Paula Deen uses the N-Word - gets sued - right or worng?

Originally posted by bigfatfurrytexan
reply to post by luciddream

 

Then like i have said: save the same condemnation for Kanya West while he was singing about that gold digger. Or any other hip hop star.

Wrong is wrong.. You don't level the playing field by allowing additional wrongs. You level it by removing the wrongs. That is what is just. That is making it right.

I cannot be bothered with an old white woman saying a word, when there is an entire public face of a culture that make million$ off that very same word.

Well said.

Originally posted by luciddream
Lets say publicize the word, its okay for everyone to use it... you think kids won't pick on black kids.

"hey look a Ni**ger has a book!, better hope that Ni**er cant read!""

Sanctioned racism.

Oh bullcrap! That is the most condescending, ridiculous thing in this thread. You're actually pushing your own racial biases against black people onto everyone else and come off looking like you want the word banned because *you* have a problem keeping it to yourself. In reality the insult in the above scenario isn't the slur, it's the steriotype. What the hell does banning a slur do to kill the steriotype?

At this moment there is a Nigerian man sitting outside my office. He works another position in my department. I have known him for awhile now (we met before he or I worked here, while I was working in Dallas).

I asked him what he thought about this topic. He said, "I don't get it. How do you heal when you never let it go?" He said he is typically not bothered by racism in the US. When anyone hears his accent, he feels like he is seen as "the other kind of black guy" and is just left alone.

I thought that was interesting.

reply to post by burdman30ott6


You can't deny that would not happen, because people are people, they will always try to categorize.

"he is different, he must be either inferior or superior to me"


reply to post by bigfatfurrytexan

"I don't get it. How do you heal when you never let it go?"

Maybe he meant, why keep bring it up?.. did you tell him people want to call black people ni**ers and you agree with that?

reply to post by luciddream


...and you can't claim that it has anything to do with words used rather than personal perceptions, biases, and stereotypes. As is the case with Western medicine, the entire conept of Western censorship focuses on masking the symptoms rather than treating the underlying disease. Banning words is about as effective at combating racism as popping a Xanax is at combating PTSD. You're not curing anything, you're just obfuscating the disorder and allowing it to fester and grow even worse while pretending you've found a panacea.

reply to post by luciddream


No, he means the same thing. He sees nationality more than color, so feels quite separate from the Kanye West's of the US. He thinks that "oppression" is sold to black American's wrongfully as a red herring, and that he doesn't allow prejudice to hold him back.

This gentleman is pretty outstanding. Its why I dragged him out here in the desert to help, away from where he was working in Houston. If i had a spot for his wife, she would be hired too. As it stands, i have to wait for attrition to happen first.

Originally posted by luciddream
reply to post by burdman30ott6

 

You can't deny that would not happen, because people are people, they will always try to categorize.

"he is different, he must be either inferior or superior to me"

And knowing this, you choose to wage war on vernacular, not tangible behavior?

Am I missing something here? So you remove one word. Another one pops up in its place. That is your solution? Cut off the one tumor and let the cancer still choke the macro organism?

reply to post by luciddream

We should be able to call a mentally retarded child a f**king retarded in front of ITS mother. right?

Heck we can, but why should we? And if there is a taboo against that, would that be bad?

You seem intent on equating the right to speak freely with the right to purposely try and upset people. That is not what we are talking about.

Paula Deen never called anyone the word in her business... she never denied anyone equal rights. She never acted in a racist manner, so far as anyone knows. She has a disgruntled ex-employee that claims sexual harassment. That will be decided in a court of law. Fine. If she loses, she pays some big bucks and gets her hand slapped so maybe she won't do it again.

She then loses two contracts, not for sexual harassment, not for allegations of sexual harassment, but because, in an affidavit under oath, she was asked if she had ever said a word. She replied honestly that she had in the past.

Because of her honesty and some twisted idea that a word is more damaging than actions, she loses.

The argument here is not whether someone should be able to get in a black man's face and insult them... it's not whether we should be able to call a retarded child retarded in front of its mother... it's over whether utterance of a word, even in private, should be grounds for destroying an entire career.

No one here is advocating obnoxious behavior... only your posts contain reference to being obnoxious. We just don't want to be condemned for uttering a couple of syllables that others don't want us to utter. If you want to call that being superior, then you can... but I think you have a very warped idea of superiority. Superiority is not demanding that others cannot control your own affairs. That's equality and freedom.

