Quote:
Originally Posted by boardman
Derived from the word Negroid. One of the three racial classifications of humans. The others being Caucasoid and Mongoloid.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Zanzibar789
It starts with N-E-G (short form version of the word negative) so yes ;-)
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So Caucasoid and Caucasian are offensive because the start with cauc and by using it you mean all white people are dicks? But if I'm white I can use it because I KNOW I'm a dick?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zanzibar789
^ DED in what context? I listen to some rap music with the slur lyrics and I also watch some movies with it as well. I'm assuming you don't?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Zanzibar789
^ Why do you think that is? If the N-Word is used in music, America is up in arms but if used in movies it's time to hand out Oscars. My official PC answer = Art can imitate life but life can't imitate art.
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Yes, music, film, TV are art. Life shouldn't imitate art except to make very specific and well understood points.
"Woman is the
Ni**er of the World", John Lennon or "
Ni**ers,
Jews and Sigma Nus, all they ever do is breed", Kinky Friedman. Both used the offense in the words to make a point against the underlying misogyny, racism and prejudice. Thus the use is acceptable, even laudable, though some will get offended anyway.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Russ38
Kinda like how the word "whore" is not derogatory on this site .......but words like bitch, slut, cunt, twat, etc ....is different depending on the context that it's used in....
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Context is very important and the N-word (not Negro as we are discussing here) because of its history and use seems to carry extra context along with the word in this society and to some extent by extension to every society that is influenced by America. If you used it (or it were used) in Tuvalu or Mongolia or some remote isolated area it would have no context and thus no offense unless used by Western people about Western people. Words themselves are not offensive without context because they don't have meaning without context. The primary context is the language itself and the society that uses that language. Extra context may be added by history, situation or speaker and even by tone, inflection and interpretation. A perfectly innocent word may be made offensive by delivery or even how it is perceived without intention by the speaker.
Quote:
Originally Posted by the cute papi
The only form of the n word that is offensive is Ni**er, because it has no other meaning.
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Pretty much true as far as I can tell. Negro on the other hand is outdated, as is Oriental in favor of Asian, and could be considered mildly offensive by some sensitive people but as long as not used in offensive fashion is not generally offensive in itself IMHO. I'm sure some people consider "
H***y" and "
Cr***er" offensive, but I have asked (mostly in jest) to be called both proudly just to diffuse any power they might have. I'm me and cannot be denigrated by any reference to my pasty pink blotchy not very attractive skin or my Southern background no matter how much someone tries. OTOH my forebears (who came to the midwest in the late 19th century and got to Texas in the mid-20th century) weren't the white people who oppressed other poor white people as well as other poor non-white people so I just don't have any dog in this hunt either.
That said, moderating this board is a tough job and they can decide that any word they want or any language in a certain context is offensive. IMHO the proper approach is if isn't obvious is to warn first and then penalize just for consistency sake unless they can find a transgression of an obvious rule. If the joke context cited it might have been a little heavy handed. Would the offender have been cited if he/she used Black rather than Negro? I don't know, but who really gives a shit anyway?
