# Greatest idea in years... \[NFL may penalize racial slurs\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 23, 2014, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-idea-in-years-nfl-may-penalize-racial-slurs/682006 "2014-02-23T06:17:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![FairPlay222](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/74df32/32.png) [@FairPlay222](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairPlay222)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2014, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-idea-in-years-nfl-may-penalize-racial-slurs/682006/1 "2014-02-23T06:17:30Z")
NFL proposes policy to curb/ban use of the N word. One of the biggest double-standards in society is the use of this word. OK for some, just everyday slang amongst, racist vitriol to others. End this double standard NFL…kudos ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2014, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-idea-in-years-nfl-may-penalize-racial-slurs/682006/2 "2014-02-23T06:39:26Z")
Washington Redskins. ---
**Author:** ![2sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/e47774/32.png) [@2sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2sense)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2014, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-idea-in-years-nfl-may-penalize-racial-slurs/682006/3 "2014-02-23T06:48:28Z")
Personally I’m not seeing not being able to freely use the word “nigger” in public as really that huge of a burden on the white man. ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2014, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-idea-in-years-nfl-may-penalize-racial-slurs/682006/4 "2014-02-23T06:57:56Z")
> [@2sense](#): > > Personally I’m not seeing not being able to freely use the word “nigger” in public as really that huge of a burden on the white man. Stick around. In a previous thread someone said such policies were “the worst atrocity in history” or some such, until some people pointed out there were others where people were killed in the millions or were enslaved for generations. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-idea-in-years-nfl-may-penalize-racial-slurs/682006/5 "2014-02-25T05:09:00Z")
It’s justifiable to refer to a black man as such when you’re blinded by pure anger and an overwhelming desire to kill him. Otherwise, just keep it in your vocabulary. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-idea-in-years-nfl-may-penalize-racial-slurs/682006/6 "2014-02-25T05:25:36Z")
That’s the steroids talking, **the\_diego**. You’ll feel better almost as soon as you stop taking them. 😉 Anyway, what is the N word the OP is talking about? “National?” Will they go back to calling half of them the American Football League? Because last time it was a classic example of Jim Crow “separate but equal” crap because the AFL stunk on ice. And it still leaves the other half as the National Football League, which doesn’t solve the problem. But if AFL is for the Arena Football League, it’s OK because arena football is awesome. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-idea-in-years-nfl-may-penalize-racial-slurs/682006/7 "2014-02-25T06:21:08Z")
> [@2sense](#): > > Personally I’m not seeing not being able to freely use the word “nigger” in public as really that huge of a burden on the white man. Right, the OP sounds upset that it’s socially unacceptable for him to use a racial slur in public, but is satisfied that at least others can’t use it now on TV. That’s the greatest idea he’s heard in years? ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-idea-in-years-nfl-may-penalize-racial-slurs/682006/8 "2014-02-25T10:16:09Z")
There’s something farcical about the idea of the NFL having a long series of urgent, high-level meetings about the damaging PR they’ve been getting recently, and deciding that the solution is to ban a racial slur. Rearranging the deck chairs, indeed. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-idea-in-years-nfl-may-penalize-racial-slurs/682006/9 "2014-02-25T13:05:20Z")
Enough concussions and the player’s vocabulary will be beyond their control, though?! ---
**Author:** ![spifflog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@spifflog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spifflog)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-idea-in-years-nfl-may-penalize-racial-slurs/682006/10 "2014-02-25T16:49:47Z")
From my college football days (admittedly further in the past than I’d care to admit) most of the n-word use was black on black. The few times that I heard a white guy use it, our fellow back team mates would react negatively to it. So I’m less offended by that usage. Put another way, if one black millionaire calls another black millionaire the n-word, and all the other black millionaires within ear shot don’t care - I don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-idea-in-years-nfl-may-penalize-racial-slurs/682006/11 "2014-02-25T17:08:33Z")
> [@FairPlay222](#): > > One of the biggest double-standards in society is the use of this word. OK for some, just everyday slang amongst, racist vitriol to others. While it is a double-standard, I’d like to emphasize that it’s of zero importance. And in fact the NFL will not be cracking down on the double standard. Do you think they’re going to throw a lot of penalty flags against guys who use the word in a friendly context? I don’t. I think if it gets thrown at all, it’ll be when players are arguing and being pejorative - which only drives home the fact that the word has different meanings in different contexts. > [@chacoguy](#): > > Washington Redskins. And **chacoguy** wins the thread with two words in the first reply. We can all go home for drinks. > [@2sense](#): > > Personally I’m not seeing not being able to freely use the word “nigger” in public as really that huge of a burden on the white man. It’s not. I think one of the reasons it gets talked about so much is that it’s one of the few things a white person in our society just can’t do. This makes it absolutely intolerable to a certain type of white person (I think it’s almost always guys, but I haven’t done a survey). This is pretty much the perfect example of what people are talking about when they talk about privilege. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-idea-in-years-nfl-may-penalize-racial-slurs/682006/12 "2014-02-25T17:14:11Z")
