I do get that, Ivory, thanks. I have lurked around these boards for 2 years, so I pretty much know that these types of skirmishes do happen. I am very excited about posting here. I am very enthusiastic about it, and nothing like this would put me off.
McDribble = been watching too much Grey’s Anatomy lately, perhaps?
I would just like to give some independent support to this. I am from the US, but my sister-in-law is South African. I have spent some time in the country and have some familiarity with the culture. The word is in fact highly offensive there.
The comparison very well might be with a name like Nigger Jim. While there is a certain literary or historical allusion being made, the word used is so offensive that the name is at best in extremely bad taste. It would especially be so if the poster who took the name **Nigger Jim ** was not black himself. (And I believe the poster in question here is not Khoi.) I would suspect that a name like Nigger Jim wouldn’t be accepted here.
This is an international board. Just because most people might here might be ignorant of the degree of offensiveness of the term doesn’t really make it more acceptable.
Given that a name like Saartjie would make the same reference without giving offense, that would seem to be a good alternative.
Ah, that last point is, perhaps, the thing best kept in mind. What someone in America doesn’t see as offensive might be highly offensive to someone in South Africa, especially a member of the referenced minority group. I believe Mr. Dibble has made reference to being whipped while the appellation in question was directed his way, which might certainly make one think twice about considering the word inoffensive in any usage. And, I will point out that there is probably no one left alive in the United States who has undergone anything of remotely similar nature, with the possible exception of someone of African-American descent living in the South during the bad years. So it’s perhaps understandable, though certainly not excusable, that some of our members are reacting to Mr. Dibble’s complaint with, shall we say, rather stupid commentary.
If the boards are an international community, as they are, one has to account for these kinds of things. There are language barriers, time healing wounds, and a host of other things going on, and I’m not even talking about user names.
Here are the facts: A poster took a name as a tribute. Another poster was offended by the existence of the name. That second person has every right to be offended and whether or not the poster is right to feel offended is moot.
If my two cents are worth…well…two cents…the second poster has already voiced his displeasure and the first person has certainly explained herself. If the second person formally asks the other person to change and the first person doesn’t accept, we keep on going. True, nobody’s forcing the second person to read these boards, but he does pay to use them.
To me, a fair compromise is a name change, but the first person shouldn’t feel obligated to.
Despite this, I do hope she stays. We need more people and more diversity.
Again, welcome.
I am not. But I would guess that the slur is meant to demean blacks…not just Khoi. And I am black. Still, I must confess that is just a guess. I am not as up on my South African culture as I would like to be.
I am not certain I am willing to part with the name easily. Not that I can’t be persuaded. Just that I’m not quite convinced to part with it right now.
I always considered all black Africans to be my brothers and sisters. I thought we blacks in America were sort of the ‘brothers and sisters’ across the water. I didn’t take the time to consider carefully if blacks in South Africa would think that something I said may be a slur against them.
Um, I’d suggest reading up on the issue. Your last post shows some misconceptions regarding the complicated issues involved. If for no other reason than to truly understand the person who’s appellation you have adopted, you should educate yourself thoroughly. 
May I suggest, with all due respect, that now that you ARE aware that someone finds it extremely offensive the polite thing to do WOULD be to change it.
Having read the history, I think the best course of action would be to see if some kind of mutually agreeable compromise can be made. Perhaps you and the poster who complained might work together to see if there’s a name that would allow you to pay homage to this woman without offending?
oops - wrong thread - I was starting a new topic.
Of course they would, and that is exactly the point here.
It’s not about intent – we don’t think Ms. Venus has ill intentions, just the opposite – but for the same reason that we wouldn’t allow Nigger Jim we can’t really allow this. And we are going to ask for a change, we’re going to work with her on finding a name that all of us can live with.
No harm, no foul, and we understand that – but at the same time some things just can’t be here. It’s one of those “greater good for the greater number” deals.
Ms. Venus, look for an email from me, let’s discuss.
Right.
First things first - if I ever change my username, McDribble is now top of the list 
Next - sorry to all about the trainwreck in the other thread, won’t happen again outside the Pit.
Now for the important stuff:
Welcome, Venus Hottentot. As I said in the other thread, I don’t doubt that you chose your name with good intentions, and as a sincere tribute. I repeatedly acknowledged that was probably the case. However:
You are mistaken. Khoikhoi are not black as you would understand the term. Khoikhoi were rarely slaves, and certainly weren’t transported to the New World. There is no shared heritage there. Forgive me for being a bit blunt, but there’s a bit of misappropriation of my cultural heritage at work there. Black (Bantu) people in SA were not called Hottentot, only Khoi and Coloureds were. It is an ethnic slur on me, not you, and you are not entitled to claim ownership of it.
Secondly - while you might very well not be offended by someone with a username like Nigger Jim, you admit that others would be, and that you don’t use it away from your peers. I have repeatedly said the word Hottentot is as offensive to me as nigger might be to others. Why would you only reluctantly do me the courtesy of considering my objections to a racial slur?
Lastly - while “Hottentot Venus” *does *refer to Saartjie Baartman, it is not her given name. It is the name the people who exhibited her like an animal chose to put on their handbills and adverts. How is using this virtual “slave name” a fitting tribute to a woman who suffered so much indignity both in life and death? By using the name, you’re glorifying all that was done to her, not the woman herself. You indirectly continue to perpetrate the myth of the Khoi as subhuman, a zoo exhibit. You keep Saartjie in the cage she lived in.
If you truly knew the rich history of the Khoikhoi, you wouldn’t be so quick to enshrine one of the more humiliating chapters in a long and rich history. And when you have *someone of that heritage *tell you outright that the name is highly offensive, and indicate that you want to continue using it because of some false or misguided connection you feel, well, that doesn’t speak well of you to me. Please reconsider letting it go.
I’d suggest Khoi Venus as a replacement, there’s also some nice wordplay going on there (Khoi => Coy), but again, I’d urge you to change the name.
…and Tuba makes most of that moot.
Thanks, Mods, for considering my point, even if not everyone agrees.
Venus, I look forward to more of you posts. I thought the ghetto thread was very good, BTW.
I’d still say Khoi Venus is a good replacement.
Out of interest, MrDibble: if Venus Hottentot were Khoi, would you still have a problem with the name? As big a problem?
Or Tio Gringo?
Wrongo. Try again.
http://www.southafrica.info/ess_info/sa_glance/history/saartjie.htm
However this works out, Venus, may I say that you’ve acquitted yourself with grace and aplomb in the short time you’ve been here: I do hope you stick around.
Dumb joke in reply edited out - forget it.
He’s the not-so-good-looking doctor with the bladder control problem.
Yes, I’d still have a problem with it. No more, no less.
I don’t think it would be acceptable for a black person to register a name with Nigger in, like Nigger Jim, either.
If this is a response to me explaining to VH that she has no right to appropriate my heritage, that was a response to her defense of some sort of “common blackness” as a reason, not a pointer to the offensiveness of the word. It’s an offensive word regardless of who uses it.
I just wanted to say that I think it was very nice of Venus to explain herself.