<WOB> Re: Filtering Out Racism (Long -sorry)

[Michiel van Wessem <jmvw@xxxxxxxxx>]

Troy,=20

I'm getting tired of this. I don't like prejudice or hurting people just
because they're a different race, sex, sexual preference, weight or
whatever else may be special about them. I find those things more important
then whether anyone touches a taboo word. I probably would have been
clearer by putting quotes around it, yeah.

I'm telling you these things. Believe me or don't. I'm sick of this spanish
inquisition.=20

Being disturbed isn't so bad, it wakes you up. It's what you find out after
your attention is there.

I strongly disagree with you that any word should be banned from a
dictionary. It's the muffling of things that stops people from thinking
about them. Often this is done in the name of decency. Fuck decency, I say,
use your heart and your brains!=20

Michiel=20

At 07:44 PM 1/20/99 -0700, Troy D Brewster wrote:
>Well Michiel,
>
>I didn't realize I copied you on that response but that's irrelevant.=
 First,
>I didn't see your reply until after I sent that message. If I did I would
>have not done so, however, your reply does not change my mind. It is not at
>all obvious that you were quoting what this merchant said. You made no
>reference to the inappropriateness of what the merchant said or what he/she
>actually said for that matter. Did the merchant refer to the individual as=
 a
>"nigger" or was that your reference? Reading your e-mail one would conclude
>the latter (Just a note). If your message stated "I went to XYZ Auto=
 Salvage
>and you wouldn't believe what happen... I was appalled that this stuff=
 still
>goes on," I doubt you would have gotten the same response from individuals.
>
>Anyway, you noted that the word "nigger" can be found in the dictionary so
>is the dictionary racist? Well before I comment on that, here's and excerpt
>from the Merriam-Webster dictionary.
>
>    Main Entry: nig=B7ger
>    Pronunciation: 'ni-ger
>    Function: noun
>    Etymology: alteration of earlier neger, from Middle French negre, from
>Spanish or Portuguese negro,
>                      from negro black, from Latin niger
>    Date: 1700
>    1 : a black person -- usually taken to be offensive
>    2 : a member of any dark-skinned race -- usually taken to be offensive
>    3 : a member of a socially disadvantaged class of persons <it's time=
 for
>somebody to lead all of America's
>         niggers... all the people who feel left out of the political
>process -- Ron Dellums>
>
>    usage: Nigger in senses 1 and 2 can be found in the works of such
>writers of the past as Joseph Conrad, Mark
>               Twain, and Charles Dickens, but it now ranks as perhaps the
>most offensive and inflammatory racial slur
>               in English. Its use by and among blacks is not always
>intended or taken as offensive, but, except in
>               sense 3, it is otherwise a word expressive of racial hatred
>and bigotry.
>
>Now the dictionary may not be racist but how many black people had input to
>the contents of this dictionary in 1700? Do you think that this word would
>have been included if they did? Personally, all such words, in reference to
>any race, should not be included in any dictionary. It makes usage of these
>words seem acceptable. Anyway, unless you are using it to paraphrase what
>was said, a black person, in particular, if reading it will take it as
>offensive.
>
>BTW, the dictionary comments on "nigger" being used among blacks as not
>always offensive and I would tend to disagree. The word blacks sometimes=
 use
>when referring to each other is a bit different. You typically do not hear
>blacks referring to each other as "nigger" unless it's derogatory.
>
>And Michiel, I am not calling you a racist but I found the contents of your
>message disturbing. I was trying to determine the connection between
>purchasing wheels and calling a black person a "nigger", unsuccessfully of
>course.
>
>/troyb
>
>
>

------------------------------

End of bmw-digest V9 #875
*************************