the rationale that some black are "black people", and some are ni.....you get the point."
The best thing I've heard lately on this subject is a track by a little-known rapper called Greydon Square, called 'N-Word'. He nails it and sticks it to the Theists while he's at it.
It's worth checking out, he has it posted up here: http://www.myspace.com/greydonsquare
"It's bad enough that we still use this word, but to use it as a weapon against eachother??"
We use words as weapons against each other all the time. Most of them can be found in any dictionary; it's the context and intent that makes them weapons, not the words themselves. Test the theory: walk up to a random Black guy on the street and call him 'my nigga', then send a White friend of yours over to do the same. Chances are the context will set the stage for whether the recipient of the communication will react negatively or positively. Even if the Black guy detests the word from the mouth of any race, chances are he will brush it off more easily coming from somebody else with black skin, because the context is different.
"Maybe I should also be concerned with my use of the word "gay", specifically as an insult."
Why? The homosexuals hi-jacked the word first. Gay did not mean anything close to homosexual in it's previous usage, yet it was adopted by the homosexual community as a positive euphemism. I share your distaste for people calling other people homosexual as an insult, but if the user of the word isn't alluding to the other person being a homosexual, but rather just generally offending them, I think it's different.
I personally have thoughtlessly called two gay friends of mine 'fagots' on separate occasions without meaning anything in regard to their sexuality, which was a given. Granted I was embarrassed by the slip up, but when I called them fagots, I was really calling them chicken-shit. I'm not in the habit of going around insulting homosexuals based on their sexuality, I would however be lying if I claimed that I never insulted a heterosexual this way, because I have, because it annoys a certain type of heterosexual and playing on their own prejudices and insecurities is a cheap and easy way of hitting a nerve. But even in that sense I wouldn't actually be calling them 'gay', I would be alluding to them being effeminate.
I am aware that the usage of the words 'gay' or 'fagot' in the negative stems from negative attitudes towards homosexuality, but words evolve and take on multiple meanings. It is possible to have gay friends and still use the word gay in more than one context; unless of course you are so mired in politically correct guilt tripping that you restrict yourself to a limited vocabulary born of slavish pedanticism.
"And while I am a prod heterosexual and slightly confused by the homosexual lifestyle overall, nor can I condone it,"
You see, I have gay friends and have absolutely no issue with homosexuals on grounds of their sexuality. I do condone their sexuality, not that it is my place or anybody else's to condone anything, I guess more accurate would be to say I don't condemn it. Despite your condemnation of homosexuality (for that is what you don't condone, let's not call it a 'lifestyle'), you have issue with people using the word 'gay' derogatorily and out of context, yet I condemn no such thing and believe that people should be free to express themselves in whatever terms they see fit; if somebody wants to call me 'gay' because I don't want to do a bungee jump, that's fine, i know what they mean by it and it doesn't mean that they go out gay-bashing on the weekend or that they hate homosexuals.
"I hope I made someone think about their vocabulary choices."
You did. I just hope that my comment will make you think about yours. I don't use the word 'nigger' outside of discussions like these, where I refuse to reduce my vocabulary to baby-talk, eg: N-word, G-word, C-word, F-word etc. I refuse to bow down to the sensibilities of language fascists who willfully ignore context and the multitude of nuances which combine to form a piece of communication in favour of the deliberate misinterpretation of a word's meaning according to their unreasonable personal opinion.
Such politically correct nit-picking can actually lead to conflict where there would be no need if people would just analyze a piece of communication as a whole instead of just focusing on one or two components of the communication and taking offense unnecessarily. Some people's ability to decipher a piece of communication can be voided completely by simply saying a word like 'fuck'; they only look for the negativity in the forbidden word and lose sight of any positivity in the actual message, thus generating unnecessary negativity through their dogmatic and repressive views on language.
_____________________________________________________________
I am the people my mother warned me about.
