Sorry Steve but I don't really buy this. Black people famously use the N among each other but it's worth the incisors of a white person to chummily try to mimic it. There are probably those who say it's been "reclaimed."
AS lot of gay people do the same with "queer," nonchalantly using this abhorrent slur to refer to themselves (and me)…
Sorry Steve but I don't really buy this. Black people famously use the N among each other but it's worth the incisors of a white person to chummily try to mimic it. There are probably those who say it's been "reclaimed."
AS lot of gay people do the same with "queer," nonchalantly using this abhorrent slur to refer to themselves (and me) in what they claim is a neutralization. This is is fermenting bullshit. This "reclamation" is just the latest form of that confrontational belligerence that hindered the achievement of equality. Earlier it was unadulterated bigotry toward heterosexuals ("breeders" in activist parlance). I dropped out of gay politics in the miod 90s after hearing too many who identified with the enclave culture and to whom assimilation was the dirtiest word in the language.
You say that racism is actually rare. Glad I was already sitting down when a read that because a motorbike accident around 2015 left me unsteady on my feet. Steve! Over 70 million people voted for Trump and their racism was the outstandingly strongest motivation; since Trump's bigotry is out in the open those people said "he's our guy," it wasn't economic anxiety.
American racism is intense, it is widespread, and its expression is intensifying. There is simple not enough social pressure against it as there is for rape and murder and that social pressure is the object of mockery among the right. "Safe spaces," "sensitivity training," "fuck your feelings.
OK, my answer IS draconian, but I stand by it. The only way to get bigotry, (which in America means murder, not just hurt feelings) out of our society is to break the generational transmission. I have little more to say about this and don't like repeating myself.
And your idea that sensitivity to the N is for black people to solve, sorry Steve, I'd walk through fire for you and you know it but that just sounds bizarre to me. When gay people call themselves "queer" they are saying yes, we ARE defective, yes, we ARE compulsive deviates.
There is a hypothesis in communications called Sapir-Whorf, with a weak and a strong form; the strong form says that ideas we don't have words for are inexpressible, even unthinkable; the weak form says that expression and thought are harder. The strong form doesn't have a lot of support.
"Over 70 million people voted for Trump and their racism was the outstandingly strongest motivation; since Trump's bigotry is out in the open those people said "he's our guy," it wasn't economic anxiety."
I think you've been reading my work long enough to know how I feel about Trump, but I swear, the "all Trump voters are racists" trope is the left's version of QAnon. It's so transparently false, yet so many people are so fervent about it!
19% of black men voted for Trump in 2020. 10% of black women. 36% of Hispanic men. 30% of Hispanic women? Do we really not have a more nuanced explanation for this than "they're all racist"?! There are numerous reasons why people vote the way they do. I'd say (and argued in my "Why Black People Voted For Trump" piece) that race is way down on that list. And frankly, Joe Biden made, and continues to make, more racist gaffes than Trump ever did.
It's probably broadly fair to say that all racists voted for Trump (though even this is almost certainly simplistic). But to say that everybody who voted for Trump is a racist? A glancing analysis of the facts shows this doesn't make sense.
Yes, racial hatred (note, I specified that clearly) is rare. Do you think people were talking about micro-aggressions in the 60s? Nope. Why? because racial hatred was rife. Yet in 60 years, society has actually made significant strides on that front. People still resort to name-calling during arguments sometimes, sometimes that leads to a few punches being thrown, but it rarely goes beyond that. And of course, most black people go about their day, every day, with nothing racist happening at all. The last time somebody said something to me in real life that I'd describe as racist was about two years ago.
You're conflating two very different things with gay people calling themselves "queer" and black people being called the n-word. I have never, not even close, advocated for black people to use the n-word. I've never talked about reclaiming it. In fact, if you've read my article on the n-word, you'll know that I argue very clearly against both of these.
What I'm saying is that the power of the n-word is in black people's minds. Just as the power of the word "queer" is in yours. But you have a better point, because "queer" has a well understood meaning in the English language, completely separate from gay people, which is at best slightly derogatory. So your wish not to be labelled with it makes perfect sense.
The n-word has *no other purpose in the English language* except to denigrate black people. So 100% of its power is in the minds of black people. Racists believe the power is in their hands, but it's not. This is the point I think you're not getting. And it's really important. Every person who has ever tried to use this word against me has discovered this.
It's almost sad to see the expression on their faces when they see what happens when a black person truly doesn't buy into the idea that there's a slur to describe their skin. They're so confused and disappointed and filled with self-doubt. I want that expression to appear on the face of every single racist on the planet.
So sure, I'm not arguing that ideas we don't have words for are inexpressible (though I can mostly see the logic).I'm arguing that ideas about ourselves are only powerful if we believe them. And if we stop believing them, the people who use them to attack us eventually stop believing them too. I'd like to see more black people carefully examine their beliefs about the n-word.
I didn't say all Trump voters were racists, I said it was the strongest factor, and IO have read of many studies corroborating that. Sure, some voted because they hate the Democrats or they hate (their caricature of) liberals. But racism was far and away the strongest factor.
Studies corroborating that racism was far and away the strongest factor in their voting decision? I’d genuinely be interested to see these!
