Its a racist day in my neighborhood.

[RatRace123]

It's been said already, but you proved yourself to be the bigger man. Certainly a lot bigger than that idiot.

 

[Signa]

Spoiler: snip

Sounds like you need to ask yourself what bothered you most about his use of the word.

Firstly he was lying. Secondly what bothered me was he used the word because he thought he was safe saying ****** in a private conversation with two other white people.

Well, you were there and I wasn't so I won't disagree, but you said it yourself:

and he piped up with his former social worker was a black woman and was a ******.

If that's the way he said it, then everything I've said in this thread sounds true. To him, there is a difference between some one who is black, and someone who is a ******. Maybe he thought he was speaking in the clear, but us whities have gotten pretty good at policing our own when it comes to rampant racism (just look at all the people in this thread calling him a piece of shit). He'd have to be completely stupid if he thought that it was OK to just approach you as start talking about his Klan meetings.

And please understand, I'm not trying to defend the guy for being an idiot. You were definitely the better man in this case. I'm just trying to point out that as careless as he was, it might not have been driven by actual hatred for those with darker skin than him.

Been reading your posts on this topic for a bit now, Signa, but I gotta chip in now.

First, let's put out a thought about the word '******'. If you're going by the 'Chris Rock definition', you're still wrong, or at least missing the obvious part of the insult. Unless you're just too caught up in the cultural stigma surrounding the word, ****** stems from the latin adjective for 'black'. So no, it does not JUST a word for theives, murderers, and fools, otherwise society would have picked something more fitting. You can't separate what '******' means on the surface (and what that color STILL implies today in topics of race), and its deeper meaning.

Now, our offensive co-worker at the office might not have thought so much about the word, but he still used it. He essentially called this black woman 'black', but he knows he meant something more mean spirited than that. But if he's going to use an insult that refers to an entire race of the human population, than he insults everyone of that race by his own mean-spiritedness.

ehh, no. I disagree. Even if the etymology means black, no one gives a shit anymore about that. It's a hated word because of history, not because of the reason it came into being. I agree that no one uses it to mean murderers and thieves exclusively, but it does mean black murderers and thieves. When some one is that despicable, only the most hate-filled adjectives can properly convey how terrible they are as humans. They are less than human (which is some definitions of the N-word), because they have separated themselves from a functioning society so that they are free to hurt others for their own gain. I mean, can you think of a better, more concise word to describe some one who would murder you for your shoes? Like I said in on of my last posts, the only thing I feel is unfortunate is that it can only be used to describe blacks, and there is no other word that invokes such hatred for any other race. It's unfair, because if I acted like a ******, I deserve a similar title. As I said before too, that imbalance needs to be righted. The only way to do that is invent a new word to describe other shitty people (nearly impossible) or overuse the N-word so that the hate and vitriol behind it is dulled to the level of any other racial slur (far less impossible).

As far as insulting the entire race, I don't see how that logically follows. Sure, you can say that because it's a word that only applies to people who are black, it therefore insults all black people when used. Maybe it's my own ignorance, but I just don't see it that way. I, for the life of me, can't think of another instance where that holds true. I can call you a stupid American and not mean that all Americans are stupid. I can call my sister a ****, and not mean that all my sisters or all women are cunts. If I call one black person a ******, how does that mean that all black people are niggers? I don't even think that applies to any other racial slurs either.

Perhaps it's because there is a far stronger sense of community between blacks that I will never fully understand. Insulting one of them means insulting all of them, because they want to stand strong together. It's an awesome thing if that's how they feel, because it's brought them through such terrible adversity over the centuries. But now that we have such a strong sense of anti-racism in the white communities, that sense of togetherness needs to be reevaluated. At best, it's keeping them apart from us whites because they want to keep reminding us they are not white, and yet they want to keep being treated differently through cultural sensitivity. At worst, they are bringing the dregs of society into their fold unconditionally, even though it's making them look bad. Maybe it's because I'm living in Seattle where there is little racism or "niggers" to be seen, but these issues are so passé to me. I have a black friend and I help out his black friends without so much as even a hint of "whoa, they're black!" entering my mind. These are great people and it's impossible for me to see them as anything else.

 

[Ipsen]

Spoiler: snip

Sounds like you need to ask yourself what bothered you most about his use of the word.

Firstly he was lying. Secondly what bothered me was he used the word because he thought he was safe saying ****** in a private conversation with two other white people.

Well, you were there and I wasn't so I won't disagree, but you said it yourself:

and he piped up with his former social worker was a black woman and was a ******.

