I use “nigger”, n-----, in print to avoid any possible accusation that I’m a racist. Not because I genuinely have some altruistic sense of deliberately avoiding offending my fellow man. If that were the case, you would never see me posting in the pit.
If only Dr. Laura used the “n-word” instead of “nigger”.
I think N-word gives the word far more meaning than nigger. I won’t use it in conversation, and I imagine that’s what Bryan intended. Now if someone(usually a news commentator) uses the phrase N-word, I’m not likely to say the word nigger instead if I’m asked to repeat what they just said.
-Lil
The OP is not about renaming Conrad’s work as the N-word of the ‘Narcissus’, but in discussing the term as a racial slur. I found this second paragraph of your comment particularly interesting. What about my preference for the term “N-word” means I am unwilling to have an “air-clearing discussion” and what is it exactly about race relations that requires such a discussion?
What context requires a thorough discussion of the N-word in order for individuals and our society to be able to get over our current societal issues with race? I don’t think there is one at all just to give you my opinion. I also think that somebody who spends a shitload of time worring about N-word versus nigger instead of the discussion at large is probably not going to progress our understanding of racism very far at all.
I tend not to use certain words because they seem to represent hatefulness. That said I think it’s easy to asign too much power to words and there’s a difference between choosing not to use them and being afraid of them or outraged at their every utterence. They are only wordsw after all. I learned some time ago to disconnect myself from the language others use toward me. They only reveal something about themselves. Sometimes the word faggot will be used as an insult but since there’s nothing the least bit insulting about being refered to as a homosexual it’s really not an insult at all and only reveals the ignorence and small minded attitude of the user. Lacking violence it only invokes pity from me. There’s no need for outrage if you have no reason to value that person’s opinion.
When it comes to giving words too much power I agree with Lenny Bruce.
Close your eyes so you can’t see it and pretend real hard it doesn’t exist – that way it can’t hurt you. Get everybody else to close their eyes too, and the problem is gone.
You burn a few books, you erase a bit of history, change a few words here and there, and the world is a perfect place.
I don’t understand why people are making it so difficult.
I sometimes say the whole word and sometimes say “the N-word.” It depends on what kind of tone and context I’m using. When I use the circumlocution, it’s not because I’m worried that people will think I’m a racist. That’s a load of crap. It’s just that it’s a word with a lot of shock value, and sometimes it’s gratuitous or unnecessary in certain contexts. It’s same as how I don’t have a problem saying “fuck” most of the time, but if I’m having dinner with my in-laws, I might talk about Joe Biden “dropping an F-bomb” instead of saying the word fuck. It’s not more adult, or more honest or more frank to say the entire word, “nigger” at all times. Sometimes it’s just tacky. If it’s really that important to you to say the whole word, then, by all means, knock yourself out. I really don’t care. I don’t get the supercilious condescension for those who don’t enjoy saying it, or who sometimes feel that it’s not appropriate for all contexts, though.
Those different types of speech (you switch between depending on the current social setting) are called linguistic registers
We do this all the time without a second thought. “Nigger” just isn’t in most people’s formal register; so we use “N-word” when we switch in formal settlings…
Quoth Napier:
Only in the sense that any reference to the word is using it. The sentence “I avoid using the word.” is the same as the sentence “I avoid using ‘nigger’.”. Both have the same intended meaning and the same perceived meaning, and after all what language is is just a way of transmitting meaning. For the same reason, if someone said “I was walking down the street and saw three N-words coming the other way, so I crossed the street so I wouldn’t have to get too close to them, because you know how they are”, substituting “N-word” for “nigger” didn’t really make the sentence any less racist.
No, “I avoid saying the f-word” is not the same as “I avoid saying ‘fuck.’” The circumlocution actually does provide a linguistic and social buffer. That’s why people do it.
Your hypotheical anecdote is still offensive not because the circumlocution is really equivalent, but because it’s being used disingenuously.
