Usage Of Racial Slurs (WAS Editing literature to conform to current custom)

[cindysphynx]

Parker wrote (regarding the N-word):

>I think the difference could be that 
> racial slurs are not acceptable any more (unless you live in South 
> Carolina...) 

Just to be crystal clear for list members who are unfamiliar with 
racism in the United States, I'm pretty sure that it is not 
acceptable *anywhere* in this country to use a racial slur, and 
especially the Mother Of All Racial Slurs, the N-word.  I am fairly 
certain South Carolina is not an exception.

And, of course, Amy explained quite nicely that these slurs were 
never acceptable to those on the receiving end.

I wrote:

> I really don't think the issue is whether you are allowing the N-
> word to acquire some power it doesn't otherwise have by using 
>it.  I would suggest that the oppression of people with dark skin 
>and the ugly usage of this word to facilitate that oppression is 
>what causes the word to be terribly offensive and creates its 
>power.  Believe me, whether you say it or type it is *not* the 
>source of its power,and your usage of it will in no way divest it 
>of its considerable power to wound.  I wish it were that easy.

Jennifer wrote:

> I think my African-American students would disagree with you, at 
>least in part.

I am not surprised that the tendency of some African Americans to 
use the N-word would come up in this discussion.  So let's address 
it.

I indicated that using the N-word will not divest it of its power to 
wound.  Some African Americans have been using the N-word as a 
method of self-reference or to refer to other African Americans.  I 
suggest that these students be asked whether their usage has done a 
single thing to diminish the power of this slur to wound.  If they 
are being honest, they would admit that the slur retains the same 
power to wound that it always had.  And if they deny this, then 
perhaps they can explain how they would react if a police officer 
addressed them in this fashion -- regardless of the officer's skin 
color.


>The upshot of the discussion was that they felt that 
> using it among each other really did rob the word of its power to 
> hurt, for them; when it was decontextualized (not that they'd ever 
> use those sorts of postmodern terms)  like that, it became just 
> another word that claimed their identity as people of color.


The N-word has no place in polite, dignified and civilized society.  
It is entirely possible that Jennifer's students simply haven't yet 
worked out how they should behave in a polite, dignified and 
civilized society.  I was young once; I know that maturity takes 
time.  Hopefully, they have someone in their lives who can clarify 
things for them.  That the N-word enjoys popularity among students 
who I believe must have a lot to learn, or rap singers seeking 
notoriety, or comics seeking to shock their audiences really doesn't 
bear at all on the issue whether the word retains the power to 
insult and to wound.  It clearly does.
 
>Again translating from 
> their terms into pomospeak, my skin color makes my speech the 
> oppressor's language when directed at them; the term is not so 
> decontextualized for them that my (or any other white person) 
> speaking it wouldn't recontextualize it.  

Actually, the "thrill" of using the N-word for these kids, I 
suspect, is the fact that it is something they feel they can say but 
that white people cannot say.  Perhaps it makes them feel powerful 
to have this one thing in the world -- usage of the N-word -- as 
their exclusive domain.

In my very humble opinion, that is really quite sad.

Cindy