If that's the way he said it, then everything I've said in this thread sounds true. To him, there is a difference between some one who is black, and someone who is a ******. Maybe he thought he was speaking in the clear, but us whities have gotten pretty good at policing our own when it comes to rampant racism (just look at all the people in this thread calling him a piece of shit). He'd have to be completely stupid if he thought that it was OK to just approach you as start talking about his Klan meetings.

And please understand, I'm not trying to defend the guy for being an idiot. You were definitely the better man in this case. I'm just trying to point out that as careless as he was, it might not have been driven by actual hatred for those with darker skin than him.

Been reading your posts on this topic for a bit now, Signa, but I gotta chip in now.

First, let's put out a thought about the word '******'. If you're going by the 'Chris Rock definition', you're still wrong, or at least missing the obvious part of the insult. Unless you're just too caught up in the cultural stigma surrounding the word, ****** stems from the latin adjective for 'black'. So no, it does not JUST a word for theives, murderers, and fools, otherwise society would have picked something more fitting. You can't separate what '******' means on the surface (and what that color STILL implies today in topics of race), and its deeper meaning.

Now, our offensive co-worker at the office might not have thought so much about the word, but he still used it. He essentially called this black woman 'black', but he knows he meant something more mean spirited than that. But if he's going to use an insult that refers to an entire race of the human population, than he insults everyone of that race by his own mean-spiritedness.

ehh, no. I disagree. Even if the etymology means black, no one gives a shit anymore about that. It's a hated word because of history, not because of the reason it came into being. I agree that no one uses it to mean murderers and thieves exclusively, but it does mean black murderers and thieves. When some one is that despicable, only the most hate-filled adjectives can properly convey how terrible they are as humans. They are less than human (which is some definitions of the N-word), because they have separated themselves from a functioning society so that they are free to hurt others for their own gain. I mean, can you think of a better, more concise word to describe some one who would murder you for your shoes? Like I said in on of my last posts, the only thing I feel is unfortunate is that it can only be used to describe blacks, and there is no other word that invokes such hatred for any other race. It's unfair, because if I acted like a ******, I deserve a similar title. As I said before too, that imbalance needs to be righted. The only way to do that is invent a new word to describe other shitty people (nearly impossible) or overuse the N-word so that the hate and vitriol behind it is dulled to the level of any other racial slur (far less impossible).

As far as insulting the entire race, I don't see how that logically follows. Sure, you can say that because it's a word that only applies to people who are black, it therefore insults all black people when used. Maybe it's my own ignorance, but I just don't see it that way. I, for the life of me, can't think of another instance where that holds true. I can call you a stupid American and not mean that all Americans are stupid. I can call my sister a ****, and not mean that all my sisters or all women are cunts. If I call one black person a ******, how does that mean that all black people are niggers? I don't even think that applies to any other racial slurs either.

Perhaps it's because there is a far stronger sense of community between blacks that I will never fully understand. Insulting one of them means insulting all of them, because they want to stand strong together. It's an awesome thing if that's how they feel, because it's brought them through such terrible adversity over the centuries. But now that we have such a strong sense of anti-racism in the white communities, that sense of togetherness needs to be reevaluated. At best, it's keeping them apart from us whites because they want to keep reminding us they are not white, and yet they want to keep being treated differently through cultural sensitivity. At worst, they are bringing the dregs of society into their fold unconditionally, even though it's making them look bad. Maybe it's because I'm living in Seattle where there is little racism or "niggers" to be seen, but these issues are so passé to me. I have a black friend and I help out his black friends without so much as even a hint of "whoa, they're black!" entering my mind. These are great people and it's impossible for me to see them as anything else.

Hmm, perhaps I go to far in expressing how much I hate this term. It seems to only give you a reason to clarify your 'new' definition of ****** (which I find equally as disgusting as the 'old' definition). You want to hate black murderers and thieves? Go right on ahead. Hope that prepares you properly for a possible encounter with them in life. But do try to acknowledge that your callousness in not caring about what that word WAS specifically because it is 'history' keeps it alive today as well. History of the word ****** and its usage involves that people who used it thought they were superior to blacks (they thought that they were superior to everyone, but I think old time racists bore this from the sheer amount of african americans always present in this country); its a word that labeled one group of people lesser in days of slavery, and became a word of hatred when they were given rights, as in 'you're still a lesser being'. Now, do you really want to continue that trend in 2011, calling murderers and theives, people who likely come from broken homes, schools, communities by some old hateful phrase (I'll be honest, I can't blame you if you did)?

