People Who Annoy You

I saw it once in a thread title on the CHUD message boards.

This country is still rife with casual racism, so yes I hear it ALL the time, particularly from Afrikaners (though instead of nigger, it's usually "kaffir"). If it comes from a stranger I generally have to let it go, but if it's from somebody I'm engaging with, I'll ask them politely to not speak that way around me. From the little experience I've had, I've found that actually starting a serious debate is about as useless as trying to turn a religious man atheist.

I've witnessed racism a lot, although I find that now, the racists are primarily complaining that OTHER people are racists, when they're not busy asserting that racism no longer exists.

I was shocked during my few years in the military to discover just how rife the military (or at least the US Army) is with such sentiments.  It makes sense in hindsight, but having really not been exposed to much racism growing up, it was definitely a bit of a cold-water-splash to the face, particularly when it came from men that I considered friends.

From my understanding, many white supremacists are quite fond of sending their kids to join the military so they can join and help train "the militia" when they get back.

There's alot swimming around in people's subconscious, alot of it from upbringing that they may not even be aware of.  Racism is racism though, you don't have to burn crosses. 

When I used to work at our convenience store more regularly, I came across several instances of casual racism.  I refused to serve this older Native American woman who just started ranting about the 'niggers' to me for no reason.  There was this other older white lady who complained about the 'black' animals, but I had to let that one go, since I overheard a few guys at the bus stop who were harassing her.

And to take this to the topic of homophobia... I had a friend from Texas that surprised me with the way she summarized Philadelphia (the Demme film).  Another friend who hadn't seen the film asked what it was about.  Before I could respond, my friend said bluntly, "It's about a gay guy who gets AIDS and DIES."  I was so taken aback by the heartless tone of it that I just ended up laughing.  I thought it was a joke.  But I guess it wasn't.  

Of course... it's possible that my friend just really didn't like the film for artistic reasons...?  But that's certainly not how it felt to me at the time.

I mentioned to my conservative uncle that I had seen "Rise of the Planet of the Apes". 

His reply?  "The Planet of the Apes? Isn't that in Gardena?" 

I was floored by the ugliness. 

Also, this:

You could hang out with my cousins if you're really feeling the lack of casual racism.

I recently overheard a white waitress gabbing on with her co-worker, a young Mexican woman, about the latter's boyfriend. The Mexican waitress was talking to two guys who were I guess trying to hit on her or whatever, and she brought up her boyfriend. She asked the white waitress if she'd seen her boyfriend, and the white waitress replied that she had but she had never really looked at him because (and she whispers)...  "I thought he was black and I don't like black guys". Now, I'm generally disinterested in talking crap about how people look, I mean, I can be a vicious asshole, but knocking someone on the basis of looks is not something that comes naturally to me. *However*, the first thing that popped into my head is: "Oh, my God, you're fucking fat and hideous! You'd be lucky if any dude worth half a shit even *accidentally* acknowledges your existence!"

The Mexican waitress replied with: "Oh, no, he's dark-skinned, but he's Mexican." Whatever. The conversation was both unprofessional and fucking grating, but I let it be because it was late, I was tired, and didn't feel up to complaining. I did however, conventiently forget to leave a tip or respond in any way, shape, or form when my food was brought to me.

I'm more concerned about rapists than racists. But I suspect that's the over-protective father in me.

So using the n word = hate speech/hate crime

Beating up Hasidic Jews = worthy of bragging.

My Nan still uses that word, she's 87.  It still makes me cringe, in fact everyone cringe when she does.

She never considers herself to use it in a derogatory way, it's just descriptive to her.  Thankfully no-one in my family giggles nervously when she says it, we generally tell her not to use it.

Even the title of this thread makes me cringe, couldn't the title have been "the N word"?  It would have got the point across in the same way.

There's a fair bit of casual 'racism' in NZ.  There was big brouhaha about some TV presenter taking the piss out of an Indian woman's name, and his defence was "I just say what people are thinking".  Maybe I'm overly sensitive but I also find the use of "coconuts" for Polynesian Islanders and "Bloody Maori" for maori a bit much.

And that's to say nothing about such crass generalisations as "well, child abuse is really just a bloody maori problem", or "well they get everything given to them while I have to work and get fuck all".

Had a massive argument with my missus last year when we watched Made in Britain, and the NF guy was pontificating away.  It made my blood boil, but not as much as when the wife said "but he's right, they have come over here to the UK, taken jobs and sponged off the state".  I left her in no doubt about my feelings that this kind of ignorant, specious, bollocks is what half the worlds problems are caused by.

