Black and In Effect!
NAACP Puts N-Word to Rest in Mock Funeral
Members of the NAACP from South Carolina are traveling to Detroit for a funeral. But no one has died, instead they're saying goodbye to a word. Basically the gist is that the NAACP spent time and money putting on fake funerals for the word "Nigger/ah/a". They want it abolished from the general lexicon and ( Read more... )
Members of the NAACP from South Carolina are traveling to Detroit for a funeral. But no one has died, instead they're saying goodbye to a word. Basically the gist is that the NAACP spent time and money putting on fake funerals for the word "Nigger/ah/a". They want it abolished from the general lexicon and ( Read more... )
You've mentioned a lot about your environment and how you've never heard the word used in a racist way, but I think you need to understand how rare that is. There is nothing worse than having someone call your mother a "stupid nigger", nothing. I mean, my God, you know. I've been called it, I've been spit at, I've seen and heard tale of it happening all across the country.
So regardless of your personal experiences, you also have to take the experiences of others into account. In your situation it's more about reading the room and responding accordingly.
The line is so fine within academic discussions and a lot of people abuse it and stomp all over it. The point though, is that if a black person asks you not to say it, then don't say it.
The power isn't in the word being used, it's in the word being used by white people. I honestly think it's the one time that white people are grouped and one action is linked to all of them.
I always use the Omarosa example because it's the biggest one, but the fact that the way a black woman behaved in a tv program effected the way my coworkers and managers thought of me is ridiculous.
A lot of white people don't have to deal with the "All blank people do blank" mentality except when it comes to the n-word. Even in academic use it paints a picture of disrespect when used around black people.
Your personal experiences aren't going to validate that, but the experiences of the black people you converse with might and that's something to be aware of.
It's about stepping out of your comfort zone really.
I only avoid using it here because in that last conversation your friend pointed out you saying white people shouldn't use it and I received no clarification from you on the matter.
This I've been very clear on, and I don't know that a "John, I don't want YOU to say the n-word on my page" is really necessary just because I'm pretty vocal about it otherwise, heh.
Now all of this isn't to say that you, yourself are racist, it is to say that as a people Whitefolk are historically stubborn, unwilling to back down, and will fight to the death to get something that someone has told them they can't have.
Re: Sharpton
He's a joke, I always cringe when he claims to be any kind of representative of me. The Imus thing is ridic but the fact that the team itself received hatemail and threats is more telling than anything.
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I missed the first season of apprentice, I've heard so many bilious things about her that I've got had my DVR set to catch the reruns since the day I got it. And I wasn't really seeking your permission to use the n word or anything, I just wanted my position to be clear without having to fret over rubbing you (or anyone else, really) the wrong way to make my point.
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I get wanting to naturally see the good in people, I'm a huge supporter of it. However, I know to not see people through rose colored glasses when they've crossed the line.
You being accused of any kind of racism isn't to chastise you, it's to get you to look at how your actions affect others. That in a room of people who don't know anything about you the first thing some are goign to think is "White Man", some people are going to think "beard, is he a biker, is he a nerd, is he a bear?", it's called stereotyping.
You're not responsible for the stereotypes people put on you, but you are responsible for the way you handle those perceptions.
Just admitting you may have blinders on is a huge step, the next step is admitting that you do have blinders on, and the next is thinking it may be a good idea to remove them, and maybe putting in a plan of action to remove them without ruining whatever utopian vision of the world kept them in place, and then realizing that there are others that haven't had the privilege of blinders, and then taking yours off, and then realizing what the site of you with blinders on all that time said to others, and what to do about that, you know?
The only way to really let people in is to make yourself accessible, same thing with ideas. We can go back and forth all day long, but there's no way to do it with all the maybes and mights and coulds.
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And I don't know how to respond to that, I really don't. I can't discuss something with you that may or may not be in existence. If I'm telling you my experiences, and you're reading the experiences of others and that's offering no validity to the claims, then you're basically right at the edge of "you're taking it all too hard" which is pretty insulting and I hope is not happening, but that's what I'm feeling.
I'm saying that in order to discuss it you have to admit
a) racism exists
b) many black people are effected negatively by racism
c) there are effects of slavery that are still being perpetrated today.
d) I harbor attitudes and thoughts that are influenced by racism.
e) White privilege supports some of these attitudes.
Again, doesn't make you a bad person, it makes you American, as we've discussed before. I don't know how to talk to you about the pain of racism if you'll only acknowledge it on a "maybe/might/could" level.
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