Comment by abnry | Hacker News Reader

Comment by abnry | Hacker News Reader

Obviously the guy should have been fired if the intent was to offend or demean. Personally, I would never in any circumstances use the word. But do we or don't we want black culture to shape all of american culture? The word shows up in movies, TV shows, and music that white people consume and enjoy. When a word is offensive enough that it is derogatory when a white person uses it no matter the context, but okay for a black person, that is a cultural form of separate but equal. Either make the word something everybody can say or nobody can say. I vote the latter but if black people truly want to reclaim the word as a positive, then I am okay with that as long as anybody can use the word (at least with positive intent).

EDIT: Black people took a word that meant something horrible and made it into such a good thing among themselves that even white people want in on the goodness of the word. How is that not a huge cultural achievement that they should be proud of and allow the broader culture to take up? Doesn't it show the strength of their community to make something awful into something good?

I think this is the best answer to your question:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QO15S3WC9pg

Thank you for sharing. I accept the first half of his argument, which is why I don't use certain words. However, Coates gives himself the freedom to use certain words he would not himself use in situ. The news article posted appears that there is a word that white people cannot utter in any context, even in describing why they don't use it.

I think his context is as a speaker on stage speaking in a meta way. Did he successfully predict audience reaction?

The parent didn't ask for a link to a video, so a link to a video cannot be an answer to the question. Perhaps you could summarise or quote the part of the video that you believe answers the question.

The speaker in your video used the word "faggot" the same way, with no intent to offend. How should he be punished?

If we're going to have this debate via videos, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRJy48JWiHk

The ownership of the n word is a metaphorical reparation for slavery. Its existence is a reminder that white people did something terribly wrong to black people. Much like Holocaust denial it's not just a logical construct but a blasphemous one.

The Holocaust is a fact. All white people being descendents of slave owners is not.

I know HN etiquette isn't to complain about downvotea, but the idea that a single person disputes either of those statements is disturbing.

To me, if you want reparations, economic ones would be more helpful. As strict as the current cultural enforcement of the word is, I see it as only a way to divide and not a way for black culture to be part of all America.

The problem is that like “Black people” the phrase “White people” is meaningless. Plenty of people who Americans would lump together as “blacks” were never enslaved ( or had ancestors enslaved). Plenty of people Americans would lump together has “whites” had nothing to do with the slave trade. I’m of Russian descent for example, and no one in my admittedly very white family tree enslaved anyone of African descent.

The whole world doesn’t have to answer to the crimes of Americans, Western Europe, and West Africa. That’s (presumably) your baggage, not mine. By contrast my ancestors have a lot to answer for where Tatars are concerned, and yet you fellow “white” person, had nothing to do with it.

I agree with you, and this is the whole issue with identity politics. It is all about categorizing people and assuming everything about them based on their groups. We should look at the individuals.

Fyi, two years ago I asked 'rayiner (who is active on this thread, and also in the top 10 of all time on this site) whether I should feel guilty about slavery given that I am from a similar situation as yours.

The answer, according to 'rayiner, is yes, though less than the people who caused the problem in the first place. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11314077

... and the original sin of the Bible. One must always be ready to bend the knee to whatever orator can conjure it.

The entire topic is the age-old setup of distracting the the plebs by pitting them against each other. All "White people" didn't enslave Black people - the ruling class did, and got the less powerful in on the take to backstop it. Once that specific oppressive system became untenable, they just moved onto the next one.

People will cheer the takedown of this "powerful" guy, while they've just ruined the unlucky slob of the week. Their need for progress will have been fulfilled, keeping the ongoing lucrative oppressions safely out of their sights.

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