The N-Word

[mercedesjin]

Originally Posted by Megabyte117

For the record, I just asked my grandmother who is from Colombia if she was offended by the term Hispanic or if anyone she knew had ever taken offense, and she laughed in my face. I really don't know what you're trying to pull here.

To hell with political correctness.

It seems with your constant "Caucasian/Hispanic/Negro is racist! It really is!" that you're insecure with yourself. Notice very few people agree with you on that.

I suppose it depends on who you ask. I attend a college where this is all they teach. I attend a college where teachers are aware of race and political correctness. If that doesn't matter to you, then that's fine. That's your opinion and that's your personality. But, I'm sorry, you're not going to be able to "convince" me that I'm insecure in my opinions. This is the first place I've ever had anyone disagree with me. It's a little difficult, but I'm happy to have a debate rather than be in a place where everyone constantly agrees on the same issues. It's a little more of a challenge. =)

[Ryzorian]

Stereotypes exist partly because enough people fit it to have it become such a thing. "Dumb Jock" for instance, there are alot of Dumb Jocks, both from my highschool days and later in colloge. That doesn't mean every person in sports is a "dumb jock" it just means there were enough of the actual ones to creat the stereotype in the first place.

Stereotype can be construed as an archtype. For instance, Stars Wars is full of "archtype" characters that fit specific "identities" or "stereotypes".

Racial stereotypes go deeper than just race. The British have stereotypes about them, so do the French, the Germans, the Japanese as well as the Americans, in fact, Americans have several, most not very flattering.

[mercedesjin]

Originally Posted by Nathan

If you're going to argue your points, I would like to request you stop copy+pasting the same links repeatedly. This is the 4th time you've posted this one alone.

I have the same answers for the same questions. The person happened to ask the exact same question as the others, and so I had the exact same answer. I'm not annoyed that they asked the same question, though. After all, this is about 30 pages long. I wouldn't expect anyone to read through it to make sure that what they're saying hasn't been said before.

Salvanas: I'm sorry you felt that I was trying to insult you, or make assumptions about you. That wasn't my intention. I think it's wonderful that you want to help others, but that doesn't necessarily mean that you're free of making racist judgments. We all suffer from internalized racism, right? We all suffer from making small prejudices and stereotypes. It's something we humans do. It's wrong. Some decide to challenge themselves to make that change. Others don't. I was simply saying that it's not necessarily wrong to make that change. For example, when I learned that Disney was racist, I went right on watching Disney. It wasn't something I was willing to give up. It was my decision, because Disney is such a huge part of my childhood. I know it's difficult to make those kinds of sacrifices. I know it's difficult to admit, "I suffer from internalized racism." Even though it's difficult, however, doesn't mean that it's not there or isn't real.

The thing is, along with getting rid of the words comes education. Many people have provided their thoughts and many articles and links on various words. I've learned from Tenchu about the race relations in Thailand. I didn't know that "falang" was derogatory. What if I'd heard it used casually, and ignorantly believed that it was all right to use? Now that I know better, one word has been eliminated from my vocabulary and I've been educated. Hopefully, this is something that can happen for many people across the world.

Why should we say that one group of people is different from another group because of the color of their skin? Zagato made some pretty good points in the last few pages. I think you should read them.

[mercedesjin]

Originally Posted by MMM

Similarly, though more slowly, “slut,” “whore” and “c**t” are being reappropriated. “The young people use those terms all the time teasingly and sometimes to even refer to themselves,” says Hill. “It is more common to hear someone say ‘I am a slut’ than ‘I am a whore.’ ” “C**t” is gaining currency among some young lesbians, though Baim says it is a word that gets stuck in her throat. “While it is a reclaimed word, it is one I can hardly say, the same way some older blacks have trouble saying the n-word.”

I love the reclaiming. It's like fan girls claiming J-rockers.

Fag (faggot): The new “queer.” “Like the n-word, it’s a word that can be said by gay people,” says Hill. “I hear ‘fag’ a great deal, especially among queer-identified young people, like ‘don’t be such a fag’ or ‘you are such a fag.’ “

It's wonderful to see young gay people cutting themselves on sexual lines down much in the same way young blacks do on racial lines.

Girl: “‘Girl’ is used by older women,” says Baim. “It is kind of nice because it used to be used derogatorily and now it is used in a fun way.”

I missed that one. When was "girl" a derogatory term?

Guys: Very controversial. Used, especially in the Midwest, when referring to a group of people. “In Chicago that word gets used a lot,” says Hill. And Baim says, “I use it all of the time.” Some feminists, like Andi Zeisler, the editor of Bitch, find “guys” problematic. “We assume the descriptor ‘guys’ denotes a quality of universality,” she says. “It would be hard to imagine a group of men being addressed by their server as ‘hey you gals’ and not taking offense, but the reverse happens all the time.”

"Guys" is a "very controversial word? Again, news to me.

This is great reading. Thanks Mercedesjin. It's nice to see there are people in academia with this kind of time on their hands. I used to think I was PC, but now I see the PC of the 90s I subscribed to is practically racist, and I must sound like a Klansman the way I talk.

You guys should really read it.

OOPS!

It is interesting to learn new things, isn't it? I also didn't realize some of the things that were on that site. For example, gender neutral words. Those are really interesting to me.

