I'm Confused - Is the Word Bad or Not?
Okay, I am confused.
As we all know whenever the "n" word is used to refer to a person of African American persuasion all hell breaks loose. There is outrage, general pandemonium in the press and assorted brawling. And frankly I do not blame anyone for getting upset. The word long ago (say around the early 1800s) lost any claim to its original dictionary definition of any lazy person and became the premiere derogatory term for the African American population.
So why is it that while Christmas shopping while standing in the shoe department I heard someone on the phone use the word? Not just anyone mind you but a tall, good-looking African American man all decked out in expensive faux ghetto wear (you know the over priced leather jacket with major brand logos on it, the $200 sneakers, jeans that were impeccable, a microseude shirt and a leather ballcap turned backwards of course). He was speaking into a high-tech cell phone and was apparently discussing his Christmas shopping mayhem with his significant other who was apparently having trouble understanding his problem as they kept going over the same thing in reference to someone else.
So he says, "well, you know how (insert plural version of the 'n' word here) is"
Never mind the fact that the grammar usage really hit my last nerve. The fact that he was using the dreaded 'n' word to describe someone of his own race to another person floored me. Apparently it is okay to use that term if you are African American but not if you are of any other racial background. Say what?
Isn't it still an insult? Isn't it still the most derogatory thing you can say about that person? Isn't it still a cause for outrage?
I would think so. Were I a person of color I wouldn't want to hear that word used to describe me and I wouldn't care who the hell said it. If we are going to purge this term from the language then everyone needs to stop using it. We can't have it both ways. It can't be that it is okay for one person to say something like this but not another.
Respect knows no color, no ethnic background, no gender. The 'n' word gives respect to no one. Wouldn't it be great if 2007 saw the term finally die?
As we all know whenever the "n" word is used to refer to a person of African American persuasion all hell breaks loose. There is outrage, general pandemonium in the press and assorted brawling. And frankly I do not blame anyone for getting upset. The word long ago (say around the early 1800s) lost any claim to its original dictionary definition of any lazy person and became the premiere derogatory term for the African American population.
So why is it that while Christmas shopping while standing in the shoe department I heard someone on the phone use the word? Not just anyone mind you but a tall, good-looking African American man all decked out in expensive faux ghetto wear (you know the over priced leather jacket with major brand logos on it, the $200 sneakers, jeans that were impeccable, a microseude shirt and a leather ballcap turned backwards of course). He was speaking into a high-tech cell phone and was apparently discussing his Christmas shopping mayhem with his significant other who was apparently having trouble understanding his problem as they kept going over the same thing in reference to someone else.
So he says, "well, you know how (insert plural version of the 'n' word here) is"
Never mind the fact that the grammar usage really hit my last nerve. The fact that he was using the dreaded 'n' word to describe someone of his own race to another person floored me. Apparently it is okay to use that term if you are African American but not if you are of any other racial background. Say what?
Isn't it still an insult? Isn't it still the most derogatory thing you can say about that person? Isn't it still a cause for outrage?
I would think so. Were I a person of color I wouldn't want to hear that word used to describe me and I wouldn't care who the hell said it. If we are going to purge this term from the language then everyone needs to stop using it. We can't have it both ways. It can't be that it is okay for one person to say something like this but not another.
Respect knows no color, no ethnic background, no gender. The 'n' word gives respect to no one. Wouldn't it be great if 2007 saw the term finally die?
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