I feel like they’re doing this now as precedent for dealing with homophobic slurs in the near future. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-idea-in-years-nfl-may-penalize-racial-slurs/682006/13 "2014-02-25T17:17:26Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > I feel like they’re doing this now as precedent for dealing with homophobic slurs in the near future. The rule hasn’t been written up yet, and I think it’ll probably include more than just one word. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-idea-in-years-nfl-may-penalize-racial-slurs/682006/14 "2014-02-25T18:20:19Z")
This has been a pet peeve of mine for a long time. Have you ever said “hey, man how’s it going?” The origin of the use of the word “man” as a form of address arose in the black community where black men had been called “boy” and free black men called each other “man” I remember a time when black folks called each other brother and sister instead of ~igger and bitch. This seems like a horrible regression. You don’t see puerto ricans running around calling each other spic to “reclaim” the word. You don’t see Asians running around calling each other gook or chink or nip to take away the power of the word. I have heard the argument that they are just trying to reclaim the word but the argument seems retarded. It seems more like black folks trying to keep each other down rather than raise them up. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-idea-in-years-nfl-may-penalize-racial-slurs/682006/15 "2014-02-25T18:43:15Z")
When I was a young lad in Texas, studying for admission to the penitentiary, I used that word in front of my grandmother exactly once. When I discovered that a fly-swatter has a wider variety of applications than I had considered. “Colored” was acceptable, she eventually accepted “Negro”, but none of the many pejoratives were allowed.\* And there _are_ many. “Coon”, “jigaboo”, the list goes on and on. Are those gong to be specifically mentioned and forbidden? I rather doubt it, there are too many. Which renders the exercise absurd. Change minds and hearts, and the speech patterns will change themselves. \*(It might deserve mention that her opinions derived from her religion, not her politics. God made them, Jesus loves them, and that settles it. I could probably get away with it now, since I’m not going to Heaven anyway, but I’d rather not risk it.) ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-idea-in-years-nfl-may-penalize-racial-slurs/682006/16 "2014-02-25T18:43:55Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > This has been a pet peeve of mine for a long time. > > Have you ever said “hey, man how’s it going?” > > The origin of the use of the word “man” as a form of address arose in the black community where black men had been called “boy” and free black men called each other “man” > . Nonsense. Blacks certainly used it but it goes way back in English. See OED, man, IV, 16, b. > [@](#): > > Eng. regional (north.), Sc., Irish English, Welsh English, and S. Afr. colloq. Also, esp. in 20th cent., in Caribbean English and among African-Americans. Used to address a person (in many varieties of English, irrespective of sex) parenthetically without emphasis to indicate familiarity, amicability, or equality between the speaker and the person addressed. Now sometimes with loss of vocative force. > > ▸?a1513 W. Dunbar Poems (1998) 108 ‘Fow wo’, quod scho, ‘Quhair will ȝe, man?’ > 1589 Hay any Work 1 Heere be non but frends man. > 1675 P. Bellon Mock Duellist ii. ii. 30 Fear it not, man; I’ll be in this as secret as thy self. > 1691 Braggadocio iii. i. 35 A scouring Bottle of Pontack will scour it again, Mun. > 1715 J. Vanbrugh Country House ii. 23 Char. [to Mariane] You see I can keep a secret—I am no girl mun. > 1742 H. Fielding Joseph Andrews I. ii. xiv. 268, I have seen you often at Fair; why, we have dealt before now mun, I warrant you. > 1773 O. Goldsmith She stoops to Conquer v. 93 Why that’s it, mon. > 1780 S. Lee Chapter of Accidents ii. ii. 26 But the best fun is to come, mun! > 1825 J. Jennings Observ. Dial. W. Eng. at Min, I’ll do it, min. > 1892 J. Barlow Bog-land 25 Hullo, Connor!..is it you, man? > 1933 Metronome Aug. 23 Trum’s greeting was in the Negro dialect he usually employed: ‘Man! How is you?’ > 1952 M. Tripp Faith is Windsock i. 21 The Jamaican stood up and stretched himself. ‘Glad you woke me, man,’ he said. > 1961 ‘B. Wells’ Day Earth caught Fire ix. 145 ‘Cut that out, man,’ the beatnik said. > 1976 R. Bulter Shaela 58 Min A’m vexed ta hear yun. > 1988 M. Orson in Fair Lady (Cape Town) 16 Mar. 128 Oh man Lisa, your nails are digging into my arm again man. > 1993 V. Headley Excess xiv. 180 We have to talk some business. You been dissin’ me, mon. > 2001 N. Griffiths Sheepshagger 142 ‘Ianto, just fuckin ignore him, mun… He’s just tryin-a wind yew up, mun.’ ‘Go on then, Ianto mun, fuckin prove it.’ ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-idea-in-years-nfl-may-penalize-racial-slurs/682006/17 "2014-02-25T18:44:14Z")
Can they still say nigga? Sounds like the white man trying to re reclaim a word black people like to use ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-idea-in-years-nfl-may-penalize-racial-slurs/682006/18 "2014-02-25T19:22:57Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > You don’t see Asians running around calling each other gook or chink or nip to take away the power of the word. [Sure you do](http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/06/16/talkasia.wang.script/index.html?eref=sitesearch). ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-idea-in-years-nfl-may-penalize-racial-slurs/682006/19 "2014-02-25T19:33:28Z")
I know nothing about football - who was complaining about this? Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-idea-in-years-nfl-may-penalize-racial-slurs/682006/20 "2014-02-25T19:35:52Z")
The goalies. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-idea-in-years-nfl-may-penalize-racial-slurs/682006.md?page=2)