Using the "N" word in public
 

I was the side judge in my sons soccer game this evening. One family watching it's son started calling out to him and then one of the family members started yelling "Go Nig**er! Run Nig**er"- and everyone around them heard this. The "crowd" was scare- no much more than say 60 people. I turned around and told them (with an outside voice) in no uncertain terms that using the " "N" word " was unacceptable in public. (The family was dark skinned Hispanics.One member was very dark- most were medium, two were lighter skinned.) I told them I was very offended with the term even if they were not. One person in the family appeared to want to make an argument about what I said but did not do so. I kinda knew one of the family members- he was the one who attended practices- the child was on my team. When the game was over I fist bumped with the member I knew and all seemed fine, at least with him. The others gave a me a stink eye.

Was I out of line? Do you think dark skinned people can use the term in public but not light skinned people? Can a light skinned person tell a dark skinned person to not use the term in public?

I think you're fine - you don't have to be dark skinned to be offended. And certainly in a family setting there is no place for such ignorance. Good for you that you stood up to it - too often you hear the 'N' word, or kids calling one another b*itch, f*uck and so on - without any regard for families around them. And their parents are equally stupid for allowing such behavior.

You should mind your own business.

You have been exposed to the double standard of reverse racism MTUpower!

Embrace it because there is a whole lot of it going on and I only see it getting worse.

Let's break it down. Back in the 80's when I looked up the word ****** the dictionary read - "An uneducated person" - slang / derogatory "A black person". This is straight out of an elementary school dictionary back in the 80's when I was a student looking up bad words on Library hour.

At first blacks were referred to as Negro's. The term Negro is often associated with "Black", be it a person or a car. The black community then decided they did not like this and wanted to be called "Colored" people. They decided this too was somewhat offensive and not exclusive enough, so then we went back to the term "Black" person, rather than "Negro".

Now they wish to be called "African Americans" which is disrespectful to the nation they live. I'd guess that more than 80% of these so called "African Americans" were born in the USA making them "American-Africans".

Seems to me that only an uneducated person could mix up their own birthplace, but what the hell do I know!

Come on now William...did that really happen to you?;)

Yes, and you should. However, you risk personal threatening behavior or violence committed against you when you do so.

I don't know about the high-fiving, and the badazz look you got, but when you do OR say anything controversial in public, do not be surprised on any resulting situations.

In my youth, the legal term for black-skinned race people in America was; Negroid, or Negro. That term describing one's race was changed on legal forms at some point to the term; 'black,' instead.

The use of the term; ni**er is used by people of their own free will, and I would not want to see that curtailed. I believe in freedom of speech in America.

African American, Afro American, Italian American, Irish American, Native American.... seems like a rather common combination of words.

A lot of Hispanic People in My area don't get a long well with the Black People unless they know each other as neighbors. Saying something like that in a Crowd of People you don't know in My area would be asking for a confrontation.

Hispanic People might be any Mix of Caucasian, Black and Native Americans or other races; or even be just Caucasian; and, I guess that includes Myself somewhere in that.

If they were not using the "N" word to cheer on one of their their own Children of Family Members I would say it was clearly impolite.

Die Hard With a Vengence Harlem scene . . .

I would like to comment but I either don't remember what transpired in the scene or did not see the Movie.

Really? With Samuel L. Jackson, it's one of the better of the franchise.

If memory serves, MTU is dark skinned. Either that or members of his family are. Or maybe I just imagined all of that. (I hope my comments do not come off as disrespectful. I certainly mean no disrespect.)

As for the question in the OP, I think you had to be there, but MTU's actions seem OK to me.

I don't know if this is still going on in the military, but back in the Vietnam war era, blacks would constantly call each other the "N" word. If a white used that word, all hell broke loose.

Exactly.

Richard Pryor had an explanation in his stand up routine about the inconsistency

White people don't say it nicely

His outlook changed over the course of his career http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/15/opinion/15iht-edjackson.html?_r=0

"To this day I wish I'd never said the word. I felt its lameness. It was misunderstood by people. They didn't get what I was talking about. Neither did I. ... So I vowed never to say it again."

That's basically what some are looking for anyway......anything to fight, all for no reason. Lot 'O fools out there.

As SELLC said....the double stds. of reverse racism.

I'm sorta of on the edge of PC trouble in saying this, but in my experience, a lot of Latinos have a different view on these things. On one of the bigger construction jobs I worked on, one of the foreman was an Asian mix - Indian, Chinese and I forget what else but he looked somewhat Chinese. The Mexican guys called him 'Chino.' They didn't bat an eye at it. Imagine any sort of non-Mexican guy calling a latino 'Mexican' as a nickname.