Unfortunately, I think that it would be a little difficult for one person to take on all of these issues. It's important to respect different groups of people, so it's also important to keep these various issues on the article in mind - but I can't say that I'm as passionate about every single term. "Fag", for example, is something I could never use. I'm not passionate about reclaiming that word.

I learned early on that it's important to pick and choose battles, because a person can very quickly before burnt out over important issues like these.

[mercedesjin]

Originally Posted by Ryzorian

Stereotypes exist partly because enough people fit it to have it become such a thing. "Dumb Jock" for instance, there are alot of Dumb Jocks, both from my highschool days and later in colloge. That doesn't mean every person in sports is a "dumb jock" it just means there were enough of the actual ones to creat the stereotype in the first place.

Stereotype can be construed as an archtype. For instance, Stars Wars is full of "archtype" characters that fit specific "identities" or "stereotypes".

Racial stereotypes go deeper than just race. The British have stereotypes about them, so do the French, the Germans, the Japanese as well as the Americans, in fact, Americans have several, most not very flattering.

You're right. Stereotypes do exist because enough people fit the idea. It's funny, I was JUST reading about this in a book. I'll type out some of what it says on stereotypes:

"In a cross-cultural setting, attributions result in stereotypes that may offer a false explanation for individual behavior. Stereotypes are oversimplified judgments made about people on the basis of their cultural group of physical characteristics. Cultural stereotypes may be quite strong and will not disappear easily. Tourists, in their brief contact with another country, often find confirmation of the stereotypes they hold... Though there is often some generalized truth in stereotypes, real-life situations and the people who fact them are more complex than the stereotype admits."
(From The Exchange Student Survival Kit by Bettina Hansel.)

It goes on to give the example of the stereotype that Americans are obsessed with time. There's an American exchange student who screams at her host sister because they're going to be a few minutes late for school. The host sister immediately assumes that the American exchange student is simply fitting the stereotype, when in fact the exchange student had a test that morning, and didn't want to be late. She fit the stereotype, but it was for a more complex reason than, "It's because she's an American."

[Megabyte117]

Is this racist?

[mercedesjin]

Originally Posted by Megabyte117

Is this racist?

Oh my God yes.

Yes, it's in Japan. Yes, that's a different cultural understanding. Yes, they've borrowed a racist culture from the USA without completely understanding that what they've borrowed is racist. Does that change the fact that it's racist? No. No, not at all.

Even in the name of your link, "blackface" is used. Blackface! Oh God. Where do I even begin on blackface?

[Salvanas]

Originally Posted by mercedesjin

Salvanas: I'm sorry you felt that I was trying to insult you, or make assumptions about you. That wasn't my intention. I think it's wonderful that you want to help others, but that doesn't necessarily mean that you're free of making racist judgments. We all suffer from internalized racism, right? We all suffer from making small prejudices and stereotypes. It's something we humans do. It's wrong. Some decide to challenge themselves to make that change. Others don't. I was simply saying that it's not necessarily wrong to make that change. For example, when I learned that Disney was racist, I went right on watching Disney. It wasn't something I was willing to give up. It was my decision, because Disney is such a huge part of my childhood. I know it's difficult to make those kinds of sacrifices. I know it's difficult to admit, "I suffer from internalized racism." Even though it's difficult, however, doesn't mean that it's not there or isn't real.

The thing is, along with getting rid of the words comes education. Many people have provided their thoughts and many articles and links on various words. I've learned from Tenchu about the race relations in Thailand. I didn't know that "falang" was derogatory. What if I'd heard it used casually, and ignorantly believed that it was all right to use? Now that I know better, one word has been eliminated from my vocabulary and I've been educated. Hopefully, this is something that can happen for many people across the world.

Why should we say that one group of people is different from another group because of the color of their skin? Zagato made some pretty good points in the last few pages. I think you should read them.

You do know, that you just made yet another assumption about me? I don't make racist comments. If I judge people, I do so on how their body language is, and not their skin, or clothes. You'd do well to learn that. Not to mention, I never once mentioned anything about me being free of making racist judgements. I never claimed such a thing.

You wrote a lot. But you never addressed the majority of my points. You seem to be doing this a lot.

And I've read Zagato's comments many times before. In other threads too, and he's a kid that cries and points fingers and shouts insults when he's losing an argument.

[Salvanas]

Originally Posted by Megabyte117

Is this racist?

OMG IT HAS BLACK BORDERS.

RACIST!

[mercedesjin]

Originally Posted by Salvanas

You do know, that you just made yet another assumption about me? I don't make racist comments. If I judge people, I do so on how their body language is, and not their skin, or clothes. You'd do well to learn that. Not to mention, I never once mentioned anything about me being free of making racist judgements. I never claimed such a thing.

You wrote a lot. But you never addressed the majority of my points. You seem to be doing this a lot.

And I've read Zagato's comments many times before. In other threads too, and he's a kid that cries and points fingers and shouts insults when he's losing an argument.

No, I never said that you make racist comments. I said that you suffer from internalized racism - as we all do - and that we all make racist judgments at one time or another. Unless you were raised in a utopia without any media or cultural influence, you inevitably suffer from internalized racism. That's something we agree on. That's all I said.

I'm sorry that you think I ignored your main points. Please type them out again for me clearly, maybe even in a list, so I can be sure to know what you want me to address.

I'm sorry that you feel that Zagato is immature. I haven't noticed any immaturity from him. I actually noticed maturity from him. Even while seeing the flamers, he was brave enough to disagree with them and stand by his point.