And I'll have to agree with you as well on one point; perhaps I'm just not in the mood to search, but not many other racial slurs have the negativity of the word '******' (which is why it bothers me so). I'll say its the history behind the word. Took over a century for the slavery of people called niggers (as if that was their title) to end, and they were later publicly hated when given citizenship. Americans back then DID hate many peoples (Native americans come to mind easy), but they've spent more time with large numbers of blacks than most other cultures of the world. So the word tends to make a stink over time.

And if you want a concise description that concisely describes those murderers and thieves you hate so much, 'poor' works (and I mean 'poor' in just about every aspect of life you can apply the word to).

 

[Signa]

Spoiler: snip

Sounds like you need to ask yourself what bothered you most about his use of the word.

Firstly he was lying. Secondly what bothered me was he used the word because he thought he was safe saying ****** in a private conversation with two other white people.

Well, you were there and I wasn't so I won't disagree, but you said it yourself:

and he piped up with his former social worker was a black woman and was a ******.

If that's the way he said it, then everything I've said in this thread sounds true. To him, there is a difference between some one who is black, and someone who is a ******. Maybe he thought he was speaking in the clear, but us whities have gotten pretty good at policing our own when it comes to rampant racism (just look at all the people in this thread calling him a piece of shit). He'd have to be completely stupid if he thought that it was OK to just approach you as start talking about his Klan meetings.

And please understand, I'm not trying to defend the guy for being an idiot. You were definitely the better man in this case. I'm just trying to point out that as careless as he was, it might not have been driven by actual hatred for those with darker skin than him.

Been reading your posts on this topic for a bit now, Signa, but I gotta chip in now.

First, let's put out a thought about the word '******'. If you're going by the 'Chris Rock definition', you're still wrong, or at least missing the obvious part of the insult. Unless you're just too caught up in the cultural stigma surrounding the word, ****** stems from the latin adjective for 'black'. So no, it does not JUST a word for theives, murderers, and fools, otherwise society would have picked something more fitting. You can't separate what '******' means on the surface (and what that color STILL implies today in topics of race), and its deeper meaning.

Now, our offensive co-worker at the office might not have thought so much about the word, but he still used it. He essentially called this black woman 'black', but he knows he meant something more mean spirited than that. But if he's going to use an insult that refers to an entire race of the human population, than he insults everyone of that race by his own mean-spiritedness.

ehh, no. I disagree. Even if the etymology means black, no one gives a shit anymore about that. It's a hated word because of history, not because of the reason it came into being. I agree that no one uses it to mean murderers and thieves exclusively, but it does mean black murderers and thieves. When some one is that despicable, only the most hate-filled adjectives can properly convey how terrible they are as humans. They are less than human (which is some definitions of the N-word), because they have separated themselves from a functioning society so that they are free to hurt others for their own gain. I mean, can you think of a better, more concise word to describe some one who would murder you for your shoes? Like I said in on of my last posts, the only thing I feel is unfortunate is that it can only be used to describe blacks, and there is no other word that invokes such hatred for any other race. It's unfair, because if I acted like a ******, I deserve a similar title. As I said before too, that imbalance needs to be righted. The only way to do that is invent a new word to describe other shitty people (nearly impossible) or overuse the N-word so that the hate and vitriol behind it is dulled to the level of any other racial slur (far less impossible).

As far as insulting the entire race, I don't see how that logically follows. Sure, you can say that because it's a word that only applies to people who are black, it therefore insults all black people when used. Maybe it's my own ignorance, but I just don't see it that way. I, for the life of me, can't think of another instance where that holds true. I can call you a stupid American and not mean that all Americans are stupid. I can call my sister a ****, and not mean that all my sisters or all women are cunts. If I call one black person a ******, how does that mean that all black people are niggers? I don't even think that applies to any other racial slurs either.

Perhaps it's because there is a far stronger sense of community between blacks that I will never fully understand. Insulting one of them means insulting all of them, because they want to stand strong together. It's an awesome thing if that's how they feel, because it's brought them through such terrible adversity over the centuries. But now that we have such a strong sense of anti-racism in the white communities, that sense of togetherness needs to be reevaluated. At best, it's keeping them apart from us whites because they want to keep reminding us they are not white, and yet they want to keep being treated differently through cultural sensitivity. At worst, they are bringing the dregs of society into their fold unconditionally, even though it's making them look bad. Maybe it's because I'm living in Seattle where there is little racism or "niggers" to be seen, but these issues are so passé to me. I have a black friend and I help out his black friends without so much as even a hint of "whoa, they're black!" entering my mind. These are great people and it's impossible for me to see them as anything else.

