WFR, I'm not trying to be an asshole, but the dangerous territory you speak of has always existed around this word.

I don't think most educated people give a shit what the alt-right thinks.

What exactly are you advocating?

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but he was

He wasn't using it as some kind of greeting or term of endearment, which is the occasion when some people find the use acceptable

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

If you just have to use a racial slur no one is going to stop you. Go ahead and shout it out at the top of your lungs.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

Wha?

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Fair enough

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

Why is this so difficult? When you are a member of a group you are allowed to say some things about that group that others outside the group are not. It is a word that is designed to demean and dehumanize a certain group of people. Now, we could argue whether ANYONE should be using it but the intent is clearly different inside the group.

The scared white male society should just deal with it. They, and that includes myself, have no idea what it feels like to be called that name and if a group that has been treated poorly in the past simply requests you not use that one specific word then just deal with it.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

100% agree. Why do white people want to use that word? What's the endgame?

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Ба́бушка гада́ла, да на́двое сказа́ла—то ли до́ждик, то ли снег, то ли бу́дет, то ли нет.

Also, the thing you have to keep in mind is that in general when a target of a slur uses that slur themselves it is an attempt to lessen the damaging nature of the slur. That is another thing that makes it different. There would be no ill effect towards me if that word was used against me so as a white guy I can't do the same thing.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

You had me then you lost me. The sting is the same depending on the known intent of the speaker, maybe worse if the receiver knows the speaker is aware of the extent it damages

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

He could have made the same dumb joke if he'd said "I'm a house slave." Still would have pissed people off but he wouldn't have hit the red button like he did.

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Zip it, pollock.

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No, the idea is to repurpose the word. We can debate the effectiveness of such a matter but it clearly is different.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

For me the context and the speaker (regardless of race) matters. I just don't understand the argument that some people are making. If you want to argue that no one should use certain words, I would not have an issue with that. However, arguing that everyone should have the right to say n-word (without being criticized) because some black people use it is ridiculous.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

this is shakier ground, though. they may never be able to understand what it feels like to be called that, but many of them can relate to it from being called other words. and some might say that there's not a history of violence and disfranchisement behind those other words, but i'd disagree. i think academics, for example, have correctly pointed to certain words as abhorrent and demeaning and have overlooked the actual processes of demeaning (or denied that other words can also significantly negatively affect others). look, you don't want to make everyone a victim, and you don't want to tell people to just get over it. there's so much power in having people relate to one another.

there are many people, regardless of race, who have been called names and been treated poorly as a result of their appearance or identity. these can have significant economic and psychological consequences.

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if you're referring to jackson pollock, that is hurtful

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polock, dipshit

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

This is just the classic "slippery slope" argument that you can make for almost anything. It doesn't matter if other groups have had similar situations at times in history. Black people have this situation now in America. I mean, there are still a huge amount of people alive today that literally lived under segregation and then the slow and unfinished reversal of the societal ramifications of that. If there was a similar group with the resume of injustice against them, and they requested that they weren't called a specific word, then just accept it and move on. Who knows, maybe one day white males can be so mistreated they'll get to do it!

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

It should either not be said by anyone, or it's now an inoffensive part of the vernacular that has been reclaimed and is no longer offensive unless used with hateful intent. If Ice Cube is so offended by the word, then why he would not feel offended playing to mostly white audiences raping along to his music?

This talking down to people is not helpful in the least. This is a "teachable moment Bill". You sound like a redneck. You would be a slave-master.

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Why are only 14 percent of black CPS 11th-graders proficient in English?

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Good people drink good beer - Hunter S. Thompson

<º)))><

Waiting for the time when I can finally say
That this has all been wonderful, but now I'm on my way

So stop trying to talk down to people in this matter yourself

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There are only two examples of infinity: The universe and human stupidity and I'm not sure about the universe.

This is the flaw in your logic. In an ideal world, the word would never be said by anyone. That doesn't mean it is the same when said by a member of the target group and by someone who is not a member of the target group.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

I might agree with much of that, but I'm not talking about race. We marginalize people in more ways that that, and many of them are based on things they cannot change. It's just much harder to discuss in a systematic way, to be honest. (Unless you are talking about social class, but that's not what I am talking about.)

There's still a huge amount of people today living under segregation--racial residential segregation, whose effects are at least as deleterious as the classic Jim Crow policies.

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As a white guy, I understand that I shouldn't use that word, so I don't. It's really not that difficult.

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Good people drink good beer - Hunter S. Thompson

<º)))><

Waiting for the time when I can finally say
That this has all been wonderful, but now I'm on my way

pusillanimous?

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Can we get a list of words with the appropriate people who can say them?

Thanks.

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DONE! I sent the list to Spmack.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

NICE!

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I guess when you discuss this issue, it may pay to be like a non-violent protestor: Give people no footholds to disagree with you. No rhetorical distractions ("you sound like a redneck"). Not so much to satisfy a perfect argument, but to satisfy human nature....since many come to arguments without an open mind.

On the other hand, sometimes people aren't trying to persuade you; they just want to show you how pissed they are. Or they say that it's not their job to educate you, etc.

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So the suffering Olympics is back on?

We can use the word, and you can't, is just bad policy. If you are offended by a word, it should be offensive regardless of who uses it. Race is increasingly becoming difficult to define. It's also continues to push this us vs. them mentality based along racial divides. I don't think I'm really that different from people of other races in my thoughts, wants and emotions. If we can agree that race is a social construct, then let's start to push that idea rather than continue to say we are so radically different that we cannot policy understand each other's circumstances.

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Why are only 14 percent of black CPS 11th-graders proficient in English?

How am I talking down to you? I have no desire to insult anyone. Just want to discuss this using facts rather than feelings.

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Why are only 14 percent of black CPS 11th-graders proficient in English?