# University benefactor and board chairman uses N-word **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 17, 2007, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/university-benefactor-and-board-chairman-uses-n-word/412112 "2007-07-17T11:25:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2007, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/university-benefactor-and-board-chairman-uses-n-word/412112/21 "2007-07-17T16:07:37Z")
Papitto responsed to Ms Roberts’ accusation by stating: “Bitch better chillax and stop player hating. That ho keep snitching she gonna end up all murk.” ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2007, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/university-benefactor-and-board-chairman-uses-n-word/412112/22 "2007-07-17T16:17:55Z")
[QUOTE=Contrapuntal] Well now that would just suck. I demand satisfaction! In every way possible. [/QUOTE] How may orifices you got? ---
**Author:** ![Spit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/76d3ee/32.png) [@Spit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spit)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2007, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/university-benefactor-and-board-chairman-uses-n-word/412112/23 "2007-07-17T16:48:11Z")
“I apologized for that,” Ralph Papitto said in an interview on WPRO-AM. “What else can I do? Kill myself?” Well…Yeah. I’m pretty sure that is the only recourse a white male has after saying that. ---
**Author:** ![LilyoftheValley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/54ee81/32.png) [@LilyoftheValley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LilyoftheValley)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2007, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/university-benefactor-and-board-chairman-uses-n-word/412112/24 "2007-07-17T16:52:27Z")
Why not to name things after living people, reason #37. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2007, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/university-benefactor-and-board-chairman-uses-n-word/412112/25 "2007-07-17T16:57:53Z")
[QUOTE=Spit] “I apologized for that,” Ralph Papitto said in an interview on WPRO-AM. “What else can I do? Kill myself?” Well…Yeah. I’m pretty sure that is the only recourse a white male has after saying that. [/QUOTE] Well, the other choice would be to offer up an insincere-sounding apology laden with lame excuses, then immediately start acting defensive. Oh, wait. ---
**Author:** ![DudleyGarrett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d9b06d/32.png) [@DudleyGarrett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DudleyGarrett)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2007, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/university-benefactor-and-board-chairman-uses-n-word/412112/26 "2007-07-17T17:00:39Z")
[QUOTE=OneCentStamp] Well, the other choice would be to offer up an insincere-sounding apology laden with lame excuses, then immediately start acting defensive. Oh, wait. [/QUOTE] The opposite didn’t work for Imus, and all he said was “nappy-headed ho.” Fact is, there are words white males absolutely, without a doubt, cannot use publicly. Every other combination of race and gender? Well, we tend to look the other way and/or make excuses as to why it’s OK they used them. It’s all bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2007, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/university-benefactor-and-board-chairman-uses-n-word/412112/27 "2007-07-17T17:15:12Z")
[QUOTE=DudleyGarrett] Fact is, there are words white males absolutely, without a doubt, cannot use publicly. Every other combination of race and gender? Well, we tend to look the other way and/or make excuses as to why it’s OK they used them. It’s all bullshit. [/QUOTE] I don’t see how a white female would have gotten off any easier for using this particular word, nor an Asian or Hispanic man. And to hell with “publicly” - I would have told the guy to STFU for using it in my presence alone. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2007, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/university-benefactor-and-board-chairman-uses-n-word/412112/28 "2007-07-17T17:22:23Z")
[QUOTE=DudleyGarrett] The opposite didn’t work for Imus, and all he said was “nappy-headed ho.” [/quote] Imus apologized to anyone and everyone who would listen, including people who just wanted him to shut the fuck up. He didn’t start refusing to apologize and acting defensive until it was clear nobody cared about his apology or the “I’m a good person” stuff. > [@](#): > > It’s all bullshit. Doesn’t bother me in the least. Maybe because I’m smart enough not to call people niggers and hos in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![DudleyGarrett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d9b06d/32.png) [@DudleyGarrett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DudleyGarrett)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2007, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/university-benefactor-and-board-chairman-uses-n-word/412112/29 "2007-07-17T17:25:27Z")
[QUOTE=Marley23] Imus apologized to anyone and everyone who would listen, including people who just wanted him to shut the fuck up. He didn’t start refusing to apologize and acting defensive until it was clear nobody cared about his apology or the “I’m a good person” stuff. [/quote] See where I said, “The opposite” > [@](#): > > Doesn’t bother me in the least. Maybe because I’m smart enough not to call people niggers and hos in the first place. What is this implication? I don’t want to make assumptions. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2007, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/university-benefactor-and-board-chairman-uses-n-word/412112/30 "2007-07-17T17:27:34Z")
[QUOTE=DudleyGarrett] See where I said, “The opposite” [/quote] Got it. That should’ve been obvious… > [@](#): > > What is this implication? I don’t want to make assumptions. I thought you were saying “it’s bullshit that white guys get victimized by this system.” ---