I don;t like this kind of thing, and I won't stand for it.  No matter who it is that spouts it I'll have a go.  Generally I get told that I'm being overly sensitive.

But to give myself a kicking, I have no issues taking the piss out of Gingers.  Which is just another form of discrimination when you think about it.  So am I any better than someone who casually tosses about racially based epithets?  Probably not.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andy Bain 

Even the title of this thread makes me cringe, couldn't the title have been "the N word"?  It would have got the point across in the same way.

 

No, no it couldn't.

I spent most of my life in Maine and a large portion of it in Georgia. Guess which place had the MOST casual racism? I'll give you a hint: its a place where minorities LITERALLY don't exist, so white guys are free to make as many disgusting jokes and what have you as they want. I'm talking going to work and having your boss show off his "afro-american beating stick" while you stand there and wonder if there's a job opening ANYWHERE else. 

I will say that being a chunky white guy means you encounter a bunch of folks who just assume you're racist too. It's odd, like being undercover or something. 

I live in North Carolina.  Not the Deep South, but we count as the South.  I've never heard that word uttered in my presence.  Never.  My area is very racially diverse, so I never heard that word save for rap music.  I have been in stores with African-American friends and watched them get followed around by salespeople, and not in the "may I help you?" way.  That fucking infuriates me. 

Yeah, I grew up in Texas and never heard it, but it's not that there's no racism, it's that people are quieter about it when they're in such diverse crowds.  Racists may be idiots but they still have a sense of self-preservation.

Homophobia is A-OK, though.  Ugh.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TzuDohNihm 

No, no it couldn't.

 

 

yeah, funny as Louis is, and I did laugh at that skit, I don't really agree with it, but to each their own.  The thread could have been titled "casual racism" and wouldn't have instilled that knee jerk reaction but still got the point across.

Absolutely no offense to Gabe, as I'm sure it wasn't intended as such because thread titles are often done with little consideration, but when I read something like that, then dig further and find it's a reaction against it, I tend to think "hmm, that was a sneaky way of saying something shocking but getting away with it"

But like I stated, maybe I'm overly sensitive.

Au contraire, I would argue using... that word... as a title for the thread was a deliberate move by Gabe T. to provoke us! And it worked! 

I love when rednecks/idiots bring up Chris Rock when they start talking about "the difference between black people and niggers". 

Pretty sure you completely missed the point of that joke, y'all.

I think Nick should come in here and retell his "pack of..." story.

Does it bother you more or less than typing the word rape?

That isn't trolling. Calling you a truly awful human being, a pompous asshat in love with the sound of his own voice, and a liar who deserves to go to jail just for stealing other people's air...that's trolling. 

Just curious, why is this in the Chewers Catch-All forum?  Wouldn't Misc Culture or Political Discourse have been more appropriate?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Leonard 

That isn't trolling. Calling you a truly awful human being, a pompous asshat in love with the sound of his own voice, and a liar who deserves to go to jail just for stealing other people's air...that's trolling. 

Chill out. This is your warning.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gabe T 

Guess so. If it can be moved, shift to the proper forum.

I'll move it to misc culture.

There's a lot of casual racism down here. It seems like certain words are losing their edge though, which in the end seems like it'll make them pretty useless. The "worst" thing that I've seen was a buddy of mine was working at a tattoo shop in town and when he finally left to open his own place, which is usually a big deal and everyone is happy for the person, the owners daughter (one of his co-workers) wrote "Good riddance coconut nigger." on his desk

He's a fucking monster so I suppose he could have raged and destroyed the shop but he just got his shit, laughed and left. Racism is stupid but I don't really flip over it. Dumb mofos gonna act dumb.

I thought black was the new white? aren't we supposed to hate brown people now?

Hate the N-word all ya want, but what the hell else would Eddie Murphy, Richard Pryor, and Red Fox found to talk about for 90 minutes?

Being a white kid in the south who grew up on Big Daddy Kane, Digital Underground and Too Short I was always partial to nucker and shnucker myself.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Syd 

I spent most of my life in Maine.... I'm talking going to work and having your boss show off his "afro-american beating stick"

I'm suddenly reminded of a clip from the Dana Carvey Show.

See 8:30

Not weighing in except to say that I really hate that there's a thread on these boards with this name. Regardless of whatever point Gabe was trying to make. 

Yeah, it bothers him to even type it, but that didn't stop him from slapping it in the thread title so it constantly shows up on the New Posts list.

