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Old November 23rd, 2008 #1
Mike Mazzone of Palatine
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We all hold personal beliefs about language, words we prefer, prejudices about accent and spelling... but how can we tell fact from fiction? Let's investigate some myths and misconceptions about language!

Should we ban the 'N-word'?

The fact that we censor and euphemise this word illustrates that this is one explosive word bomb, one flammable fighting word, and one titanic taboo.

In November 2006 Seinfeld’s ‘Cosmo Kramer’ (not better known as the actor Michael Richards) performed at the Laugh Factory in West Hollywood, California. Following a dose of heckling (something every stand-up comedian should expect and deflect), Richards burst into a tourettesque tirade of racial vitriol in which he made gratuitous use of the n-word. A media circus followed the incident, whereby a well-meaning group, including Reverend Jesse Jackson, Reverend Al Sharpton and a chastened and contrite Richards, called for a ban on this word, and other racial epithets.

Should we ban this word? The real question is: can we ban this word? The short answer is ‘no’, and the long answer is…

Consider the unsuccessful bans placed on alcohol during the Prohibition period in the US, and the ongoing prohibition against other drugs. Comparing language prescription and drug prohibition isn’t such a long bow to draw. Ban alcohol, people will still drink. Ban drugs, people will still sniff, snort, smoke and shoot up. Ban words and people will still speak them.

How would society ‘ban’ a word anyway? How would this ban be policed? Muzzle people? Pre-screen speech? Monitor the home? Censor media? To some extent, we have already tried expurgating the use of the word…but it’s still there. We can dust it under the dictionary, hide it from television and radio, reproach the use of it in society…but it’s still there. In fact, making a word more taboo will only ensure its continued existence. Banning the n-word would ‘heighten’ the taboo…and also increase its power.

An attempt to ban language is an attempt to ban thought. Picture some ignorant twat deciding what you can and cannot read, hear and think. That’s prejudice in a different way. This 1984-style control simply won’t work, and it isn’t a good thing to try to achieve. But let’s not obscure the real issue here: attitudes. The word (an arbitrary symbol infused with ‘bad meaning’) is there to label the attitude.

Keep in mind that the n-word is very offensive in some varieties of English, in some usages. In Australia, New Zealand and the UK, most exposure to the word is from US sources. It is a tool of prejudice, but there’s an obvious paradox here too. As much as the n-word is taboo, ironically, it is a common, common word. This is due to a process that many of you will have heard about: reclamation. In an empowering move, the in-group (those that have been a target for the word) have reclaimed/recovered/rescued the word. When this happens, a derogatory epithet develops a positive sense that can ameliorate the word itself. This has happened with other words like queer and gay (thankfully for my Mum, whose name is Gaye). This is why the n-word is so taboo, yet I heard it in a song yesterday, in a movie last night, and on the BART (train) this morning.

Banning a word implies illegality, which further implies punishment for language ‘misdemeanours’. Imagine crossing the street and being fined for jaywalking and listening to NWA. Imagine being fired from your job because you use a word such as niggardly that only bears a bloody resemblance to the taboo word and isn’t even etymologically related to the taboo word (Guess what? This actually happened).

In the history of the English language, societies have tried to ban words. The sacrilegious Jesus! and Christ! that you now so flippantly utter when you stub your toe, or the orgasmic Oh God! were all once illegal, with a stiff penalty. During the middle ages in Britain, blasphemy was punishable by death. Not only am I not joking, but this is still the case, in some other societies, and some other religions.

Let’s time travel for a moment, stepping outside of our modern minds. Did you know that mob (short for mobile vulgus) was once considered a crude abbreviation that supposedly reflected loose morals in society? Did you know that calling someone a cad, bounder or blackguard was once as offensive as calling them cunt, bitch or prick today? Did you know that there was a time where the n-word only meant ‘a dark skinned person’ and didn’t have any negative connotations? We are a product of our own society. The n-word hurts today, but it won’t always mean what it means right now. Reclamation is healthy, and may be the first step to the eventual ‘whitewashing’ of the word whereby it will lose its ‘sting’.

The whole situation has spawned copy cat calls to ban other ‘offensive’ words. In a December 2nd poll, Yahoo! Australia mused, “Do you think the word Pom is offensive and should be banned?” At last count, 87% said ‘no’, 5% said ‘yes’ and 7% said ‘don’t care’. The moral of this story is, language is a runaway train, and we don’t, and can’t have complete control over it.

Here is the official advice from a linguist (with a silly hat). Don’t bother trying to ban the word. Let in-group members continue to reclaim the word. Let’s not worry about so-called ‘bad’ words, but instead worry about bad attitudes. Let the n-word take its natural course and one day (or tens of years later) it will be about as offensive as mob. Trust me, I’m a doctor.
 
Old November 23rd, 2008 #2
Anne
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Banning words and free speech is the way to go if you want to increase animosity.
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Old November 23rd, 2008 #3
Mark Kerpolt
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[podblanc]play31577[/podblanc]


“NIGGRIH UH KEEP TRAAYSHBAGZ WIDD MUH. NEVEH' 'NOH WENN YO GODDSUH DUMP A NIGGRIH OUDD!”



Last edited by Mark Kerpolt; November 23rd, 2008 at 01:27 PM.
 
Old November 23rd, 2008 #4
Anne
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I don't know much about Jim Giles or the audience he gets with Radio Free Mississippi, but I nearly fell off my chair when I heard Mr. Linder freely use the word nigger during the recent interview. That either indicates he's unbalanced or that he has a pair.
(The latter, of course, even though society also needs its share of "insane" men to change things.)

In choosing to use the word nigger, one is deliberately trying to change things.
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Old November 23rd, 2008 #5
M. Kraus
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Anne View Post

In choosing to use the word nigger, one is deliberately trying to change things.

That's true. Those of us who are over 40 can remember when that word was freely spoken on TV and in movies--but those who said it were trying to deprive it of its power to shock. For example on old episodes of Saturday Night Live, the movie Trading Places, and the TV series Roots, the word was used by villains and characters who were supposed to draw derisive laughter. No one gasped in horror when they heard it, as they would now. Audiences understood the intentions of the media producers who used it, even if they didn't agree with the producers message.

Today "nigger" is more forbidden than "fuck", and it has regained all of its shock value, and then some. Exactly the opposite of what the Left wanted to happen thirty years ago. The whole idea of "hate speech" is the polar opposite of what communists were preaching back then. They were all for free speech when it could be used as a battering ram against the White "establishment". Now that they have become the establishment, it's watch-your-mouth-or-else time.
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Old November 27th, 2008 #6
rod crowley
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Ever since obongo won the election...thats all i hear from disgusted whites the n-bomb is being hurled at mind blowing rates.and they hollered uopn his election victory..."racism is dead"..dream on brothas!
 
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