I see people are still floundering in their attempt to attach the meaning of the word “thug” to the meaning of the N-word. Which isn’t going to solve their problem, anyway. Other words will no doubt hurt their feelings in the future. I wish them the best of luck swimming against the current of free speech.
Why did the N-word become the N-word? The N-word represents an embareassing time when human beings owned other human beings. It brings back memories of whippings, beatings, mutilations, and lynchings. The only other word, that I’m aware of, that invokes such horrific memories is “Nazi”.
How is the N-word similar to Nazi? According to Mike Godwin on Godwin’s Rule of Nazi Analogies:
*I Seem To Be A Verb: 18 Years of Godwin’s Law -
…Overall, though, I’m content that the Law has as much popcult traction as it does. My feeling is that “Never Again” loses its meaning if we don’t regularly remind ourselves of the terrible inflection point marked in human culture by the Holocaust. Sure, there has been genocide before that point and genocide after it, but to see an advanced, highly civilized nation warp itself into something capable of creating such a horror—well, I think Nazi Germany does count as a first in that regard. And to a great extent, our challenge as human beings who live in the period after that inflection point is that we no longer can be passive about history—we have a moral obligation to do what we can to prevent such events from ever happening again. Key to that obligation is remembering, which is what Godwin’s Law is all about.*
http://jewcy.com/jewish-arts-and-culture/i_seem_be_verb_18_years_godwins_law
Godwin’s opinion is that “Never Again” loses its meaning when it is diluted by the various discussions comparing anything, and anyone, else to Hitler and Nazis.
This seems similar to the current attempt to tie the word “thug” to the N-word.
Meanwhile, back to the “thug is the new N-word” discussion.
nig•ger /ˈnɪg ər/ n.
— usage. The term NIGGER is now probably the most offensive word in English. Its degree of offensiveness has increased markedly in recent years, although it has been used in a derogatory manner since at least the Revolutionary War. Definitions 1a , 1b , and 2 represent meanings that are deeply disparaging and are used when the speaker deliberately wishes to cause great offense. Definition 1a , however, is sometimes used among African-Americans in a neutral or familiar way. Definition 3 is not normally considered disparaging - as in “The Irish are the niggers of Europe” from Roddy Doyle’s The Commitments - but the other uses are considered contemptuous and hostile.—
— n.
1. Slang: Extremely Disparaging and Offensive. a. (a contemptuous term used to refer to a black person.) b. (a contemptuous term used to refer to a member of any dark-skinned people.)
2. Slang: Extremely Disparaging and Offensive. (a contemptuous term used to refer to a person of any race or origin regarded as contemptible, inferior, ignorant, etc.)
3. a victim of prejudice similar to that suffered by blacks; a person who is economically, politically, or socially disenfranchised.
How does that compare to “thug”?
thug /θʌg/ n.
1. a vicious criminal or ruffian.
2. (sometimes cap.) a member of a fraternity of professional robbers and murderers in India, suppressed by the British in the 19th century.
[1800–10; < Hindi thag lit., rogue, cheat]
–thug′ger•y, n.
–thug′gish, adj.
I believe that the attempt to force political-correction on the majority of the nation weakens and dilutes the meaning, and force, of the N-word.
The bottom line is that “thug” is in no way comparable to the N-word.