If it's a provocation thing then it worked. But no offense to most of the people on this thread, but Gabe's not even recounting something that happened to him. It's a secondhand story that's now being used  to "address what it means, and WHY it's an awful word in our society"

I'm sorry, but to me, this is the wrong forum and from a personal standpoint, as a white man it's not an issue I'd feel comfortable raising. It's an offensive word that shouldn't be thrown about just because you're trying to take its power away or you think you're going to work your way through some sort of healthy discourse and solve the world's problems.

It's irresponsible to raise this issue in such a manner. People shouldn't have to come on these boards and see incendiary bullshit like that. I know I'm absolutely the wrong person to raise that argument. And look in the mirror Gabe, because you are too. You know who might be offended by a white person using that word? Black people. And yet here you are, a white person. Using that word. 

Regardless of your secondhand story, you've pretty much committed the exact same offense that you were speaking out against. 

I remember when I was a little kid, if my sister ever said a dirty word, I'd rush to one of my parents to tell them.  Not so I could get my sister in trouble, but so I could say the word myself without getting in trouble for it.

That's what this feels like to me.

As a brother myself, I'd always preferred the negative pejorative "Those darn Negroes". "Niggers" is a bit harsh.

If it's an awful word for the white guy to use in the story, when then does it become an okay word to use for a white guy to start a thread? The context in this situation has no bearing on the subtext. And the subtext in this instance carries a lot of history and negativity that we shouldn't need a CHUD thread to remind us of. 

My approach (not always this way, admittedly) is to treat the boards and the people on it like I would a room of real flesh and blood people. Run into a diner filled with people talking about art, pop culture, politics and shout that word. Just shout it. And let that be the way to start this brave dialog. And then try to tell the above story before somebody punches you in the mouth.  

And with that I'm out. Sorry I got worked up, but the fact that I have to look at this in the New Posts list all day is bullshit.

Irregardless. You're not black. And I'm failing to see your point in this thread aside from "Doesn't it suck that this is still an awful word?" Yeah, and you're not a brave or thoughtful person just because you're acknowledging this. 

Aside from the fact that this is America and we all have free speech and can say whatever we want: Historians, Artists and Black People. Unless you're one or all of those things, I lose respect for you for thinking you can use that word responsibly. And you've proven here you can't. 

I'm speaking for nobody but myself. Words have power and there's a certain accountability we should be held to when using them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gabe T 

Well, Tim, what's the alternative? People still use this word in 2012 without irony! I mean, when I was a kid, I knew this shit was wrong, even if the word was only used in a certain impolite company. And yet, it hasn't gone away at all.

 

As much as I hate it, why would we pretend it doesn't exist? Right now, the word hurts no matter the context. If any mod wants to change the thread title, please do. But it's not going to go away. While we shouldn't use it, pretending it doesn't exist, or substituting another word for it, isn't going to have a neutral affect, it's going to strengthen it's use in the hands of a bigot. We isolate the word, and others who use it for hate will have more power. It's not a "say or don't say" situation. And I think you're speaking for a black person who doesn't need to be spoken for, as if this conversation was unwelcome to them because of a certain word being used.

 

I don't mean to get on some bullshit pedestal about this. Obviously, I haven't experienced the brunt of this word firsthand. I'm just shocked at the ease in which some can use the word to denote blacks as "lesser people." It's hate speech. The question is, isolated from intent, what is it? Hopefully a defunct word from a less enlightened time. Sadly, this isn't the case.

None of this is new or particularly insightful though.  If you were blazing some new intellectual or even satirical trail, I could see using that thread title to lure people in.  But it just feels like it's there for the shock value, except there's no shock.  Just the same old, "Why pretend it doesn't exist?" and "Isn't it awful that word still has power?"

I'm with Tim and Richard on this. Gabe is literally retarded. Why is this thread not nuked yet? "PEOPLE DROP THE N-BOMB, NEWS AT 11"

You! You used the word casually! As the title of a message board thread. There, that's my anecdotal story.

Fuck changing thread title. I second the nuking of this pointless thread. 

Lot of "N-Word" guys in this thread, I reckon.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Syd 

I'm talking going to work and having your boss show off his "afro-american beating stick" while you stand there and wonder if there's a job opening ANYWHERE else. 

 

Ah, one of the classics from the "Weird/annoying coworkers" thread, if remember right; no matter how many times i read this, i still go "The fuck?"

Here in Chile weve been having more and more black inmigrants as of late (yes, its ok to use the word "negro" in latin america, since thats the only practical word; i know its sound bad in english), but we have little racism if you ask me; bigotry against peruvians/bolivians and animosity towards argentinians are stronger, cause old habits die hard, i guess (also, those are the countries we have been in military/political conflicts with in the past).

Maybe i notice it less cause Ive spent a lot of time in Ecuador with my mother's side of the family, though.