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American political correctness on full display. Edit because I realize that I'm going to be super downvoted: I understand the history and the reasoning behind

American political correctness on full display. Edit because I realize that I'm going to be super downvoted: I understand the history and the reasoning behind it, and I would agree with the termination as it is "American" common sense. But coming from another country it is still strange to me that there are a couple of well defined words that are COMPLETELY forbidden, and that saying any of those words will immediately terminate any job, relation, everything that you worked for.

tootie 8y ago
Yup. It's being applied very fairly and effectively in this case.
- yycom 8y ago
  Could you explain how this is fair and effective? I would be interested in reading something other than bald assertions and cyclic argument ("it's bad because it's bad").
  - tootie 8y ago
    I mean, that's it. It's a rule of our society. That word means "black people that are weak, ignorant, servile and subhuman". We as a society have elected to make it a word that is forbidden in polite conversation unless you think the definition is accurate. Using it casually, even if you think you are not racist, is a signal that you don't care about other people's feelings.
    - b6 8y ago
      > We as a society have elected to make it a word that is forbidden in polite conversation unless you think the definition is accurate. We have done no such thing. Your statement is about as inaccurate and misleading as it could possibly be. The word you are talking about can be heard throughout TV shows, movies, and music. The vast majority of the time, it is not being used in the way you suggest. Your assertion that it is a "rule of our society" is as absurd as claiming the earth is flat.
      - tootie 8y ago
        You're being deliberately obtuse. It is used casually among African-Americans because they want to own it. It is used in works of fiction to portray exactly the type of negative image I used earlier. It is almost never used by non-Blacks with sincerity and when it is, it's considered deliberately racist. You can engage in some more nonsensical hair-splitting or you can choose to live by the rules of polite society. If I can turn the tables on you, how about the fact that I can find pictures of naked people all over the internet and even some public places, yet if I walked into a meeting at work with no clothes on, I'd be fired? What an unbelievable conundrum!
ceejayoz 8y ago
It may seem strange to someone from another country... but there aren't that many countries that fought a massive, traumatic, bloody war over the issue of slavery. Add in Jim Crow, which only ended about 50 years ago, and you'll find things are a little more fraught than they might be in countries that peacefully abolished slavery (or didn't heavily practice it in the first place).
- scarface74 8y ago
  The idea of “White spaces” is still prevalent just not legal. I go to plenty of places where people look at my family like we don’t belong. I was driving around my own neighborhood looking at a house they were building behind ours (no one owned it and they didn’t even have the drywall up) and someone was looking at me like I was scoping the unfinished house out and kept looking until I drove in my garage. Another time I was outside dressed in slacks and a polo after coming home from work talking to the (White) yard guy who was covered in grass and one of the neighbors just walked up and started talking to him asking about how long as he lived in the neighborhood completely ignoring me. This happened in the South in the 80s... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WErjPmFulQ0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WErjPmFulQ0
  - abnry 8y ago
    That really stinks. I am curious, do you see as cultural restrictions on the N-word as a way to make a sort of verbal "black space?" Do you think it is appropriate to counter white spaces by making black spaces or do you think it is better to tear down all race-based spaces?
    - scarface74 8y ago
      I never thought of language being a verbal “space” but it makes sense. But it’s not only in Black culture. There was a Supreme Court case about an Asian band wanted a trademark on “The Slants” (https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/why-racially-offensive-trademarks-are-now-legally-protected https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/why-racially-offens...). I think it’s domething that many minority cultures do. Black people don’t need to go out of our way to create spaces - as soon as too many of us move into a neighborhood it will be done for us. (Is gentrification still a thing after the real estate crash in 2008?)
sumedh 8y ago
> But coming from another country it is still strange to me that there are a couple of well defined words that are COMPLETELY forbidden Maybe you should learn American history then.
- ironjunkie 8y ago
  Thanks for your assumption that I didn't learn it. I did. I probably don't have all the emotional background on this subject as you have, growing up in America, but that doesn't change my observation.
  - sumedh 8y ago
    Thanks for your assumption that I am an American, I am not. Since you read about it, just imagine all those atrocities if it happened to you, your family, your community for hundreds of years maybe that might help you make that connection emotionally.
    - ironjunkie 8y ago
      Do I understand that all those atrocities happened? For sure. It is an horrible thing and it should be recognized as such. What I don't get is the way this is dealt with. Forbidding a set of words don't really makes sense to me. Don't get me wrong, I still think it would be extremmely insensitive to use those words as it would be to use any other insult. What I really don't get is the crazy different treatment those words get. It seems that even if you would be the least racist person in the world, if you mistakenly used one of those words (for example you tried to do a failed joke as Bill Maher did [1]), you will immediately be fired//terminated etc etc, even though everyone knows you are not racist at all. That doesn't make a lot of sense to me. One can recognize that the treatment of Black people in this country (in the past and today) is definitely horrible, and also think that this whole forbidden word touchiness doesn't make sense. [1] https://www.vox.com/identities/2017/6/3/15734024/bill-maher-n-word-real-time https://www.vox.com/identities/2017/6/3/15734024/bill-maher-...
      - 8y ago

tootie 8y ago

Yup. It's being applied very fairly and effectively in this case.

