4 ms·

To anyone brandishing the word 'racist' here, can you point us to any instance where what Terry wrote was not merely a rambling screed with the n-word in it, bu

To anyone brandishing the word 'racist' here, can you point us to any instance where what Terry wrote was not merely a rambling screed with the n-word in it, but actually racist thought. Because to me, those are different things - the former likely an excusable symptom, and the latter, y'know, actual racism. Maybe you think it's the same. Maybe you're enforcing your zero-tolerance policy. If so, we disagree. To me it looks like a huge assumption, possibly more offensive than Terry's rants.

ixtli 12y ago
To call not being accepting of any incarnation of racial violence "zero-tolerance" has a really unfortunate air of dismissal to it. I, for one, am not a middle school hall monitor. There are things that a (relatively) advanced, civil society like ours should not accept. Just because you say something and may or may not mean what someone else meant does not remove the broader social context. The word is racist because of the social context and when you use it you evoke that context whether you understand it, agree with it, or not. Edit: to be clear, my point is that evoking such an idea or meaning is violent towards others and an individual doesn't get to decide that this isn't the case. Believing you can is a hallmark of privilege.
- vezzy-fnord 12y ago
  Given that racism is a universal thing and often happens intra-minority (African-Americans and Jews are an (in)famous example), your statement would pretty much mean that just about every demographic exhibits a hallmark of privilege by sheer virtue of ignoring broader social contexts in a racial slur.
kristofferR 12y ago
I could - but I don't see the point at all. Blaming him for being a racist is like blaming someone with alzheimer for being forgetful.
- andywood 12y ago
  That's my only point: that there's correlation between his condition, and his rants, therefore we don't say, "That guy?? He 'espouses racist ideology'!!* Screw 'im!" * (actual comment in this thread)

ixtli 12y ago

To call not being accepting of any incarnation of racial violence "zero-tolerance" has a really unfortunate air of dismissal to it. I, for one, am not a middle school hall monitor. There are things that a (relatively) advanced, civil society like ours should not accept. Just because you say something and may or may not mean what someone else meant does not remove the broader social context. The word is racist because of the social context and when you use it you evoke that context whether you understand it, agree with it, or not. Edit: to be clear, my point is that evoking such an idea or meaning is violent towards others and an individual doesn't get to decide that this isn't the case. Believing you can is a hallmark of privilege.

vezzy-fnord 12y ago
Given that racism is a universal thing and often happens intra-minority (African-Americans and Jews are an (in)famous example), your statement would pretty much mean that just about every demographic exhibits a hallmark of privilege by sheer virtue of ignoring broader social contexts in a racial slur.

kristofferR 12y ago

I could - but I don't see the point at all. Blaming him for being a racist is like blaming someone with alzheimer for being forgetful.

andywood 12y ago
That's my only point: that there's correlation between his condition, and his rants, therefore we don't say, "That guy?? He 'espouses racist ideology'!!* Screw 'im!" * (actual comment in this thread)