I’ve never seen any research on the topic at all. And I struggle to see how a study could show that. But if I’m wrong about it I’d obviously love to be corrected.
Sorry Steve but I don't really buy this. Black people famously use the N among each other but it's worth the incisors of a white person to chummily try to mimic it. There are probably those who say it's been "reclaimed."
AS lot of gay people do the same with "queer," nonchalantly using this abhorrent slur to refer to themselves (and me) in what they claim is a neutralization. This is is fermenting bullshit. This "reclamation" is just the latest form of that confrontational belligerence that hindered the achievement of equality. Earlier it was unadulterated bigotry toward heterosexuals ("breeders" in activist parlance). I dropped out of gay politics in the miod 90s after hearing too many who identified with the enclave culture and to whom assimilation was the dirtiest word in the language.
You say that racism is actually rare. Glad I was already sitting down when a read that because a motorbike accident around 2015 left me unsteady on my feet. Steve! Over 70 million people voted for Trump and their racism was the outstandingly strongest motivation; since Trump's bigotry is out in the open those people said "he's our guy," it wasn't economic anxiety.
American racism is intense, it is widespread, and its expression is intensifying. There is simple not enough social pressure against it as there is for rape and murder and that social pressure is the object of mockery among the right. "Safe spaces," "sensitivity training," "fuck your feelings.
OK, my answer IS draconian, but I stand by it. The only way to get bigotry, (which in America means murder, not just hurt feelings) out of our society is to break the generational transmission. I have little more to say about this and don't like repeating myself.
And your idea that sensitivity to the N is for black people to solve, sorry Steve, I'd walk through fire for you and you know it but that just sounds bizarre to me. When gay people call themselves "queer" they are saying yes, we ARE defective, yes, we ARE compulsive deviates.
There is a hypothesis in communications called Sapir-Whorf, with a weak and a strong form; the strong form says that ideas we don't have words for are inexpressible, even unthinkable; the weak form says that expression and thought are harder. The strong form doesn't have a lot of support.
"Over 70 million people voted for Trump and their racism was the outstandingly strongest motivation; since Trump's bigotry is out in the open those people said "he's our guy," it wasn't economic anxiety."
I think you've been reading my work long enough to know how I feel about Trump, but I swear, the "all Trump voters are racists" trope is the left's version of QAnon. It's so transparently false, yet so many people are so fervent about it!
19% of black men voted for Trump in 2020. 10% of black women. 36% of Hispanic men. 30% of Hispanic women? Do we really not have a more nuanced explanation for this than "they're all racist"?! There are numerous reasons why people vote the way they do. I'd say (and argued in my "Why Black People Voted For Trump" piece) that race is way down on that list. And frankly, Joe Biden made, and continues to make, more racist gaffes than Trump ever did.
It's probably broadly fair to say that all racists voted for Trump (though even this is almost certainly simplistic). But to say that everybody who voted for Trump is a racist? A glancing analysis of the facts shows this doesn't make sense.
Yes, racial hatred (note, I specified that clearly) is rare. Do you think people were talking about micro-aggressions in the 60s? Nope. Why? because racial hatred was rife. Yet in 60 years, society has actually made significant strides on that front. People still resort to name-calling during arguments sometimes, sometimes that leads to a few punches being thrown, but it rarely goes beyond that. And of course, most black people go about their day, every day, with nothing racist happening at all. The last time somebody said something to me in real life that I'd describe as racist was about two years ago.
You're conflating two very different things with gay people calling themselves "queer" and black people being called the n-word. I have never, not even close, advocated for black people to use the n-word. I've never talked about reclaiming it. In fact, if you've read my article on the n-word, you'll know that I argue very clearly against both of these.
What I'm saying is that the power of the n-word is in black people's minds. Just as the power of the word "queer" is in yours. But you have a better point, because "queer" has a well understood meaning in the English language, completely separate from gay people, which is at best slightly derogatory. So your wish not to be labelled with it makes perfect sense.
The n-word has *no other purpose in the English language* except to denigrate black people. So 100% of its power is in the minds of black people. Racists believe the power is in their hands, but it's not. This is the point I think you're not getting. And it's really important. Every person who has ever tried to use this word against me has discovered this.
It's almost sad to see the expression on their faces when they see what happens when a black person truly doesn't buy into the idea that there's a slur to describe their skin. They're so confused and disappointed and filled with self-doubt. I want that expression to appear on the face of every single racist on the planet.
So sure, I'm not arguing that ideas we don't have words for are inexpressible (though I can mostly see the logic).I'm arguing that ideas about ourselves are only powerful if we believe them. And if we stop believing them, the people who use them to attack us eventually stop believing them too. I'd like to see more black people carefully examine their beliefs about the n-word.
I didn't say all Trump voters were racists, I said it was the strongest factor, and IO have read of many studies corroborating that. Sure, some voted because they hate the Democrats or they hate (their caricature of) liberals. But racism was far and away the strongest factor.
Studies corroborating that racism was far and away the strongest factor in their voting decision? I’d genuinely be interested to see these!
I’ve never seen any research on the topic at all. And I struggle to see how a study could show that. But if I’m wrong about it I’d obviously love to be corrected.