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/tuffgong
TUFFGONG
Senior Executive Administrator™
Well a far as "ill" or "sick" reardin their slan usage, they still retain their original meaning, they used with dual meanings, like any other word in the dictionary with 2 or more definitions listed. But none of those meanings are offensive or used in an agressive manner. Nor have they "changed" they've just assumed alternative usages, there's a difference.
And you're right, not very many people would call their mother that. But it's still a fair comparison. If your mother wouldn't accept it shouldn't that be an indication of something depper? I've heard people call there friends a barrage of ofeensive names, but this is a matter of opinion. The worst thing I've caled any of my friends when I wasn't tryin to inflict harm is probably stupid. I've never been of the school of thought that you could call your friends a "dick". And none of my friends talk to me that way. So I don't agree.
And no it was far ore than just a symptom, it was one of the causes. Once a group decides it's okay to label another in a negative manner, and judge them, they (and by they I'm referring to racists of that time and ours) decided we were less than they were, that we weren't as good. At one point were weren't even considereda full person, but 3/5 of a person. And as a result it was oksy to go on a massive killing spree. This title was part of the cause.
Before I go further...."Despite your condemnation of homosexuality"......I NEVER said I condemn anyone based on sexual orientation. In fact I don't condemn anyone based on their choices. Which i thouht I made clear in my blog, the only people I would pass judgement on or condemn are murders. Which in fact is wrong as well, only the most high can jude us. So please do not take what I say to mean something else. I did say that I don't condone it though, maybe a better choice of words would have been "I don't agree". Which shouldn't matter to anyone who's comfortable with themselves. I don't agree with my husband when he curses but I certainly don't "condemn" him. I don't agree with my sister, but I don't "condemn" her, I love her. And we speak opnely and honestl about her orientation to enlighten me.
And while I understand your oint of view I don't agree. I believe our word choices can be a symptom of other far ore serious issues. And I would not say I've reduced myself to baby-talk. I'd say that in a conversatin like this even there's no need for me to use the word, you know what I meant and I didn't have to put it on something with my name.
-Leave the world a better place than you came to it.
"But none of those meanings are offensive or used in an agressive manner."
I notice that you conveniently skipped over the word 'Philistine' which meets that criteria.
"Nor have they "changed" they've just assumed alternative usages, there's a difference."
If you want to get pedantic, fine. Well, then 'nigger' has also assumed alternative usages; it's original usage was not race specific. So the issue you have with the word is based upon one alternative usage, with disregard for other alternative usages. If your argument stems from the actual original meaning of the word, then you need to disregard the racial connotations of it's presently dominant usage.
"And no it was far ore than just a symptom, it was one of the causes."
Labeling of Black people as niggers is a symptom of the belief that Black people "were less than they were, that we weren't as good"; the belief comes first, the label is a symptom of such a belief. First, people decide that another race is of less worth, then they label that race derogatorily, the cause is what makes people hold the initial belief in the first place. It's not like everybody was walking around thinking that African slaves and White settlers were equal and living in harmony, then all of a sudden somebody decided to call Black people niggers and that lead directly, as a cause, to the lynchings which ensued.
"I NEVER said I condemn anyone based on sexual orientation."
You said that you don't condone homosexuals' lifestyles. You see, saying something tactfully doesn't make it something else. Like when Black and White racists talk about 'separatism' , it sounds nicer and less offensive, but it is essentially just dishonest PC bullshit; it is racism with a polite veneer. Not condoning something is a polite way of saying that you condemn something.
"In fact I don't condemn anyone based on their choices...."
I don't believe that for a second. I've never met a single human being who could live up to such an aspiration. That is not to say that i haven't met plenty of people who claimed they could. Talk and walk are two very different things. If you claim that you condemn nobody but murderers for their choices, what you are in fact stating is that you exercise absolutely none of your critical faculties, something which your blog entry above would contest.