I've read numerous accounts of Latinos behaving with seriously racist attitudes towards blacks. Prison fights along those lines are brutal.

I had a roof replaced for a long time client a couple of weeks ago. The owner of the company was Caucasian. The crew had a young black man as the foreman and the rest appeared to be Mexican. The young black man was extremely courteous to me and to his workers. The Mexican men were very very verbal, kidding each other and the foreman constantly, including the subject of race. I did not see any tension but I suppose it may have been there just under the surface. They all worked very hard and with a lot of skill. I was impressed.

I do not see it as a double standard, at least not in the manner being described here.

I am sure most of us have had situations where we have cursed a family member under our breath or got in a fight with a sibling. No big deal. Let someone out side the family dk the same and we get all decensive.

Maming fun or joking about ones "own kind" is OK. When you make fun of others especially as a white person given our history things change. Kind of like a KKK member making a jok e about blacks as opposed to Cosby making the same joke. I doubt the intent would be the same.

They have every right to call them selfs what ever they want, whites calling blacks n****** has a complete different meaning. Words get their meaning by the individual who uses the word. That some white people don't seem to understand this tells more about them and how they see blacks.

The word n****** in the OP's post was used in an "affectional" way towards a player on the same team, had nothing to do with racism; was it in good taste, I don't think so. But understandable, as it looks to me they were immigrants who don't carry the burden of that word.

Some of the repliers to OP's post have posted much worse racist posts here on PP then the people on the side line displayed, all the parents did was displaying awful judgement.

I'm reminded of soldiers and sports team members (male) calling themselves "girls" or "ladies". Nobody seems to bat an eye at that one, though it denigrates women.

Personally, I think bigots love looking for chances to holler "reverse racism". Not that it doesn't exist, but finding it seems to somehow justify their own prejudice.

That has to do with turf and low paid jobs; blacks are pushed out of traditional black neighborhoods by new latino immigrants. This is nothing new, the same thing happened between Italians and Jews, Irish and blacks, Italians and Irish, etc etc.

spot on

Yep, it's like males that get offended when you call them gay. :)

Well, actually it sounds more like they may have been putting on an act for you. :laughing: Rather normal activity in the hierarchy you described. May in fact be underpaid worker bees doing the well rehearsed parts of 'acting-the-fool' when their boss's paymaster is present. Doing the 'bit-part' acting as if they 'really like' their job for the guy paying their boss......;)

Mtu, I support your position and think you did the right thing -- might not count for much in the thread but figured I'd also fist bump you ;)

I do not see it as a double standard, at least not in the manner being described here.

I am sure most of us have had situations where we have cursed a family member under our breath or got in a fight with a sibling. No big deal. Let someone out side the family dk the same and we get all decensive.

Maming fun or joking about ones "own kind" is OK. When you make fun of others especially as a white person given our history things change. Kind of like a KKK member making a jok e about blacks as opposed to Cosby making the same joke. I doubt the intent would be the same.

People often make comments about folks with a lot of German ancestry being stubborn and bossy. True, True. I don't like it when my family says it. I like it less when someone else says it. The only time I don't mind is when I say it.;)

Well put.

Well things were different back in about 1956 weren't they? :eek::)


speedy gonzales pat boone - YouTube

SPOKEN: It was a moonlit night in old Mexico. I walked alone between some old
adobe haciendas. Suddenly, I heard the plaintive cry of a young Mexican girl.

You better come home, Speedy Gonzales
Away from tannery row
Stop alla your a-drinkin'
With that floozie named Flo
Come on home to your adobe
And slap some mud on the wall
The roof is leakin' like a strainer
There's loadsa roaches in the hall

Speedy Gonzales, why don'tcha come home?
Speedy Gonzales, how come ya leave me all alone?

SPOKEN in a male Mexican accent: "Hey, Rosita-I hafta go shopping downtown
for my mudder-she needs some tortillas and chili peppers."

Your doggy's gonna have a puppy
And we're runnin' outta Coke
No enchiladas in the icebox
And the television's broke
I saw some lipstick on your sweatshirt
I smelled some perfume in your ear
Well if you're gonna keep on messin'
Don't bring your business back a-here

Mmm, Speedy Gonzales, why don'tcha come home?
Speedy Gonzales, how come ya leave me all alone?

SPOKEN in a male Mexican accent: "Hey, Rosita-come queek-down at the cantina
they giving green stamps with tequila!!"

yes.

