FallAwake wrote:
>i strongly disagree with you. in the mailing i just wrote i told you my view
>of censorship as a great flaw. a words definition and its intended meaning
>can be completely different things. should we choose to use a word that might
>offend someone then we should face the consequences of our action if it does.
>A word like nigger, spic, cracker, mick, kike (shall i go on?) is used
>intentionally today to offend people. should i use one of the words i should
>also face the consequence decided by the offended person/peoples.
Okay, although it seems that I think differently, I too detest
censorship in all its forms. So, I would actually want a word to be
effectively "banned" from vocabulary; I don't think you can put a net out
to capture thoughts and words. The only thing that really bothered me that
day, and why I was irritated, is because of a personal pet-peeve. It
bothered me that instead of reflecting on a word or idea (as I think should
be done in a classroom), it was kind of glossed over, ignored, and just
accepted as an authentic term. I just wish we could of said, "Hey, why is
that word so much like "nigger", and why is it related to foolishness?" I
don't think that was too much to ask considering I was in Comparative
Literature class (which is entirely bullshit anyhow if you're wondering)
and we always discuss terms used.
The root of my anger is not the word itself; it is the nature of
teaching it. For the most part, students are very placid; they just sit
back and take notes, accepting as unbiased truth whatever a professor says.
I didn't say all do, but my observation is that most 'go with the flow' and
swallow up this supposed knowledge, while I mentally process all that is
said, because it is extremely biased and unfactual if it is being "taught"
or lectured on, and decide what I believe of what is said. I was annoyed
that I was suppose to write down, memorize, and accept a term I did not
like, 'niguard' or 'nigology'.
I'm not talking about Chemistry or Math class here, I mean the ones
where the material is all opinioned and the teacher is just giving you a
regurgiation of their view of someone elses opinion. (like literature)
This whole pet-peeve has been created/agitated recently, because I've
experienced a lot of problems in a couple of my classes. Namely, Religious
St., which I've been disappointed in as a course, and my TA I do not get
along with; she is a narrow-minded psudeo-intellectual theologian, that
pretends to understand all these terms that by nature she must disagree
with. Lately, I've been getting pissed off with having these older adults
stand up there preaching Knowledge to me, on a very, very, muttled and
confusing, opinion-based subject like Religion or Literature, and I end up
refuting almost everything they say with my own form of logic. I find most
teaching situations to be very restrictive.
I just had a bad reflex that day and felt that the same thing was
being done as I was sick of being subjected to, so I complained here. =)
Sodom wrote:
>Yes, I think in this case you do have a hair up your ass. no offense. In my
>opinion all words are equal...
>People need to feel better about these things because they have the inner
>strength to determine that >words are just words. I call my black friends
>"nigger" when we are joking abound and
>they have called me "honky" or "whitey" or something, we laugh and enjoy the
>meaninglessness of the words.
I agree completely about the "meaninglessness of words". You got
me there; it's my choice to be offended. But, as far as what I call my
friends (or enemies), my personal case is different. I just cannot
physically bring myself to use racial slurs or other "bad words" in any
context, they just aren't in my vocabulary. You and your friends may be
comfortable with insulting each other because it is perfectly harmless, but
I am different; I actually cringe when I hear them. I think this is due to
graduating from high school in a 'redneck town' in Wisconsin, where every
single day my ears were assaulted by "nigger", "faggot", etc..coming from
the mouths of ignorant, spiteful classmates. It wasn't until I moved there
that I recognized one of my closest and dearest friends (who I grew up with
in Chicago) was actually Mexican, since I did not see people in categories
previously, separated by color, as a child. It was not until someone
called my friend a "spic" that I knew this. After many years of
intolerable plebians grating you daily with the violence of their words
(because I knew the views that stood behind what they said), one tends to
build up hostility that can be easily triggered when confronted by racism
and homophobia. Yes, I have my very own neurosis that, regardless, I can't
let go of, against the best of reason and my own betterjudgment of words.
Her Long-Windedness-ness,
Kristee
*magically pulling a hare out of her ass*