TV's Frink said:
Context: He said he was going to jump the fence and fight that n******. Referring to a black security guard who was doing his job. I'd say yes, it's much worse. He was not saying "hi, my n******" to a pal.
Thank you for the context. I watched the one video Warb posted and it was just a loop of him saying it.
Also, and not that it excuses him in anyway, but in the video where he first apologizes, I'd say he seems very sincere about being sorry. He made no excuses, no "sorry to anyone who was offended", no blaming anyone but himself, and seemed legitimately upset at himself. I don't think he's upset because he's white and got caught.
I still search for an explanation for why someone would use that word. I can fathom no circumstance in which I would use that word. I can't help but think the stigma has actually become lessened by its use in some circles. Maybe he is in some respect racist, as Warbler suggests.
Warbler said:
Mrebo said:
If it is okay for black people to use the word and he was using it in the same way, why should it be considered worse?
that is a stupid and ignorant thing to say.
That is something known as a rhetorical question.
I never said it is ok for black people to use the word.No one in here said that. So I don't know where you got that idea.
As you admit later in your response, you never heard about the movements to reclaim or neuter certain epithets by using them. That is clearly what I am referring to. Sorry you haven't heard of that before, but it's not an obscure thing.
However that doesn't mean that it is the same whether the word comes out of the black person's mouth or a white person's mouth. It isn't. Anyone that knows and understands the history of racism and slavery and discrimination in country would know that.
It's not so easy nowadays to point at the person who says the n-word and declare them to be a racist. If I started calling my friends the n-word, that doesn't make me racist. And if I got really mad at you and called you that, I still wouldn't be a racist. And if I were in the habit of using that word against a broad array of people, using it against a black person wouldn't make me a racist. What matters is the context and intent.
Mrebo said:
If we are really going to neuter or reclaim the word, whites should be using it, prolifically. We should use it against whites and blacks. We could use it in a friendly or a disparaging manner.
totally disagree here. the history of the word, renders it impossible to use against whites in the same way it is used against black. I think the better way would be for everyone to just stop using the word entirely.
Rhetorical again. I already agreed nobody should be using it. The point is that following the logic of those who defend the use of the term by blacks, one should recognize that if everyone used it in a non-racial way would really weaken it as a racist word. I'm trying to illustrate the stupidity of defending the use of the word by blacks, or anyone else.
Mrebo said:
I don't have evidence he is a racist,
um, yeah we do. that fact that he used the word is evidence that he is a racist. In addition, he used the word to insult some black people he was angry at. I don't think it just slipped out in a moment of temporary insanity. He meant to use it. I don't it was the first time he used that word. I think in private he uses the word all the time.
But maybe Frink is right. I wonder the reason it is part of his vocabulary. I wager it has more to do with the broadened usage of the word in some communities than with him being a Racist. But maybe I'm wrong.
Mrebo said:
The n-word has taken on a broader meaning and I wouldn't be surprised if that is the sense in which he used it.
I know of no broader meaning that ugly word has taken on. And anyone what watched to video would know that he wasn't using the way a black person uses it.
If you know black people use it, then you are aware of a broader meaning. It has become sort of an urban culture thing. It is also used in a hateful way toward blacks by blacks.
Hm, unfortunate that we refer to "blacks." I always found that awkward in classes. I prefer it to "African American" but it still connotes an "otherness."