Aside from the speech and context isssues I will say that it couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy. My family owned 50+ Papa John’s pizzas and John Schnatter was a raging assholes to deal with.

The issue is not the person who uses a slur, but the person who allows himself to be upset about it.

When I moved to a multi-cultural society and encountered Black kids for the very first time, I was truly amazed. They had coined many words with which to disparage White kids. One day, a Black kid my same age decided to engage me, and he called me a whole list of "names" I had never even heard before. I could tell by his body language and the tone of his voice that these words were supposed to offend me, but, honestly, I was really amused. I didn't want to laugh in his face, but I couldn't help myself. The more amused I became, the more enraged he became. It was obvious to me he really suffered from an inferiority complex.

A few days later, that same Black kid was giving another White kid a hard time until the White kid said, "Just go away you fucking nigger!" OMG! This infuriated the poor Black kid to a degree I have not seen many times in my life.

Here's what I took away from those two incidents: The other White kid and I really didn't give any credibility to the Black kid's opinions. I was actually amused at his feeble attempts to insult me, and the other White kid was in a hurry to make it to his next class and just wanted to brush him off like a pesky housefly. But, the poor Black kid was overly concerned with what we thought of him, and actually allowed us to control him and his entire demeanor merely by using a word he deemed unacceptable. He seemed extremely weak and vulnerable as a result.

"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me" is the slogan I was raised with. I took it to mean that I should only go to the trouble of defending myself against "sticks and stones" - threats against my person that could result in injury or death. This philosophy is no longer being taught - even by White folks. Now we have people in positions of leadership stating that "words hurt people." It's preposterous, but there it is.

There are many words I won't say because it's not who I am.

I always preferred asshat fucktard.... and its color blind!

quote:

Originally posted by techguy:

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:
You absolutely don't have to stop using it. Use it everywhere you go, sprinkle it into everyday conversations whenever possible. Most importantly make sure you use it when in black communities. I'm sure you will be making friends right and left. Plus it should really advance you in your career.

Hey the fucking point I’m trying to make is if you want to condemn the use of the word condemn it. Don’t tell me I can’t use it but then you and your buddy use it freely with no recourse.

Either the word is bad. Or its not. You just can't have it both ways, and be outraged when someone else uses it. If the word is offensive, then it is offensive. And it isn't the difference between using calling a buddy an SOB and calling a stranger a SOB. No one ever gets in hot water for using SOB in context of explaining something. There is no outrage when Officer Smith writes in a report that the suspect "called me a SOB". They don't ask you on a poly about using the phrase SOB or other pet names. They do on racial slurs.

That is the point being made by Techguy, I do believe. Either a word is offensive, or it isn't. Having Sam Jackson wax poetic about racial injustice is about like Otis the town drunk lecture on the sins of alcohol.

quote:

Originally posted by jljones:

quote:

Originally posted by techguy:

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:
You absolutely don't have to stop using it. Use it everywhere you go, sprinkle it into everyday conversations whenever possible. Most importantly make sure you use it when in black communities. I'm sure you will be making friends right and left. Plus it should really advance you in your career.

Hey the fucking point I’m trying to make is if you want to condemn the use of the word condemn it. Don’t tell me I can’t use it but then you and your buddy use it freely with no recourse.

Either the word is bad. Or its not. You just can't have it both ways.

That is the point being made by Techguy, I do believe.

He's really bad at making it. He said

quote:

Why do we have to stop using the n word?

I don't use the word, I have no desire to and I hope we do stop using it. It reads like he's upset that it's not acceptable to use. A better way to say it would have been "why is anyone still using this word in this day and age, regardless of one's melanin content."

Either way I don't accept that premise. Jhe said it perfectly. It's all about context and it's perfectly acceptable for them to use it if they wish with another adult that doesn't care or embraces the word.

quote:

Surely you understand context.

If your best buddy says, "How are you, you SOB?" you aren't offended.

If a stranger calls you an SOB, it can be very different.

It is like that. I understand it rankles, but understanding that context and the person using any speech can matter isn't news."

I'd prefer no one use the word, but I'm not losing sleep over what consenting adults choose to say to each other. White people can use the word in the right situation with friends, even using it as a term of endearment. By far the vast majority of times when white people use the word it is in a disparaging way.

All about context.

There are way better words to use:

quote:

Originally posted by Dusty78:
Aside from the speech and context isssues I will say that it couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy. My family owned 50+ Papa John’s pizzas and John Schnatter was a raging assholes to deal with.

