I’m with George Carlin on this. Context is everything. Words are just words. Their meaning comes from how they are used. Context makes a word good or bad.
Having the policy Netflix has is just a cover-their-ass thing to avoid needing to parse one utterance from another.
That and what Louis CK said that Kobal2 noted above. Saying “the n-word” is bullshit. When you say, “the n-word” you are really saying “nigger” but with a code word. You are putting “nigger” in the other person’s head when they hear that. Have the cojones to just say “nigger” if that is the word you are actually trying to convey. If you can’t see your way to do that then don’t say “the n-word” either.
So, the CEO’s letter lays it all out, and I’m not seeing the problem. I wonder how much of the ‘outrage’ over this is the inability to empathize and maybe get that black folks don’t want to work in a place where the N-Word is bandied about carelessly, in their face. If Netflix is attempting to recruit the best talent from a diverse pool, guess what? Demonstrating that this sort of thing is not tolerated goes a long way as a recruitment tool.
Doesn’t matter what the slur is- the idea that we can all sit down and consider the matter academically, without regard for the fact that some words have been, and still are, used as a cudgel on marginalized groups, seems to be an assumption based on never having one’s entire identity reduced to that word.
Also, this guy was part of the Comms team. Yeah, I wouldn’t want him speaking for me either.
I think this is a perfectly reasonable rule for the workplace, regardless of the topic at hand—if you’re not black, you don’t get to make the call whether it’s okay for you to speak this one word aloud.
You can make all the connotative/denotative distinctions if you’re on your own time, if you’re a standup comic, screenwriter, novelist or other performer or artist, but not if you’re a white guy in an office job. Perfectly clear and reasonable.
I can accept this as a rational position except for one detail. If there is a rule, it shouldn’t apply only to white people. If it’s that offensive, then it doesn’t matter who is saying it.
This is the thing, if two black employees are speaking to each other casually, and they address each other as “nigger,” then there clearly shouldn’t be any consequences for that. It makes no sense to apply that rule to them.
This perceived “inequality” just might be the wages of an inheritance of a white supremacist history. As the group that benefits from white supremacism, white people might have to bear the burden of one very trivial restriction on their speech.
If you’re white, you don’t get to say it. Very fair rule, in the circumstances.
So he said it once, people found it offensive and he apologized. Then he **didn’t **mention it at another meeting, and people found that offensive. Then two Black people in HR brought up the first offense again, “to help him deal with it”. Deal with it how - apologize again? Bring it up and apologize again every time he addresses black Netflix employees?
I guess the company can have whatever policies it wants. Including the Sanhedrin.
The incident with the two black people predated the incident where he failed to address it. The CEO found out about it later, though, and addressed it out-of-sequence.
Not that this changes your basic point, of course. Personally, I think firing is too good for the guy. I wouldn’t call for criminal charges at this point, but I think he should be at a minimum banned from all progressive restaurants, selfies with comedians etc.
If the company does actually have a policy against all utterances of the word “nigger”, regardless of the use-mention distinction, how is that policy written? Surely, the policy itself doesn’t mention the very word whose mention it prohibits. And if it uses some absurd circumlocution like “the N word”, couldn’t one then argue that the N word is “Netflix”?
I think your mode of thinking is infantile. A word does not magically change in offensiveness just because of the colour of the speaker’s skin.
In your example above you state that the two black employees are talking casually.
Why do you mention that? because you realise that context is everything.
What if they were not talking casually, perhaps it got heated and one of them spat it out in a way that was clearly designed to hurt the other person.
Still OK with that?
What if one of them is very light skinned and the other very dark-skinned? mixed race? mixed race but not obviously so? What level of melanin is required to change the meaning of a word?
No, the only thing that matters with any word is context. I can tell you I love your shirt whilst clearly meaning you look an utter mess. I can tell you I respect your work whilst clearly meaning you are an imbecile.
And yes, a white person can use the the word “nigger” without it meaning they are a racist, the only thing that matters is context. I’ve heard it done. I’ve heard it said many time between friends of different races, who the hell are you to police what language they use between themselves?
I don’t even know what it *means *to be told that you can’t say a word because of the colour of your skin. I say it again. It is an infantile argument.
I don’t understand. If you call me into your office to discuss some important detail related to my work, I have to keep looking away from you every five seconds? I’d be so busy “counting to 5” in my head that I wouldn’t hear half of what you were saying.
But it doesn’t help. Say the N-word, apologize, then two black employees bring it up later because the apology wasn’t sufficient, So he says the N-word twice more.
And then the triggering event that gets him fired is **not **addressing it again three months later.
“No one is to get fired until I blow this whistle, even if - and I want to make this absolutely clear - he does say the N* Word. Or even if he doesn’t.”
Regards,
Shodan
PS - don’t say “it” to the Knights Who Until Recently Said “Ni”, either.
My understanding of the incident was that he was talking about language that is offensive in comedy shows. The exact quotes are not given but imagine these two scenarios:
White person: “Our audiences are offended when they hear ‘nigger’ being used in our shows.”
Black person: “Our audiences are offended when they hear ‘nigger’ being used in our shows.”
Tell me why it’s OK for the black person but the white person gets fired.
Political correctness has now officially Run Amok in the U.S. of A. Samantha Bee (a Canadian, thank god) can call someone a “feckless cunt” and be applauded, while the N-word can’t be uttered even in the context of declaring it a word not to be uttered.
Can non-American Dopers fill us in: Is the rest of the world going similarly crazy? I don’t know even want to talk about American “correctness” — I’m beginning to think you’re all certifiably insane.
You know how I know they are different? You typed out “feckless cunt” and only typed out “N-word” If you are discussing which words are more offensive, and you won’t even spell out one of them, then that one is more offensive.
I don’t know if the search engine will let you look for “septimus nigger” but if it will you will find I’ve used that term several times in sarcastic Pit posts. I never used the C-word even once until Ms. Bee showed the way…
Perhaps surprisingly, I find the necessity to use either of those words in daily conversation to be approaching zero percent. I also find the outrage from white people that they can’t use the word “nigger” to be ludicrous at best and absolutely insane at worst.