The family in question first language is spanish- but at least one member would be called a "black" by most people I think if they saw only a picture of them. ( My 18 YO son would also be called black by a great number of people viewing only a picture but perhaps less than a majority- so Honus is correct.)
The issue of using the word in public is that in a crowd who really knows and can verify the intent of the voice uttering it? What if it become common (who says it's not already in some places?) to hear it - and only one "race" can use that word but others when using it could be arrested/or removed from the public event? My experience is that many native spanish speaking hispanics do not have the same views of race and what is acceptable as native english speakers- hispanic or not.
Yes Tom, it really happened, and ended without event. They did not say it anymore and I think in public at least at the soccer games they will not. I view that we are all equal in a public setting- and allowing one set of rules for one "race" and another set of rules for another "race" is at the core of racist actions. I don't think anyone should be allowed by society to use incendiary racist based language in public sporting event or most gatherings. The key is to show that the action was unacceptable- not focus on the individual. That's my view. Think about it- if I went to the league's office and told them a family was yelling "Run Nig#er!" and I asked them to stop would they support the families right to say that or the person asking them to stop?

Every group you talk about which has been "pushed out" has risen- have blacks? There are constant ads in the paper here for $10 an hour agricultural jobs. Who is willing to fill them? Why? Here in WPB former Italian, Irish and Jewish neighborhoods are now black. Lately they are more hispanic- and there are some blacks are moving up, some down and some sideways. So?

Really the question is wtf does that question have to do with why some "races" can yell "Nig*er" at a public youth soccer game and some be possibly banned or arrested but at minimum be shunned? How is this NOT a double standard with it's only defining difference is "race"?

They weren't yelling Negro were they? In Spanish (most of us know) Negro is the color black.

G'Head and try that...... ~ let us know how it works out for you.....? :P

You did good.;)

It's not some races, it's only one. Blacks can yell n**** because it's a word that was used to put them down by whites. Their only weapon to make that word less hurtful is by using it in another contest. This has nothing to do with reverse racism, they made the word meaningless.

Why didn't most enslaved blacks rice to the occasion like Italians, jews, Chinese and Irisch is because they didn't come here voluntarily and their family base was disrupted. A solid family base is the corner stone of succeeding in this country or anywhere else in the world.

One of the most successful immigrant groups the US has seen are immigrants from Haiti (blacks) that came here in the 1980's. They were absolutely despised when they set foot in Miami by americans of all races: no money, education that was worthless in the US, aids and hiv infected and carrying other deseases, now they are one of the most successful and assimilated groups of new immigrants. Why, because of a solid family base, a will to succeed and a little help from the US government.

So yes blacks have risen as a group, just not the ones that were enslaved and who's familie ties were disrupted.

Are for effin real? I nearly spit my coffee on the computer.

Please show some proof that the blacks lineage were "enslaved" are worse off than those who were not. Then please prove my son is not black.
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-F-_6sB6Vn0...252Balbino.jpg

Is society to allow these people to yell it?

I don't think Jorn is suggesting you did anything wrong by objecting to the use of the word.

I think he does make a point about the people from Haiti being successful because of coming from a better situation. There are plenty of successful black folks here in the us who are from families who were once enslaved as well, clearly.

What is your point in showing the above pictures?

Nah- I speak spanish and "negro" in spanish is not even close to the "N" word.

Cool. Do you speak any other languages? (besides English).

Jorn suggested that "black" people can use the word but no one else can. There is no definition of who is "black"- it is nearly totally subjective- based on the person(s) viewing someone. That opinion may change with only seeing a picture or from a distance and then hearing the actual person, and then a closer view. If we only hear an audio version of the events- can everyone yell "Nig@er!"???

Would you be okay with the people in the image yelling the "N" word in a public youth soccer game as Jorn is?

Not that it's part of the conversation but at one time I was quite good speaking Japanese, understood perhaps 30% of Palauan and a bit less of Chamorro and Tagalog. My spanish is poor btw but passable.

Apparently you have a talent for picking up languages. I can order beer and ask directions to the toilet in Spanish, Italian, French and German.:P Much beyond that I am lost.

If you want to eat, make friends and understand the people where you live there is no better way than to learn the local speak. :)

I don't sanction anybody using the N word or any other derogatory label. I do understand why Black folks feel free to though. I'm not sure I'd have the stones to call someone out on it either....even if I were an official at the event. I admire you for doing it but think for myself, too risky.

Oh man, you have some really weird race issues. I never said it's ok to say n***** at a football match or in public for that matter, maybe my wording created that confusion.

What more could you possibly need?