**Author:** ![DudleyGarrett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d9b06d/32.png) [@DudleyGarrett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DudleyGarrett)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2007, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/university-benefactor-and-board-chairman-uses-n-word/412112/31 "2007-07-17T17:29:18Z")
[QUOTE=Marley23] Got it. That should’ve been obvious… I thought you were saying “it’s bullshit that white guys get victimized by this system.” [/QUOTE] No, what I was saying is that people, of any color or gender, shouldn’t get free passes for saying crude things, not that white guys should be able to say them. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2007, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/university-benefactor-and-board-chairman-uses-n-word/412112/32 "2007-07-17T17:30:37Z")
[QUOTE=DudleyGarrett] No, what I was saying is that people, of any color or gender, shouldn’t get free passes for saying crude things, not that white guys should be able to say them. [/QUOTE] Ok, I agree- but I don’t see the excuses cropping up when other people say these kinds of things, though. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2007, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/university-benefactor-and-board-chairman-uses-n-word/412112/33 "2007-07-17T17:32:10Z")
Maybe he could claim to be Viet Cong. ---
**Author:** ![DudleyGarrett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d9b06d/32.png) [@DudleyGarrett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DudleyGarrett)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2007, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/university-benefactor-and-board-chairman-uses-n-word/412112/34 "2007-07-17T17:32:48Z")
[QUOTE=Marley23] Ok, I agree- but I don’t see the excuses cropping up when other people say these kinds of things, though. [/QUOTE] Really? So it’s not publicly OK for blacks to call a black person a “nigger” or a white person a “cracker?” I actually heard “cracker” used on network TV. I don’t recall when or what I was watching, but I heard it, and thought to myself – “What the hell?” ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2007, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/university-benefactor-and-board-chairman-uses-n-word/412112/35 "2007-07-17T17:37:19Z")
[QUOTE=Jackmannii] _Roger Williams_ University? I thought he was a country singer. [/QUOTE] No, he was the founder of the colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. Interesting fellow - he had the wacky idea of trading honestly with the Native American population, instead of killing them and taking their stuff. Only reason I know that is I went to school in Rhode Island - Roger Williams University, actually, Class of 2006. And, for what it’s worth, the vast, overwhelming majority of us are not racist jerks like Papitto. RWU really is a good school - I hate seeing it get publicity for nonsense like this. I’d welcome any questions you guys have about the place, by the way. I doubt it’s worth starting an “Ask the RWU Alum” thread, but I’d be glad to answer them here. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2007, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/university-benefactor-and-board-chairman-uses-n-word/412112/36 "2007-07-17T17:37:53Z")
[QUOTE=DudleyGarrett] Really? So it’s not publicly OK for blacks to call a black person a “nigger” or a white person a “cracker?” I actually heard “cracker” used on network TV. I don’t recall when or what I was watching, but I heard it, and thought to myself – “What the hell?” [/QUOTE] FTR, I think a black person (or any person, but who else would say it) who calls a white person a cracker should be dealt with similarly. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2007, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/university-benefactor-and-board-chairman-uses-n-word/412112/37 "2007-07-17T17:45:42Z")
[QUOTE=DudleyGarrett] I actually heard “cracker” used on network TV. I don’t recall when or what I was watching, but I heard it, and thought to myself – “What the hell?” [/QUOTE] I heard it too, and was shocked. Fuckin’ Keebler elf is a straight-up bigot, man. ---
**Author:** ![DudleyGarrett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d9b06d/32.png) [@DudleyGarrett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DudleyGarrett)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2007, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/university-benefactor-and-board-chairman-uses-n-word/412112/38 "2007-07-17T17:50:41Z")
[QUOTE=Vinyl Turnip] I heard it too, and was shocked. Fuckin’ Keebler elf is a straight-up bigot, man. [/QUOTE] I know what it was – it was on [Last Comic Standing](http://www.nbc.com/Last_Comic_Standing/). Big black guy (don’t remember his name) was doing his stand-up. ---
**Author:** ![athelas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@athelas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/athelas)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2007, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/university-benefactor-and-board-chairman-uses-n-word/412112/39 "2007-07-17T17:56:19Z")
Of course, any protests and demands for apologies would be shut down by the [usual suspects](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=428484) as racist. ---
**Author:** ![Li\_l\_Pluck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ee59a6/32.png) [@Li\_l\_Pluck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Li_l_Pluck)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2007, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/university-benefactor-and-board-chairman-uses-n-word/412112/40 "2007-07-17T17:59:16Z")
[QUOTE=DudleyGarrett] Really? So it’s not publicly OK for blacks to call a black person a “nigger” or a white person a “cracker?” [/QUOTE] Really? No, it isn’t. And there are lots of people–Black folks, even!–who’d tell you the same thing. Or have you not been around enough to already know this? Unless this was just a rhetorical question, and I’ve totally missed your intent, in which case I’ll apologize. [QUOTE=DudleyGarrett] I actually heard “cracker” used on network TV. I don’t recall when or what I was watching, but I heard it, and thought to myself – “What the hell?” [/QUOTE] Well, of course I’d have to hear the context, but, generally, as with “nigger,” I’d agree that this may very well be :eek: -worthy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/university-benefactor-and-board-chairman-uses-n-word/412112.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/university-benefactor-and-board-chairman-uses-n-word/412112.md?page=3)