Racial slurs

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Dekka

Dekka

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I was writing a reply to that post on fugly and someone responed that my using dumb was like using the 'n' word. (according to the oxford english dictionary using dumb to mean stupid is informal while using the n word is derogatory slang)

But that got me thinking, who is really offened if they hear/read racial slurs? Is it only if it touches home? Do you think people should lighten up?

Some racial slurs are worse than others... or do you think any derogatory racial comment is bad period?
 
I think it reflects only on the person using it, rather than on the object of its intent and such things would lose their power to hurt and incite mayhem if we would all remember that.
 
Some really bother me ..... this isn't racial , but since Nash was born I hate Retard !!!
 
I think ALL racial slurs are DISGUSTING along with the people using them.

DISGUSTING DISGUSTING DISGUSTING
 
Retard was a term that garnered attention on fugly in the BSL debate. I use dumb but not retard.
 
I think any racial slur is bad period.

Some are more offensive than others. I am about as caucasian as they get. I was raised in a southern bigoted household. The pendulum swings, and I went the other direction.

I am grossly offended by racial slurs and the ignorance of people who make them. It is personally disgusting and repugnant to me when people make denigrating racial slurs, or judge others by their race or color of their skin rather than the content of their character.

to quote Roy D. Mercer, "It ain't funny."
 
Renee750il said:
I think it reflects only on the person using it, rather than on the object of its intent and such things would lose their power to hurt and incite mayhem if we would all remember that.
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I tend to agree with you on that Renee. That also goes with words like the f-bomb. I will admit that I use it and too frequently. I have other adjectives, though. When someone uses it as their only adjective, it just shows their complete lack of class and vocabulary.
 
I don't think any derogatory slurs are worse than others, they are all terrible. Some certainly seem to have more power over people, however, and I think that is directly related to how inured to the words we become through regular use. For instance - both 'bitch' and 'cunt' are slurs for women; which one do you cringe most at being called? Which one are you called more? My bet is that the first one is cunt and second bitch, for nearly all of us.

In some cases, for instance, when the oppressed are taking the word back, we should "lighten up" as you put it. And by taking the word back, I mean using it as a compliment, NOT an insult - then you are just using it to wound more. So, for instance, when I started the Snarky Bitches Club as a badge of honor.. it's saying, "yes, I'm a woman, and being a BITCH is a GOOD thing!"

It's taking the term back.

Now if I call someone else a bitch, and don't use it as a compliment? Uh uh. Not the same effect. Then I'm just hurting someone else with the word. Besides, I'm creative, I can think of plenty of other words to call people. ;) I don't need nasty epithets anyhow.

That said, when it comes to racial slurs specifically.. I ditto Red: "I am grossly offended by racial slurs and the ignorance of people who make them. It is personally disgusting and repugnant to me when people make denigrating racial slurs, or judge others by their race or color of their skin rather than the content of their character."
 
I think you can only use a derogatory word on yourself or a close friend if you are talking it back.

Like you could say to a a good friend (if you were both girls) "looking sexy biatch" :D But you would get a whole nother response if a guy said it as you walked down the street. Interestingly I wouldn't be offended if male gay friend said it either. So it has to do with connotations as well as context.
 
Dekka said:
I think you can only use a derogatory word on yourself or a close friend if you are talking it back.

Like you could say to a a good friend (if you were both girls) "looking sexy biatch" :D But you would get a whole nother response if a guy said it as you walked down the street. Interestingly I wouldn't be offended if male gay friend said it either. So it has to do with connotations as well as context.
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I'm not offended no matter who calls me it when I know exactly how they mean it (although like you said - MUCH more acceptable for friends to say it), and seldom offended when I don't. When it's a complete stranger saying it, you assume the worst, and frankly it's not usually meant to be a compliment, it's used as a slur.

One of my dear friends is my bitch, and I'm her ho. And it's not derogatory or cruel at all, it's completely complimentary.
 
Thats the one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard. I do not think "dumb" is a racial slur.

I think that any derogatory racial slur is disgusting and very hurtful. I've had a lot of Mexican friends and african american family members, so I've seen how hurtful it can be.

My father used a racial slur once when I had a mexican friend in our car. I was horrified. He forgot she was in the car, but its still not right to say things like that... even jokes. My parents WERE racist and told me that if I ever dated a mexican that they would disown me. They told me that after they found out I was seeing a mexican boy from high school.

