This topic has been on my mind a lot...
It started when I was 14, back in secondary school (that's high school if your an American) and a lovely friend of mine, her name was Amy, asked if I could call after Kelly.
I didn't know who Kelly was, I knew she was in that circle of about 4-5 girls over by the bike shed because that's where Amy was vaguely pointing at with her facial features.
'Which one is Kelly?' I asked
'Umm... the one near the end'
'Can you describe her to me?'
'She's the one with short curly hair!'
'That leaves 3 girls.. I'm not sure which one you mean Amy!'
Poor Amy was in agony, there was very little for her to work with because all the girls wore the same school uniform and wore their hair down that day... I could see it in her face, she kept looking at me pleading that I would just know which one was Kelly without her having to racially segregate...
'The Black one', shouted out my best childhood friend, who had no problem describing people by their skin tones.
For a moment I was relieved that I could finally identify Kelly... but when I turned back to see Amy's face, she had flashed bright red at the sound of the word 'Black'. - She also frowned at my best friend (who is also white) as if to say 'You can't say that!!'
I needed a moment to process this. There is 0% chance that Amy was racist... So why does she feel uncomfortable calling someone 'black', but is fine to call someone 'white'...?
Is she afraid of backlash? or does she inherently think that being 'black' is a bad thing? Whatever the reason, Amy was uncomfortable labeling someone racially with something that she was not. This was confusing for me as when I described someone as 'white' she was perfectly OK with it.
When we think back to racist America, it was all about segregation. Blacks here, Whites there - no mixing. The term N***er described a derogatory occupation, whereby the blacks had no choice but to have a white 'master'.
Now, this occupation has been outlawed, it is impossible for a white person to claim superiority over a black person in any way by law - whether it be socially, politically, scientifically etc
The N word has no meaning. It depicts the past, it cannot in any way shape or form have any power to return back the old ways - no matter how much a white person says the N word, they will NEVER be able to enslave a black person.
So why is it OK in society for a black person to say the word, and not for a white person to?
This in itself is where racism is rooted. Think about it this way. In comedy, you can punch up, but not down.
Why?
Because if you ridicule someone for having a PHD, when you have a Bsc, society knows that the PHD holder is actually more educated than the Bsc holder.
Whereas if that same Bsc holder disses someone who never went to university - we have a problem.
So does allowing blacks to, and banning whites from saying the word N***er affirm white peoples superiority over blacks?
Or should the term just be banned all together??
It started when I was 14, back in secondary school (that's high school if your an American) and a lovely friend of mine, her name was Amy, asked if I could call after Kelly.
I didn't know who Kelly was, I knew she was in that circle of about 4-5 girls over by the bike shed because that's where Amy was vaguely pointing at with her facial features.
'Which one is Kelly?' I asked
'Umm... the one near the end'
'Can you describe her to me?'
'She's the one with short curly hair!'
'That leaves 3 girls.. I'm not sure which one you mean Amy!'
Poor Amy was in agony, there was very little for her to work with because all the girls wore the same school uniform and wore their hair down that day... I could see it in her face, she kept looking at me pleading that I would just know which one was Kelly without her having to racially segregate...
'The Black one', shouted out my best childhood friend, who had no problem describing people by their skin tones.
For a moment I was relieved that I could finally identify Kelly... but when I turned back to see Amy's face, she had flashed bright red at the sound of the word 'Black'. - She also frowned at my best friend (who is also white) as if to say 'You can't say that!!'
I needed a moment to process this. There is 0% chance that Amy was racist... So why does she feel uncomfortable calling someone 'black', but is fine to call someone 'white'...?
Is she afraid of backlash? or does she inherently think that being 'black' is a bad thing? Whatever the reason, Amy was uncomfortable labeling someone racially with something that she was not. This was confusing for me as when I described someone as 'white' she was perfectly OK with it.
When we think back to racist America, it was all about segregation. Blacks here, Whites there - no mixing. The term N***er described a derogatory occupation, whereby the blacks had no choice but to have a white 'master'.
Now, this occupation has been outlawed, it is impossible for a white person to claim superiority over a black person in any way by law - whether it be socially, politically, scientifically etc
The N word has no meaning. It depicts the past, it cannot in any way shape or form have any power to return back the old ways - no matter how much a white person says the N word, they will NEVER be able to enslave a black person.
So why is it OK in society for a black person to say the word, and not for a white person to?
This in itself is where racism is rooted. Think about it this way. In comedy, you can punch up, but not down.
Why?
Because if you ridicule someone for having a PHD, when you have a Bsc, society knows that the PHD holder is actually more educated than the Bsc holder.
Whereas if that same Bsc holder disses someone who never went to university - we have a problem.
So does allowing blacks to, and banning whites from saying the word N***er affirm white peoples superiority over blacks?
Or should the term just be banned all together??
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