The n-word
I
guess I had better be really careful here, but I have a few thoughts
about the words used to express race and ethnicity in the English
language. First of all, I have to defend myself by saying that I no
longer know what is acceptable after I watched the movie "Soul Plane",
since I honestly can't understand why this movie wasn't targeted for
noisy boycotts and protests by the American black people and their
supporters.
One interesting difference between Canada and USA is that there are no (or at least I have never seen) silly artificial terms such as "African-Canadian", but the word "black" is normally used everywhere, including the newspapers. But I understand that once you cross the border to the USA, the use of the word "black" is at least somewhat discouraged these days. The word "negro" cannot really be used anywhere at all, unless you are talking about the United Negro College Fund. Using the n-word in public will cause a white man to lose his job, whereas a black man who uses it might get a lucrative recording contract. (And no matter what the James Bond novel "Live And Let Die" by Ian Fleming told you, when you are in a bar that is popular with black Americans, don't try to show your respect by calling that thing used to measure drinks a "jegro".)
Far be it from me to tell an ethnic group what name they should use of themselves, but aside from its possible historical connotations, I don't see there to be much wrong with the word "black". It is a simple and universally well-understood word, just like the word "white", which is just as good. My biggest problem with "black" is the way it sounds, almost like you were going "blechh" with the initial sound of tongue almost popping out of your mouth. In this sense, "negro" would be a much better word, if it was somehow possible to cleanse it from its historial baggage. It's like saying "black" but in French or Spanish, and the word has good feelings of exotic and high class that might be effectively used in shaping the external image of the group. (For the rough idea, think of the typical overall classy but friendly feel of the late night alcohol commercials on TV.)
I have to wonder what's the deal with the other colours, that is, using "red" for Native Americans and First Nations, and "yellow" for Eastern Asians. Now, one can see plenty of people from both groups around here, and not a single such person that I have ever met has ever been even slightly red or yellow in skin tone, so I have to wonder how these names originally come to exist. If anything, the people of Japanese or especially Korean descent tend to be even significantly whiter in skin tone than the people of European descent.
A few years ago, some Finnish progressives got the idea that since "negro" is an unacceptable word in English, the Finnish word "neekeri" should be similarly unacceptable. Hmmh. There was some debate over this issue but I guess that they succeeded pretty well, since it's hard for me to remember seeing this word used in any Finnish media for a long time. If the race needs to be referred to at all, the appropriate word these days seems to be "mustaihoinen" (lit. "black-skinned"). The Finnish language also has a word "nekru" which is roughly equivalent to the n-word minus all that well-known historical baggage, and another word "mutiainen" (lit. "darky"), but the pejorative nature of these words was never in question. (As a side note, I wonder if it is a mere coincidence that the beloved Disney character "Tigger" is translated as "Tikru".)
Well, there is actually a well-known piece of print media where I have seen such words used, namely the Vappu publications of the Finnish technology students. You see, in Finland Vappu is a day for students the same way St. Patrick's Day is a day for the Irish in America, but with even more copious and universal drinking. Each Vappu, the students of the major technology universities publish (these days a surprisingly sleek and professional) publication of their jokes and cartoons which these students then go sell to regular people in their home towns. As can be expected from the general tone of these books, the word "neekeri" can be often found in them. Many other topics and issues about women, alcohol and sex are also discussed with enthusiasm.
I remember especially vividly one particular cartoon from around the year 2000 or so in which a happy thick-lipped black man who was smiling and looking around with a thought caption "Nice country, man!" was seen through the crosshairs of a rifle scope. I wonder what would happen if some students on this side of Atlantic ever used such cartoon in their publication.
