Beener, Spic, Gook, Cameljocky, Kike, Wetback, Yankee, FOB, Nigger, Mick, Raghead, Sand Nigger, Snowback, Towelhead, Wigger. There is a plethora of controversial words that can all be grouped under one umbrella – racial slurs. <!--break--> Racial slurs have been around for much of the time that humans have been interacting with each other. They are used to bring down and degrade a person, to generalize and discriminate against groups. The people that get the brunt of these words are often immigrants and foreigners. People have always been creative with words; languages are always changing. And people are never as creative as when they are insulting others. The aforementioned words are only a few of the common words used to degrade one another. No one is safe. Every race, religion, gender, orientation and age is fair game for new terms.
Political correctness has heightened awareness of racial slurs. And yet, it has not diminished them. In today’s society, a white person can not call a black person a nigger– that would be racist. On the other hand, a black person calling another a nigger – that’s embracing their culture. The negative connotation of the word is still around, it didn’t magically become a word meaning cool. It still strips people of their humanity and makes them second-class citizens, but apparently that’s still ok; as long as you are stripping your own people. The word nigger is used so often in popular rap music that I’m sure that if the first Grand Wizard of the Klu Klux Klan heard it, he would be filled with pride.
Politics has even been brought into this debate. Recently, a teacher was almost fired because she taught her students a new vocabulary word, niggardly. It is important to note that niggardly means stingy and was used hundreds of years before the derogatory n-word. But, because of its close relation to the word, a teacher was close to having their career ruined. How have we come to the point where it is wrong to teach children proper English and yet it is ok to throw around racial slurs?
By using words like nigger no one is being helped. It is only taking a bad word that would once offend always and turning it into a bad word that offends sometimes. Why accept something that only degrades? A racial slur only helps separate people; no matter which side is using it.
If we would just stop being so NIGGARDLY with our speech, everything would be SPIC and span, and we could wipe the nervous sweat off our WETBACKS and brows in relief and get back to our Doo WOP music, CHINKing, and eating SaurKRAUT. We wouldn't be sweating anymore because we'd have our SNOW BACK and would get all YANKEE to keep warm.
But anywho, yeah; members of a minority using a derrogatory word to steal its thunder is one thing, but rappers take it to ridiculous extremes.
"CONSERVATIVE, n.
A statesman who is enamored of existing evils, as distinguished from the Liberal, who wishes to replace them with others."
- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary"
"Racial slurs have been around for much of the time that humans have been interacting with each other."
I disagree with this statement... Mainly because it wasn't until the change over from indentured servants to slavery that races were even looked at.
Before that, conflicts had always been about culture and lifestyle - nothing to do with race. In the whole scheme of things, racial slurs is very new to the world...
But, to the rest of your post I completely agree...
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"Dream as though you'll live forever, but live as though there's no tomorrow" --James Dean
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/fanaile-essence
see, but you're really only thinking in terms of black racism.
racism is just the belief that one culture is superior to the other.
most of the time slavery and racism go hand in hand.
and you have to remember that the ancient egyptians had slaves. remember Moses?
Racism is the belief that one race is superior to another regardless of culture...
Ethnocentrism is the belief that one culture is superior to another, which would entail religious beliefs, family values, work habits, social systems, and government establishments.
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"Dream as though you'll live forever, but live as though there's no tomorrow" --James Dean
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/fanaile-essence
ok, i see your point.
using the word culture instead of race was my fault. i should have been more careful.
Whether or not you validate this article also depends on your definition of "racism." In some ways racism does include a culture and lifestyle even though those things may not have particular country of origin.
Because this was written for an english class, her purpose analyzes the connotation and society's acceptance of such terms. Racial slurs are so often used, so much so that it has become accepted that a minority can casually use that name when refering to themselves, but it would be offensive for someone else to use that term. Why should the use of these terms be validated one way and not the other? Or more specifically, why should they be validated at all?
I disagree with you entirely. Slavery has been around far, far , far longer than indentured servitude. Slavery predates written history...and I'm pretty certain indentured servants weren't widely used until the 17th or 18th centuries.
-Tim
"It costs nothing to be honest, loyal, and true." -Avett Bros.
I didn't say that slavery wasn't around.
I said racism did not come about until the United States made the switch from indentured servants to slavery...
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"Dream as though you'll live forever, but live as though there's no tomorrow" --James Dean
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/fanaile-essence
Yea...except that's not what you said at all. There's no mention of the United States in your post.
And even then, even in just speaking of the Unites States, there was slavery here before there was indentured servitude. And even amongst the Europeans there was racism.
-Tim
"It costs nothing to be honest, loyal, and true." -Avett Bros.
Okay, I apologogize; now that I know that I have to actually spell every thing out for you because you can't fill in the gaps - It will make it much easier for me to communicate with you.
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"Dream as though you'll live forever, but live as though there's no tomorrow" --James Dean
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/fanaile-essence
If by spell things out you mean "say things that aren't blatantly false" then yes, you might want to do it.
You said racism did not exist until the change from indentured servitude to slavery. That's it. Nothing about countries. And even if we assume there's in implied "United States" you're STILL wrong. Slavery in the US was around he same time as indentured servitude.
Just because you got called on a false statement doesn't mean you need to start using implied insults. You said something that wasn't true. No big deal, I wasn't speaking venomous words, just trying to clear things up.
-Tim
"It costs nothing to be honest, loyal, and true." -Avett Bros.
Perhaps not Black racism. Racism was still very present, though it could be considered more ethnicism. Eastern Europeans were the targets of European racism. The word Slavic means, "fit for slavery."
The Jews have been hated or enslaved for most of recorded history.
Poles, Irish and Italians were all subjected to racism in America. The term "patty wagon" comes from the propensity for Irish folk, or Patties, to get hauled off to jail in large numbers. Think if we called them nigger wagons.
If you've seen Blazing Saddles you'll recal the town declaring, "Alright we'll take the blacks, but we won't take the Irish." Brooks didn't throw that in there cause he doesn't like Irish people.
Wales too. For some reason people don't like Wales.
The French, Spanish and Portugese got plenty of hate from Britain back in the day too. All that warfare breeds a certain amount of dehumanization of the enemy, and I am sure the others threw it right back.
Oh crap, I almost forgot the supreme fact that the entire American continent is founded on racism. Remember the Native Americans and the Aztecs? If genocide isn't racist, I don't know what is.
Res ipsa loquitur.
memor mori, mahalo.
I do see what you're saying, but ethnocentrism isn't quite the same as racism; additionally, the conflicts you speak of (with the exception of the Native Americans and the Aztecs) were mainly fought over control and land; Well, and even then it was particially over control and land, just they wanted control of the land and not over the people because they wanted the people dead. But, it's also possible that racism had nothing to do with it; perhaps they would have attacked and wiped out anyone who was there (which would indicate more ethnocentrism than racism) and the Azrecs just got lucky.
Back then, the powers that be tried to "unite" (for lack of a better word) under one monarchy / government; That meant assimilating other cultures into their own, not wiping them out or discriminating against them - for the most part with a few exceptions.
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"Dream as though you'll live forever, but live as though there's no tomorrow" --James Dean
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/fanaile-essence
Love it. You do witty truth oh so well. 'Tis the truth.