But there is something else that this story has brought out -- and it's something that is bothering me a lot. That is the idea being put forth by some that using that word back before the civil rights laws were passed was not a racist act, but a common occurrence. And that even non-racists used the word. That is an outrageous falsehood.
I am about four months older than Paula Deen, and I was born and raised in Texas (where racism was just as prevalent as it was in the Deep South). So I think I can speak to what things were like when she was younger. Was the word commonly used by many? Yes, it was. But we all knew that those who used it were racists (people who believed whites were better than blacks, and deserved more rights). But it was not used by everyone, and it certainly was not used by non-racists.
I cannot speak to the time before my lifetime, but I can say that in the 1950s everyone in Texas (and the South) knew that the word "nigger" was a racist term -- and those who did not think racism was acceptable, did not use that word. I was one of the lucky ones, because I was not taught by my parents to hate anyone because of their race, color, or ethnicity -- and I never heard my parents use that word (and my brothers and I knew it was not acceptable for us to say it either).
Southerners are not any stupider than others. They knew that by using that word, a person was making a racist statement. The non-racists (there have always been some good people in Texas and the South) knew it, and the racists knew it. The word was heard a lot among whites because the racists were in control of Texas and Southern society at that time -- but everyone understood it was a racist word, and it was not acceptable to use that word among non-racists.
I sincerely hope that Paula Deen has changed, because if she used that word in the past (as she has admitted she did) then she was a racist. People can change, and I have known many who have (and are ashamed of their past) -- and I have known many who have not changed. Racism is alive and well, but thankfully, it is no longer accepted by the majority in Texas and the South as it once was -- and hopefully, that majority who don't accept it will continue to grow larger as time passes.
But make no mistake -- in my lifetime (and Paula's), the word "nigger" has always been universally recognized as a racist word (even in Texas and the South). And anyone who used it marked themselves as a racist (to both racists and non-racists).
For goodness sake, Ted, stop being so feeble! What's in a name? Even niggers call each other niggers nowadays - they at least understand irony! It's not the *word* but the tone of voice that delivers it, or the adjective that often precedes it, as in 'f*****g nigger'. Exactly the same rule applies if I call you a 'Yank'.
ReplyDeleteI almost didn't approve your comment because of the way you used the word. And I find it disturbing that you had no problem calling African-Americans a pejorative term, but could not spell out the word "fucking" (which is far less offensive). You can call me whatever you like, I am, and have chosen to be, both a liberal (which you think is "feeble") and a U.S. citizen (Yank). But you will never use the word "nigger" to refer to a person again on this blog. You may not find it offensive, but I certainly do.
DeleteI lived in Japan in the 1950s and because of my white skin, red hair and almond shaped eyes I was considered a freak by the Japanese. They thought I was a half-breed. So I learned an important lesson, discrimination happens everywhere and should be tolerated nowhere. When I returned to the US (Atlanta, GA) in 1960 the Civil Rights movement was escalating and I experienced the vitriol first hand. As I was getting on the school bus to go home one day, I noticed that there were several white students taunting the black students who were walking past the bus. I said to the white students "One day you will be very sorry for what you are doing". The white students then turned on me and began shouting "Nigger lover" over and over till the bus pulled away. I was truly afraid for my life. This was my first encounter with the racial hatred of the time. Of course that was not the last. Because my classmates thought I was partly Asian, they would dance around me and chant "chinky, chinky, Chinaman". I may be white but these discriminatory incidents gave me a better understanding of what it means to be the object of racism and bigotry. Back then the term "Nigger" was definitely a pejorative and everyone knew it!!!
ReplyDeleteWell said, GB. Of course it was pejorative. It was invented and used to be that way.
DeleteI wondered if you would have the guts to print my comment - well done! That's why I like this blog, most Leftie bloggers would have fainted!
ReplyDeleteIt's all quite ridiculous and I refuse to be bound by the 'diktat' of *self-appointed* language commissars who seek command and control over what I say. I prefer people to say what they think, that way I can judge them more accurately. Shutting them up achieves nothing, you don't change their minds, and you will never know what they are thinking.
Sticks and stones break bones, not names!
Long ago in a galaxy far away (~1964), I called a black guy a 'negro' and he and few others came unglued!!!
ReplyDeleteI asked WHAT!?!? They explained and I answered, 'Get over yourself, I never saw a black until that week and that was the name I knew! So let's say someone raised in the right environment used the 'N'word (and I use that because of the comment above). What I learned in the class 'You are what you where when' is to get over your self. There are hateful people who use hateful words BUT YOU are the one that gives those 'words' power, otherwise they are just noise in the air. Trying to be PC is useless, so ignore or better learn to laugh at them and you steal their power.
Exactly right, Mr/Mrs/Ms Long!
ReplyDeleteI wonder if Ted comes over all faint if some black chap calls him 'Whitey'?
I don't become faint when I hear "Whitey" (or cracker). But I will wonder about the deficiencies in that person's upbringing. I am generally white (although who knows what happened way back on my ancestral tree). And I still feel that "Nigger" is a racist word, and anyone who uses it (or other pejorative terms for something a person had no control over, like race or ethnicity or color) is a bigot and was very poorly raised. Words are actions, and actions define what kind of person you are (regardless of what you may think you are).
ReplyDelete