(Edited for grammar and some presentation)
One interesting difference between Canada and USA is that there are no (or at least I have never seen) silly artificial terms such as "African-Canadian", but the word "black" is normally used everywhere, including the newspapers. But I understand that once you cross the border to the USA, the use of the word "black" is at least somewhat discouraged these days. The word "negro" cannot really be used anywhere at all, unless you are talking about the United Negro College Fund. Using the n-word in public will cause a white man to lose his job, whereas a black man who uses it might get a lucrative recording contract. (And no matter what the James Bond novel "Live And Let Die" by Ian Fleming told you, when you are in a bar that is popular with black Americans, don't try to show your respect by calling that thing used to measure drinks a "jegro".)
Far be it from me to tell an ethnic group what name they should use of themselves, but aside from its possible historical connotations, I don't see there to be much wrong with the word "black". It is a simple and universally well-understood word, just like the word "white", which is just as good. My biggest problem with "black" is the way it sounds, almost like you were going "blechh" with the initial sound of tongue almost popping out of your mouth. In this sense, "negro" would be a much better word, if it was somehow possible to cleanse it from its historial baggage. It's like saying "black" but in French or Spanish, and the word has good feelings of exotic and high class that might be effectively used in shaping the external image of the group. (For the rough idea, think of the typical overall classy but friendly feel of the late night alcohol commercials on TV.)
I have to wonder what's the deal with the other colours, that is, using "red" for Native Americans and First Nations, and "yellow" for Eastern Asians. Now, one can see plenty of people from both groups around here, and not a single such person that I have ever met has ever been even slightly red or yellow in skin tone, so I have to wonder how these names originally come to exist. If anything, the people of Japanese or especially Korean descent tend to be even significantly whiter in skin tone than the people of European descent.
A few years ago, some Finnish progressives got the idea that since "negro" is an unacceptable word in English, the Finnish word "neekeri" should be similarly unacceptable. Hmmh. There was some debate over this issue but I guess that they succeeded pretty well, since it's hard for me to remember seeing this word used in any Finnish media for a long time. If the race needs to be referred to at all, the appropriate word these days seems to be "mustaihoinen" (lit. "black-skinned"). The Finnish language also has a word "nekru" which is roughly equivalent to the n-word minus all that well-known historical baggage, and another word "mutiainen" (lit. "darky"), but the pejorative nature of these words was never in question. (As a side note, I wonder if it is a mere coincidence that the beloved Disney character "Tigger" is translated as "Tikru".)
Well, there is actually a well-known piece of print media where I have seen such words used, namely the Vappu publications of the Finnish technology students. You see, in Finland Vappu is a day for students the same way St. Patrick's Day is a day for the Irish in America, but with even more copious and universal drinking. Each Vappu, the students of the major technology universities publish (these days a surprisingly sleek and professional) publication of their jokes and cartoons which these students then go sell to regular people in their home towns. As can be expected from the general tone of these books, the word "neekeri" can be often found in them. Many other topics and issues about women, alcohol and sex are also discussed with enthusiasm.
I remember especially vividly one particular cartoon from around the year 2000 or so in which a happy thick-lipped black man who was smiling and looking around with a thought caption "Nice country, man!" was seen through the crosshairs of a rifle scope. I wonder what would happen if some students on this side of Atlantic ever used such cartoon in their publication.
(Edited for grammar and some presentation)
So I'm guessing you think that the term "neekeri" is a good neutral term, and the progressives (those bastards) just ruined it for all Finns? But could you tell me what the term actually means? Because many of the people who insist on using it, use it to describe people like Lola Odusoga (former miss Finland whose Father is Kenyan(?) and mother Finnish), Tino Singh (fromer tv host who is from India) and Tiger Woods.
Posted by Anonymous | 7:54 AM
u mean 'Tigger' Woods?
Posted by Anonymous | 9:38 AM
"Black" is not by any means unacceptable in the United States. In fact, "African-American" sounds somewhat ludicrous, as if the speaker is trying to sound politically correct (it's more widely used in writing, however).
Peter
http://journals.aol.com/r32r38/Ironrailsironweights
Posted by Anonymous | 10:16 AM