Then why did they buy 50 stores? PJ does have rigid rules for their franchises and one that rankles many is being forced to buy every item from the PJ commissary, even when it could be bought locally cheaper. I know several PJ franchise owners and they are all successful by following the program.

quote:

Originally posted by jljones:

quote:

Originally posted by techguy:

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:
You absolutely don't have to stop using it. Use it everywhere you go, sprinkle it into everyday conversations whenever possible. Most importantly make sure you use it when in black communities. I'm sure you will be making friends right and left. Plus it should really advance you in your career.

Hey the fucking point I’m trying to make is if you want to condemn the use of the word condemn it. Don’t tell me I can’t use it but then you and your buddy use it freely with no recourse.

Either the word is bad. Or its not. You just can't have it both ways, and be outraged when someone else uses it. If the word is offensive, then it is offensive. And it isn't the difference between using calling a buddy an SOB and calling a stranger a SOB. No one ever gets in hot water for using SOB in context of explaining something. There is no outrage when Officer Smith writes in a report that the suspect "called me a SOB". They don't ask you on a poly about using the phrase SOB or other pet names. They do on racial slurs.

That is the point being made by Techguy, I do believe. Either a word is offensive, or it isn't. Having Sam Jackson wax poetic about racial injustice is about like Otis the town drunk lecture on the sins of alcohol.

Yes Sir, that’s the point I’m trying to make.

A word, like any other word, only has the power that we give it. A word is only insulting and offensive to the degree we let ourselves assign it.

Because I'm not black, I can't say that I understand all the emotions and nuances one might feel. But it's the way I look at words.

I don't care what anyone might call me. Most of the time, it's said by people I don't care about and therefore have complete disregard for what they are saying.

Now, throw a stone at me and you'll get my attention.

The answer is they want to own the word. That means they want to limit your freedom to use the word without consequence. In a sense they want to impose on you what was imposed on blacks in history. It is a selective collective condemnation philosophy. Whites owned slaves. You are white. You are guilty. You must suffer. Ignore the others who were complicit. Remember, if collective condemnation is allowed to be established and suffuse our culture, it will lead to eventual genocide. The average myopic Leftist is unaware of that.

I've heard reasoning to designed to justify your attenuated freedom of speech while concealing the true reason you cannot use the word without consequence. That reason was that a man calls his wife 'Honey', you can call her 'Honey' but expect to be planked. That logic is not sound though since it is more like, a man calls his wife 'Honey' and so does everyone else that has the same skin color as hubby. You are white so when you call her 'Honey', you get planked. It is still racist. If it is okay to be racist in one case and with one race, it is morally okay to be racist in reciprocity. It is either cool or not. Moral relativism is a Leftist tool of oppression and inequality.

I don't use the word out of respect for black people like Dr. Thomas Sowell, Walter Williams, Jesse Lee Peterson, The Owens lady (I forget her first name...), those members here who are black and the fact that my great grand mother would say it way back in the day and I knew it was ugly even though I didn't know what it meant. I don't want to use the word, but I don't like some hypocrite telling me he'll plank me if I do...

quote:

Originally posted by techguy:
I don’t use it but if it’s so goddam offensive why is the black community not calling out and condemning rap music?

Makes no sense to you?

Remember this is also the same community who hate the cops so much they would rather live in fear with gangs ruling their neighborhoods than help the police with investigations...

It's a black thing. You racist crackers wouldn't understand.

Black privilege

Welcome to the Grievance Industry{tm}, where we make money by being offended. Please stand by as our next reason to be offended is being concocted.

I guess it's only a matter of time before all copies of "Blazing Saddles" will have to be destroyed. If we're lucky, maybe the thought police will just have us register them.

quote:

Originally posted by NK402:
I guess it's only a matter of time before all copies of "Blazing Saddles" will have to be destroyed. If we're lucky, maybe the thought police will just have us register them.

And dont forget to burn all copies of "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn"

Just not a fight worth using. If part of the black population wants to keep using it and in so doing, denigrate themselves, so be it.

I think there is a deeper point about all this:
Why should anyone get upset about any word ?

I'm of Irish-American heritage. I can't think of any word, no matter how disparaging, that would really be "offensive" to me. It might make me laugh, and it might signal to me that your are a hostile idiot, but it certainly wouldn't really "offend" me.

My wife is Chinese. I know lots of Chinese people. A guarantee you that none of them is really offended by being called "Oriental" and they would all just laugh at your ignorance if you called them a "Chink".

Black people demonstrate every day that they are REALLY not offended by the N word. It is all just a power play by the Liberal Left and an excuse to claim a self-congratulatory moral high ground and intimidate others.


Also, if you really do offend an Irishman, we'll just keek yar fooging arse and laugh about it!