Creepy, isn’t it? I’ve seen that on this board, where a bunch of white people will jump on an excuse to start throwing “nigger” around, HA HA HA. One of the Mel Gibson threads devolved that way until it felt more like some people just really, really want to say nigger in public and are looking for reasons to.
Call it creepy if you like. Assume they are all white people which is probable. but as far as I’m concerned, if your observation is correct it tells me two things.
You believe that white people just want to use that word. You have no scientific evidence therefore you rely on your own inclinations and projecting that on others. If its creepy, you are creepy. Count me in as one who refrains but is so inclined to challenge social mores. I don’t think its creepy. I think it is simply natural.
If true, I believe it is motivated (in a majority of cases) by the inclination to challenge social taboos. This is not without precedence. Many here, certainly my generation feel a certain liberation by using the pejoratives cunt, fuck, motherfucker, bitch, …liberally.
I got a telemarketing call at work once. The person wanted me to supply them with the serial number from the copier or some such thing and I said, “This is some sort of scam.”
“You’re a scam!” she yelled, then hung up.
What would be the goal in challenging the social taboo against calling black people “niggers?” This is a taboo that should be challenged why?
I would have thought that you of all people would have understood my point.
I would never, or be inclined to call any black person a nigger unless it was clear to the object that I was being friendly and assuming liberties that only a longstanding friend could legitimately assume. I do challenge the social taboo in so far that it is limited to cases where no offence is clearly indicated.
I don’t believe a taboo exists if it’s clear that no offense is intended. There is no significant social taboo that I’m aware of in saying the word to talk about it or to quote someone else. Whatever offense that may generate is still less than the taboo in saying the word “fuck” to talk about it or quote someone else.
Under FCC standards, it’s not forbidden to say the word “nigger” under any circumstances or in any context. Racial epithets, even when intended purely as racial epithets, are legal on public airwaves. The word “fuck” is NEVER legal, even when quoting someone else or discussing the word as a word.
Words have power. Or, I should say, words have the power that we ascribe to them. Nigger is one of three words that as part of my enculturation I was taught were taboo to utter. I think a lot of people are shy about using it no matter the context because it is such a powerful word.
That said, if I am giving an academic presentation and I am quoting someone I would not say Senator Tillman of Arkansas said “Those ‘n-words’ are not capable of understand and living under normal Anglo-Saxon laws.” I would quote him directly.
Odesio
Has anyone ever called you a racist ? You have to be very very clear to avoid social condemnation
That is not my experience on this board.
FCC standards do not represent average present American social mores. Look at the success of cable televion. Consider how freely we use the word fuck around here amongst educated people in the higher tiers of our society.
Has anyone ever called you a racist ? You have to be very very clear to avoid social condemnation
[/quote]
Then be very clear. It’s not hard.
Then your experience is different than mine. Can you cite some examples of people being offended or warned for using the word “nigger” in a manner which is clearly not intended as an epithet?
[qote]
FCC standards do not represent average present American social mores. Look at the success of cable televison. Consider how freely we use the word fuck around here amongst educated people in the higher tiers of our society.
[/QUOTE]
The FCC standards ostensibly are based on public standards, and I still maintain that the use of the word “fuck” is still more socially explosive, regardless of intent, than when the word “nigger” is used (clearly and unambiguously) in an academic manner.
If you want a response, please clean up the previous post. Its giving me a headache
I won’t use the word nigger because there are people who get offended by the word even if they hear it in a racially neutral context. Some black people just don’t want to hear white people say the word.
It’s not juvenile to say “n-word” in public. It’s actually the adult thing to do because you are avoiding action that you know might offend someone.
We have all kinds of bullshit social conventions because we don’t want to offend people who are too quick to judge. Why do we say hello to people? Why do we wear suits in a courtroom? It’s all nonsense but people do it because it would be too much trouble to deal with people’s snap judgments if they didn’t.