yycom 8y ago
Could you explain how this is fair and effective? I would be interested in reading something other than bald assertions and cyclic argument ("it's bad because it's bad").
- tootie 8y ago
  I mean, that's it. It's a rule of our society. That word means "black people that are weak, ignorant, servile and subhuman". We as a society have elected to make it a word that is forbidden in polite conversation unless you think the definition is accurate. Using it casually, even if you think you are not racist, is a signal that you don't care about other people's feelings.
  - b6 8y ago
    > We as a society have elected to make it a word that is forbidden in polite conversation unless you think the definition is accurate. We have done no such thing. Your statement is about as inaccurate and misleading as it could possibly be. The word you are talking about can be heard throughout TV shows, movies, and music. The vast majority of the time, it is not being used in the way you suggest. Your assertion that it is a "rule of our society" is as absurd as claiming the earth is flat.
    - tootie 8y ago
      You're being deliberately obtuse. It is used casually among African-Americans because they want to own it. It is used in works of fiction to portray exactly the type of negative image I used earlier. It is almost never used by non-Blacks with sincerity and when it is, it's considered deliberately racist. You can engage in some more nonsensical hair-splitting or you can choose to live by the rules of polite society. If I can turn the tables on you, how about the fact that I can find pictures of naked people all over the internet and even some public places, yet if I walked into a meeting at work with no clothes on, I'd be fired? What an unbelievable conundrum!

ceejayoz 8y ago

It may seem strange to someone from another country... but there aren't that many countries that fought a massive, traumatic, bloody war over the issue of slavery. Add in Jim Crow, which only ended about 50 years ago, and you'll find things are a little more fraught than they might be in countries that peacefully abolished slavery (or didn't heavily practice it in the first place).

scarface74 8y ago
The idea of “White spaces” is still prevalent just not legal. I go to plenty of places where people look at my family like we don’t belong. I was driving around my own neighborhood looking at a house they were building behind ours (no one owned it and they didn’t even have the drywall up) and someone was looking at me like I was scoping the unfinished house out and kept looking until I drove in my garage. Another time I was outside dressed in slacks and a polo after coming home from work talking to the (White) yard guy who was covered in grass and one of the neighbors just walked up and started talking to him asking about how long as he lived in the neighborhood completely ignoring me. This happened in the South in the 80s... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WErjPmFulQ0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WErjPmFulQ0
- abnry 8y ago
  That really stinks. I am curious, do you see as cultural restrictions on the N-word as a way to make a sort of verbal "black space?" Do you think it is appropriate to counter white spaces by making black spaces or do you think it is better to tear down all race-based spaces?
  - scarface74 8y ago
    I never thought of language being a verbal “space” but it makes sense. But it’s not only in Black culture. There was a Supreme Court case about an Asian band wanted a trademark on “The Slants” (https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/why-racially-offensive-trademarks-are-now-legally-protected https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/why-racially-offens...). I think it’s domething that many minority cultures do. Black people don’t need to go out of our way to create spaces - as soon as too many of us move into a neighborhood it will be done for us. (Is gentrification still a thing after the real estate crash in 2008?)

sumedh 8y ago

> But coming from another country it is still strange to me that there are a couple of well defined words that are COMPLETELY forbidden Maybe you should learn American history then.

ironjunkie 8y ago
Thanks for your assumption that I didn't learn it. I did. I probably don't have all the emotional background on this subject as you have, growing up in America, but that doesn't change my observation.
- sumedh 8y ago
  Thanks for your assumption that I am an American, I am not. Since you read about it, just imagine all those atrocities if it happened to you, your family, your community for hundreds of years maybe that might help you make that connection emotionally.
  - ironjunkie 8y ago
    Do I understand that all those atrocities happened? For sure. It is an horrible thing and it should be recognized as such. What I don't get is the way this is dealt with. Forbidding a set of words don't really makes sense to me. Don't get me wrong, I still think it would be extremmely insensitive to use those words as it would be to use any other insult. What I really don't get is the crazy different treatment those words get. It seems that even if you would be the least racist person in the world, if you mistakenly used one of those words (for example you tried to do a failed joke as Bill Maher did [1]), you will immediately be fired//terminated etc etc, even though everyone knows you are not racist at all. That doesn't make a lot of sense to me. One can recognize that the treatment of Black people in this country (in the past and today) is definitely horrible, and also think that this whole forbidden word touchiness doesn't make sense. [1] https://www.vox.com/identities/2017/6/3/15734024/bill-maher-n-word-real-time https://www.vox.com/identities/2017/6/3/15734024/bill-maher-...
    - 8y ago