Tuesday - February 13, 2007

Sticks And Stones

Contradiction: (1) I don’t use the word, (2) I believe banning its use is wrong. “How can you say that, Skipper?”, you ask. Easy. Any time you try to ban a word, certain reactions occur ... (1) the word is given more power by the very fact that people are trying to suppress it, and (2) even if you stop them from saying the word, racists and bigots will still think the word and their resentment only increases because they will think you are trying to control them.

How many words do you not use in polite company? Seven, as George Carlin said in his comedy routine? Less? Or more? The fact is that you know those words and no amount of legislation will ever wish them out of existence. Telling people they cannot use the “N-word” will only increase the racial divide, not diminish it.

I would recommend we all just ignore it. It’s just a word that started out in ancient Rome as the Latin “Niger”, meaning “black. It evolved into the Spanish word “negro”, the Italian “nero” and the French “noire”. People in this country took the Spanish word, mangled it into “nigra”, which eventually got mangled again into the subject of this post ... nigger.

If the truth be known, it’s not so much a hateful word as it is a stupid word. People who use it only show their ignorance and a limited vocabulary. Using the word says more about the speaker than the person they are referring to. My best advice is not to try to kill the word - just let it die a slow death. After all, there are even more hateful words that have been used to refer to black people (coon, jigaboo, darky) that have completely disappeared from the language. They merely went away as people gradually learned to ignore race, eschew prejudice and get on with life.

Which brings me to the “N-word” that really pisses me off. If I hear one more newscaster or reporter refer to the African country of Niger as “nee-jair” I am going to scream. For the last time, it is pronounced “nEYE-jur” - so all you reporters at CNN, FOX, ABC, NBC, CBS, MSNBC please keep your twisted, phony Frenchified version to yourself. Damn!

New York County Acts on `N’ Word
_{WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) - February 13, 2007, 5:53 AM EST}

The Westchester County Legislature declared the “symbolic elimination” of a common racial slur, saying its use “remains damaging, divisive and derogatory.”

Referring to the slur only as “The `N’ word,” the resolution passed Monday in this county north of Manhattan says it “is used in an ignorant and derogatory fashion to demean a black person.”

Legislator Clinton Young, who is black and drafted the resolution, said in an interview, “I hear it just too much in my community and in other communities throughout America. No matter who uses it or how they use it, it’s demeaning.”

“If people knew the origin of the word, I believe they would stop using it,” he said. Asked if the resolution, which passed unanimously, impinged on free speech, he said, “We can exercise free speech by choosing not to use this hateful word.”

Actor Michael Richards’ heavily publicized use of the slur on stage last year prompted some black leaders to ask the public and the entertainment industry to stop using it.

Earlier this month, New York City Councilman Leroy Comrie introduced a similar resolution, which is yet to be voted on. In Washington, Rep. Charles Rangel, a Democrat, has been talking with Congressional Black Caucus members about taking some similar action in Congress, Rangel spokesman Emile Milne said.

On the Net:

Abolish the N Word: http://www.abolishthenword.com

Posted by The Skipper     on 02/13/2007 at 07:52 AM   
Filed Under: • Racism and race relations •  
• Comments (10) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

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