Growing up and seeing my parents hatred and the hurt its caused has created my dislike for anyone that uses racial terms.
 
Reggin said:
Growing up and seeing my parents hatred and the hurt its caused has created my dislike for anyone that uses racial terms.
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I thought you said your fiance named Reggin. Why are you still with him then, since he seems so fond of racial slurs?
 
I really can't stand when people judge any group as a whole but unfortunately everyone is to blame for this. I think it's just a gut reflex depending on where you were raised or your life experiences. The important thing is that people consider their audience and avoid doing it as much as possible imo.

I also can't stand today's slang. lol But I'm in my 30s now and a mom and I know my mom said the same thing to me and my sis :rofl1: I'm not going to pretend I'm 15 either and try and be 'cool' :cool:

Seriously, I agree with Renee. How you talk to people reflects only on you.
 
Although "dumb" literally means unable to speak, I don't think anyone has used it in that way for a long time. It just means "stupid" these days. By contrast, "retarded" is still used to refer to mentally challanged people, and is, I believe, still the medical term. Therefore, calling a stupid idea "retarded" is somewhat offensive, whereas calling it "dumb" is not.

As for racial slurs . . . I don't like hearing the word "retarded" or hearing someone called a "retard." But, I am furious to hear someone called the n-word, unless its between friends, or to prove a rhetorical point. (For example, I used it in a private conversation with another attorney regarding a voting rights violation. I commented that the people down there "don't care if them n-ggers vote." What I meant, and what the other lawyer understood it as, was not a slur against the black people whose rights had been violated, but a slur against the rednecks who had interfered with their ability to do so. What I was saying, basically, was that the individuals involved were the sort of people who call black people n-ggers)

The problem with racial slurs is not that they are just words. They are, of course, just words. Nor is it that they are "bad words." The f-bomb is a bad word, but, in most circumstances, it is just a lewd, crude word. It is not a word intended, and used, to wound someone. You might call them a motherf-er, but you probably don't mean that they engage in sexual congress with their mother. You're expressing contempt and rage, but you are not trying to drive a nail into their heart. Calling a black person a n-gger doesn't just express anger, or contempt for their behavior . . . it is dismissing them as person, striking out at what they are, and using the most hurtful thing you can say. Its dehumanizing in a way that "motherf-er" isn't. It says, "you're not a person, you're just a n-gger."
 
Lilavati said:
The problem with racial slurs is not that they are just words. They are, of course, just words. Nor is it that they are "bad words." The f-bomb is a bad word, but, in most circumstances, it is just a lewd, crude word. It is not a word intended, and used, to wound someone. You might call them a motherf-er, but you probably don't mean that they engage in sexual congress with their mother. You're expressing contempt and rage, but you are not trying to drive a nail into their heart. Calling a black person a n-gger doesn't just express anger, or contempt for their behavior . . . it is dismissing them as person, striking out at what they are, and using the most hurtful thing you can say. Its dehumanizing in a way that "motherf-er" isn't. It says, "you're not a person, you're just a n-gger."
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You summed the issue up very well.
 
noludoru said:
I thought you said your fiance named Reggin. Why are you still with him then, since he seems so fond of racial slurs?
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Yes, he named Reggin, which is a spin off of Reggie. My fiance is not racist, he has had friends of a variety of races. Reggin is not meant to be read backwards, its meant to be read forwards like any other word. It is not derogatory. Why am a with him? Well, that list could be long. lol.
 
Okay. So . . . either this thread is an honest conversation about an issue or it's a thinly veiled attempt to strike out at someone . . . I'd strongly suggest we stick to it being the former.
 
What upsets me is when people use their race to their advantage, instead of getting their lazy @sses up, and do something with their life. The world is not that bad, and EVERYONE has to deal with certain degree of prejudice. And I'm the biggest mutt you'll ever meet, lol. I'm black, hispanic (with other carribean blood in me as well) Native American and chinese, but you will NEVER find me complaining about life. For a "minority" to use a racial slur towards a person of caucasian decent, is just as bad as the other way around. It pisses me off, when people use that as an excuse, because it makes every "minority" look bad. NO ONE affects your life but YOU, come on we live in the year 2008. I wish people would just get over it already . :rolleyes: You cant re-write history, but you can suck it up and move on its OVER stop blaming everyone in the world but yourself.
 
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