Pretty much.

[dwer.livejournal.com]

Ill Doctrine: The Last Word on That Word from ANIMALNewYork.com on Vimeo.

There's no difference between african american's owning this word and gay people owning "queer" (except that the 'nuh' word holds far more reactive cache, to the point where I am nearly physically unable to type the 'nuh' word, but am quite fine typing out 'queer').

As a white, waspy-lookin' american male, it's rare that I'm exposed to bigotry towards myself; it's my hidden jewish background that people miss, so when one of the guys at work asks me if I was able to "jew down" the guy who sold me my scooter, he's not acting towards me with bigotry because he doesn't know I'm jewish. But it's maybe the closest I can come to experiencing what most african americans go through on a regular basis in this country.

Comments

[chessdev.livejournal.com]

I like his videos... always interesting

[rimpala.livejournal.com]

Pretty simple yes?

[dwer.livejournal.com]

you would think, but it always ends up being about the white dudes.

[policraticus.livejournal.com]

[new-wave-witch.livejournal.com]

Holy shit. One of my friends has been plagiarizing this entire bit for months! I had no idea.

Still think the point is both absent and dumb. That is, I don't know if Louie's being serious here, but my friend totally was LOL.

[gunslnger.livejournal.com]

Whereas the Israeli guy I work with tells us all the time about how he Jews people down, etc.

[dwer.livejournal.com]

thank you for proving the point. Well done!

[yes-justice.livejournal.com]

Whereas the Israeli guy I work with tells us all the time about how he Jews people down, etc.

So, are we supposed to take that as a standard for communication? I mean, one could replace "negotiate" with "jew down" if that would communicate effectively to the audience, but why risk insulting people who don't appreciate the connotation?

From an effective communication perspective, the only reason to risk insulting them by using any loaded term is that you want to offend them in the first place.

Words have meaning. Choose the ones that communicate what you want to communicate.

[404.livejournal.com]

This reminds me of this song:


People are more interested in listening for what they want to hear and the PC police is always on the prowl to tar and pillar someone who dares utter something that is remotely controversial in their book.

[dwer.livejournal.com]

This whole post is unfolding exactly as I imagined it would.

Are you saying that the "n" word is only "remotely controversial"?

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

Especially when that remotely controversial statement is grounded in historical fact. The PC police comes out the woodwork in a hurry then.

[fornikate.livejournal.com]

don't taint her beauty with your crap.

[rowsdowerisms.livejournal.com]

For someone who is so concerned with there being no rules for language, you seem pretty hooked on traditional sentence structure and conventional definition.

[cheezyfish.livejournal.com]

I think the guy was referring to social rules and how words relate to them. Overall though, I think his argument was confusing and poorly thought out. His "honey" example was an odd choice, as the "awkward" reaction is only awkward because the word and actions mean the same thing coming from the boyfriend or the stranger. The difference is, the intimacy involved is misplaced coming from the stranger, making it awkward. When you consider the word "nigger," you would essentially have to change the meaning of the word in order for the use to be acceptable and the meaning of words don't change based upon the color of the person's skin who utters said words.

[rimpala.livejournal.com]

Because "Nigger eye for the White Guy" would generate a Vanilla Ice each episode and would therefore fail miserably

[dwer.livejournal.com]

I'm glad that you were able to find something to write about when you were unsure of the point of the post, thus including not only your confusion over someone else's motivation, but also your disagreement.

[lafinjack.livejournal.com]

Not sure what the point of this post is...

What's the point of anything?

[yes-justice.livejournal.com]

This:

"we ought not to be so concerned with what people say "

Seems to contradict this:

"to be judged as a bigot or a racist then that is the consequence of using language which others might not approve"

The concern is the judging. Without that concern, there is no consequence. I agree there should be no rules, but there are realities - consequences - and that can be a good thing.


I can still say nearly whatever I want with impunity in the U.S. And so can you.

Agreed. Effective communication means choosing words. Nigger is a word that clouds effective communication in my experience. It means different things to different people and its a word that is very difficult to control how it would be perceived. I never have an occasion to use it. I don't have any idea that nigger would effectively communicate.

[rimpala.livejournal.com]

You want to know a word that makes me uncomfortable?

Nigiri

You know, like the type of sushi that you can order at most Japanese restaurants? The word is basically the "n-word" with "iri" attached to the end. If you want to order it sometimes you have to say it to specify it.

[dexeron.livejournal.com]

This video is so perfect. I've only seen a couple of his vids, but I'm going to have to check out more.

[dwer.livejournal.com]

his video on the whole "HOW DARE A WOMAN CALL GAMERS SEXIST" thing is flippin brilliant.

[russj.livejournal.com]

FAIL.

When you start making broad generalizations about ANY 'group' of people, you are merely exhibiting your own prejudice.
When you stereotype a racial group, it is racism.

[dwer.livejournal.com]

I don't see any stereotyping going on, so...

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

I remember being puzzled when I first heard the term "jew down." It was probably my first introduction to the quagmire of antisemitism.

Back in the day, African American men referred to one another as "my man." It was a way of reinforcing an attitude of humanity and respect for one another. When I hear guys calling one another "my nigga," it seems like a step backward. I understand that it is a term of endearment, but it simply does not come across that way to people outside of the Ebonics discourse community.

[dwer.livejournal.com]

It doesn't matter how it comes across to you.

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

If black people find it empowering to reclaim the word, more power to them. As a white guy descended from Confederate veterans I am not the guy who'd ever use it, and am fortunate not to be the kind of guy that's proud to say such things. Sez the Coonass Cracker from the Sticks.

[yes-justice.livejournal.com]

I don't run across occasions where I think it would communicate anything I would want to communicate.