Hmm, perhaps I go to far in expressing how much I hate this term. It seems to only give you a reason to clarify your 'new' definition of ****** (which I find equally as disgusting as the 'old' definition). You want to hate black murderers and thieves? Go right on ahead. Hope that prepares you properly for a possible encounter with them in life. But do try to acknowledge that your callousness in not caring about what that word WAS specifically because it is 'history' keeps it alive today as well. History of the word ****** and its usage involves that people who used it thought they were superior to blacks (they thought that they were superior to everyone, but I think old time racists bore this from the sheer amount of african americans always present in this country); its a word that labeled one group of people lesser in days of slavery, and became a word of hatred when they were given rights, as in 'you're still a lesser being'. Now, do you really want to continue that trend in 2011, calling murderers and theives, people who likely come from broken homes, schools, communities by some old hateful phrase (I'll be honest, I can't blame you if you did)?

And I'll have to agree with you as well on one point; perhaps I'm just not in the mood to search, but not many other racial slurs have the negativity of the word '******' (which is why it bothers me so). I'll say its the history behind the word. Took over a century for the slavery of people called niggers (as if that was their title) to end, and they were later publicly hated when given citizenship. Americans back then DID hate many peoples (Native americans come to mind easy), but they've spent more time with large numbers of blacks than most other cultures of the world. So the word tends to make a stink over time.

And if you want a concise description that concisely describes those murderers and thieves you hate so much, 'poor' works (and I mean 'poor' in just about every aspect of life you can apply the word to).

Oh I definitely acknowledge my callousness with the word, that's the point!

What is a measure of a man to you? For me, it is some one who at the very least does their best to not hurt others. They can be layabouts and never contribute to society, but when you start hurting society and push progress backwards, you are a piece of shit. I'd even argue that the 1% everyone is hating on right now fit that description: hoarding all the wealth for their personal gain isn't helping anyone, and is starting to hurt people.

And "poor" has definitely been kicking around in the back of my mind though all of this, but I just don't see it fitting. You can be poor and still be a good person. There can even be something freeing about being poor because you can have less to worry about. Being poor should also be a challenge for someone to strive to be better if they are unhappy with their life. Being merely poor doesn't represent the anger and rage that a person needs to start hurting others. Lack of wealth doesn't explain scenarios where someone's brother is murdered in front of them so to convince them to join their gang (it happened to a student of a teacher friend of mine). No, just being poor doesn't turn you into a monster.

 

[Helmholtz Watson]

***EDIT*** I originally had what city I live in but have edited it out on the small chance some idiot on my property recognizes this.

So I live in one of the largest cities in the province of Ontario. We are nothing if not ethnic and racially diverse, whether Canadian born or new Canadians. I myself am a product of a bi-racial couple, my father White, my mother being Mulatto. (one black parent on white parent) Thus making my siblings and I Quadroons. Yes people still use these terms, and no not negatively.

I work as a Building/Property manager for a rental property. The incident starts out innocently enough, while having my break, I was speaking to a tenant, and another tenant approaches, this second tenant whom I thought a very decent person and whom always for over a month brought me a coffee in the morning. Anyway, due to what followed I can't even remember how whatever topic we were on got to race, but it did, and he piped up with his former social worker was a black woman and was a ******. And as just an after thought she was a thieving ****** who some how miraculously stole from his welfare cheque. And then it was ****** ***** with a ****** attitude.
I thought I was going to explode on the spot.

Now as I mentioned as I am a the child of a bi-racial couple, racism is not new to me. I spent a large chunk of my childhood beating the shit of of schoolyard bullies who thought it was a good idea to pick on my little brother. (the only one of us 5 children who got a fraction of my mother's skin color) And not just school age children, but school teachers, pediatricians, librarians, the public in general who would ask my little 7 year brother if he was adopted. As if the adult mind could not fathom that a white man would marry and procreate with a black woman. This was the mid 80's through the 90's. God I'm still bitter and angry for every time my brother would get upset.

So anyway back to my present situation.

This person is my tenant and I am at work, it took every ounce of self will I have to walk away, and not fucking explode and at the VERY LEAST start screaming, at worst fucking punch this man in the face.

But now 10 hours later what is bothering me is that I just walked away and let him carry on. I was choking on rage and stomach bile was curdling up in to my mouth. I couldn't even think of a sensible non-violent or non-insulting thing to say.

What should I have done?

You did the right thing, because it could have cost you your job and your dignity. I say dignity because I personally feel that you only go down to their level when you react violently. Take a shower, jog, watch a favorite movie, play a favorite video game, lift weights, or do anything else you can to not let this persons comments get to you.

You said you live in Canada, and I don't know the laws their on "freedom of speech" but I feel like you could lose your job or get in trouble , if you just attack someone for express their opinion (even if its a rather unkind opinion).