Hello Bob!

05 May 08 15:27, you wrote to Roy Witt:

 RW>> you. When a black calls another a nigger, you don't object,

 BK>  Why would I? Why would I presume to lecture a black person on
 BK>  his response to the world he has to live in? Why would I presume
 BK>  to claim to know better than he does how he should behave in a
 BK>  matter I cannot even begin to share his experience?

The "Black Experience" as it was known in our past is a real
travesty but it cannot be undone anymore than the destruction of Pompei,
the crusades and countless other moments in history.

However the black experience as it is known today by the current generation
is a self perpetuating crutch that gets used as an excuse. As long as their
parents (and pastors) continue to preach the negative side of the black
experience, it will continue to be a problem.


 BK>  This particular black friend dislikes the use of racial insults,
 BK>  even between blacks. But this friend did say, when two blacks
 BK>  talk, they share a common heritage, a common experience, that no
 BK>  white person shares.

Irrelevant, the meaning of the words dont change simply because of the skin
color of the person uttering it versus whom it is being uttered to.

To say otherwise implies a double standard and double standards and
equality do not get along.

 BK>  You have never lived what they have, you have never been subject
 BK>  to what they have been subject to. There is no way you can even
 BK>  begin to understand their perspective on it.

and the rub is, many of them havent really experienced the black
experience, they are led to believe they have and use it as a crutch to not
want to be considered equal because they dont act like equals.

 BK>  To many black people using the terms between themselves helps
 BK>  lessen the effect they have. It helps defuse the hurt. If you
 BK>  use it there is no such benefit. Your use of the term serves no
 BK>  purpose other than to emphasize the pain, to reinflict the hurt.

This concept is understandable, take ownership of a deragotory term used
against you and the term gets defanged..

We went through this in the Fidonet Coordinator ranks several years ago,
the coordinators were termed as elflords by a group of sysops whom felt
they were being oppressed, yes such high drama, we in turn adopted the term
elflord and the slight became no more.

However I think the N word has progressed to a point that its usage should
be unacceptable, regardless of whom utters it.

 BK>  So, no, I will not presume to interject my opinion on the
 BK>  behavior of black people among other black people.

It wouldnt matter either way, those that choose to use the word are
practicing a double standard.

 BK>  Unless you are black, I will say your use of the term is racist,
 BK>  and evidence you are a racist. No excuses.

White guilt?


==
Ross
Fidonet Feeds Or Fidonet In Your Newsreader: http://www.easternstar.info
E-mail: ross(at)cassell(dot)us | Blogs/Other Places: http://links.cassell.us
... A Independent: A Democrat who is in denial.
--- GoldED+/W32 1.1.5-30413