TheRedneck

reply to post by TheRedneck


Its all about the mob rule mentality. The rights of the individual get trampled because a critical mass of opinion is reached. Since our Republic is now a Democracy, the rest of the nation has to follow the suit of what is typically the Northeast US.

Same thing that started the prior civil war: culture clashes and regional interests in the NE being pushed onto the rest of the country. Whether it was right or wrong

reply to post by Cornczech


I personally think a black guy calling a white person cracker is kinda ironic. Is the black guy reminding them they were their masters? i'll never know.

How do those racial slurs affect you? is it similar to calling a middle eastern a rag-head or does it remind of the oppression you(or your ancestors) had to endure?

reply to post by TheRedneck


i agree with you, but why so adamant on using the word? wont the whole thing just disappear when less people talk about it.

Lets say we allow the word to be used, Obviously the usage of the word would increase. The new generation of the children who are brought up without a lot of racism(i hope) will want to know why the black people are being called a name.. or the black kid, who knows nothing about slavery or the history will build a rebellious complex.


Constant reminder will just breed a different hatred.

The the cycle continues.

reply to post by bigfatfurrytexan

That's what bothers me... the last Civil War was bloody and horrible in the extreme. I don't think most people today realize that; maybe they think it was just a few guys shooting at each other with muskets.

You posted a little ways back about the word not being part of your culture, and I realized I never did hear it in Texas. But I have been told that west of Texas, it's not the blacks that are oppressed; it's the Indians. That totally shocked me when I heard it because around here Indian heritage is considered a badge of honor.

Just more evidence it depends on where you are.

TheRedneck

reply to post by luciddream

i agree with you, but why so adamant on using the word? wont the whole thing just disappear when less people talk about it.

I'm not adamant about using the word. I stated earlier I try not to use it, because I realized at one point that some people found it offensive. I certainly wouldn't walk around town yelling it at every black person I saw... that would be contrary to everything I believe. I am adamant about not being demonized if it slips. I am adamant about not being demonized over something that those demonizing me can't even understand. I am adamant about being judged by my actions, not by my culture.

And no, it won't disappear. Do you really think the true racists among us are just gonna shrug their shoulders and go "well, we lost, so we can't say that any more"? No. They'll use that restriction to recruit more followers and show how they are the true oppressed now... and the struggle will continue.

Did you not read my post about the back-and-forth between Catholic and Protestant in England? How many lives were lost on both sides because the power never was equal... it always moved back and forth.

Yesterday, the blacks were oppressed. Today the whites get oppressed to get even. Tomorrow the blacks are oppressed again. Then the whites are oppressed again. Then the blacks are oppressed again. On, and on, and on... how long do you want this hatred to continue?

You can't legislate thought.

TheRedneck

reply to post by TheRedneck


Completely agree.

Do you think this won't backfire? allowing anyone to use? what determines just a slip or full blown hatred? how would you differentiate it?

reply to post by luciddream

You don't differentiate it.

Do you know how many times I get slurred? Here's a hint: A LOT! My response is if it is just words, let it slide. Words can't hurt me. I save my ire for those who actually do try and hurt me.

I said before I actually use "redneck" as my name... yell it out in a crowd and I'll turn around and ask what you want. Now imagine if someone yelled the n-word in a crowd and fifty guys turned around and went "Yeah?"

The guy who yelled it would mess himself. Problem solved.

TheRedneck

Was a good discussion everyone!

I picked the side that had the least voice in this thread.

see ya'll around!

I don't particularly like her, I think she is crude and has a foul mouth, I don't like her folksy accent, but i believe this is a witch hunt.

I think they are singling her out because she is a southern white woman.

Are they going to dig up everything questionable she ever said since she was born?

Once someone asks for forgiveness, forgive, otherwise F them all.

Originally posted by bigfatfurrytexan
At this moment there is a Nigerian man sitting outside my office. He works another position in my department. I have known him for awhile now (we met before he or I worked here, while I was working in Dallas).

I asked him what he thought about this topic. He said, "I don't get it. How do you heal when you never let it go?" He said he is typically not bothered by racism in the US. When anyone hears his accent, he feels like he is seen as "the other kind of black guy" and is just left alone.

I thought that was interesting.

He said, "I don't get it. How do you heal when you never let it go?"

Not letting go has its perks.