"Which in fact is wrong as well, only the most high can jude us"
Religious nonsense. This is a fallacious line of horse shit fed to believers by men who appoint themselves judges of all, while claiming that only God can truly judge. Conveniently they use their get out of jail free card anytime they want to pass brutal and unreasonable judgement upon others by claiming that God is working through them.
"maybe a better choice of words would have been "I don't agree""
Again, you are merely trying to rationalize your condemnation to yourself by calling it something else. You seem to be uncomfortable with facing up to what your attitude means. Such political correctness is a facade, it just allows people to feel better about their regressive attitudes. Like when people who hold racist beliefs regarding Black people insist on always using the term 'African American'; they rationalize to themselves that they are not as racist as the next guy who says 'nigger', but they are one and the same.
"Which shouldn't matter to anyone who's comfortable with themselves."
Then you should have no problem with people bandying about a term like 'nigger'? Plenty of racists believe that all Black people are 'niggers', they don't condone the idea that Black people are human to the same degree as Whites, but hey, who is that going to bother? It's not like they're condemning Black people or anything, they just don't condone aspects of their lifestyle, namely those aspects facilitated by the notion of racial equality.
"I don't agree with my husband when he curses but I certainly don't "condemn" him."
Condemn definition: to express an unfavorable or adverse judgment on; indicate strong disapproval of; censure.
So while you may not condemn your husband, you do condemn his chosen linguistic behaviour; behaviour which he is free to control if he sees fit. When you condemn the homosexuality of homosexuals, you are condemning them for something which is a part of their essence, not a chosen behaviour. Therefore, you are condemning them, not simply some kind of lifestyle choice. At best you are condemning their refusal to repressive their natural self.
"I believe our word choices can be a symptom of other far ore serious issues."
I agree. I believe that when people not only repress their own vocabulary, but insist on repressing the vocabularies of others, it is indicative of a far more serious issue. That issue is personal freedom. I'm not insisting that anybody has to curse, I am insisting that it is up to the individual and they should be free to use whatever words they choose. However, those who would subscribe to your view point aren't just content with their freedom not to swear, they want to take our freedom of expression away from those of us who want to express ourselves as we see fit.
Here's a pretty good argument against the notion of profanity and censorship, I would be very grateful if you would humour me and watch this video clip:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ojEpASQi_7o
_____________________________________________________________
I am the people my mother warned me about.
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/tuffgong
TUFFGONG
Senior Executive Administrator™
The problem i have with your argument, is that you assume that nigger is the only racial slur out there (or it would seem like it from the way you are talking) As a black person, i fully realize what that word alone has done, and how much harm, hate, and death is associated with that word. However, if we ever want equality, we have a few choices
Completely destroy all politically incorrect words so that no one feels like shit, or deal with it, because white people are called crackers, jews are called kikes, etc. etc. Honestly, I have a lot of white friends that say the "n-word" around me, but in the way that most black people would say it, or if not, in a joking manner. If you understand that people mean little or no harm by a otherwise harmful word, than there isn't much of a problem.
and the word gay? i mean... come on im a teenage, i can't get that out of my vocabulary
I felt the same way, "I'm a teenager, i can't get that out of my vocabulary" when I first decided not to use the "n" word or when I decided to stop cursing. There's nothing you can't do. It's more a matter of how important is it to you? I do understand your point though. And maybe you have a good point, eradicate all politically incorrect terms. Because I know very few jewish people but when I've heard dsucssion among them about the word "kike" it seems to be generally unacceptable. Most of the people inside these minority groups do not aprove of the word associated with them. Not all, but most. With the acception of blacks who seems to be pretty split about the word. So if someone means no harm then should it be okay?? That's a matter of opinion. I personally still dont think its okay, and imress upon all people in my company to avoid the use of that word and all curses as much as possible, and in my home it's not allowed at all. But that's the beauty of it, we can disaree.
-Leave the world a better place than you came to it.