Re: Ebonic Xmas

hoensch@SOFTHOME.NET wrote:

> My supposition that a word written and pronounced the same way means the
> same is (whatever else it might be) very sane and logical.
"Apartheid" may be a perfectly ordinary word for "separation", but in
its South African context the stink that it created fills the whole world.

> And furthermore,
> as I stated, in a number of languages (including my mother tongue) the
> equivelant word means "black (people)".
True in German, emphatically not true in English.  This can be established
by looking at the compounds:  "nigger-work", for example, means work
of the most menial and degrading kind.  (This term is as taboo as the
original, BTW, but I am willing on *this* list, where civility is the
norm, to *refer* to words that I wouldn't *use*.)

> And if amongst blacks it is a word recalling a "shared
> experience" than can whites or asians use it to address their black
> classmates?  It is one word.  It is the same word.
Some years ago I read in the newspaper the story of a young man
who gets up every morning, looks at himself in the mirror, and
intones "Nigger, nigger, nigger, nigger, nigger, nigger."

He said:  "If I can survive that, the rest of the day is no problem."

> If it truly is offensive, stop using it.  Otherwise it is just
> a setup for blacks to be offended.
I happen to agree with this, and so (speaking of black comedians)
did Richard Pryor, who abandoned the word in his comedy after
his trip to Africa.

> The poem had no malevolence.
It was indeed malevolent, insofar as one can judge intent from
objective criteria, and knowing the cultural context well.

> Pray tell, Gray Wizard; why is it racist for whites (or, as in your view;
> blacks) to tell jokes about blacks, but it is not when blacks are telling
> jokes about whites?
Because "racism" is not synonymous with "discrimination" or "race hatred";
it refers specifically to a pattern of *institutionalized* denigration
and degredation of dark-skinned people.  (This point is not
well understood or explained in general, and a non-native speaker
can certainly be excused for not being aware of it.)

> [I]t is NOT RACIST to judge a word's meanings
> BASED ON THE COLOR OF THE SPEAKER'S SKIN!
It is sensible, not silly or hate-ridden, to judge a word's meanings
based on the speaker.

--

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