Racism: because they feel emboldened enough to engage in hate speech in a state committe hearing

[Skidmore]

Texas Lawmaker Uses Ethnic Slur To Describe Child Victims Of Hurricane Katrina

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/07/30/3466030/texas-lawmaker-uses-ethnic-slur-to-describe-kids-who-moved-to-texas-after-hurricane-katrina/

A leader of the Texas House of Representatives referred to children who moved to Texas after Hurricane Katrina using a term viewed by many as a deeply offensive ethic slur. In an exchange first publicized by Progress Texas, Rep. Dennis Bonnen (R) referred to the children as “coonass” at a hearing on the fiscal impact of migrants crossing the border into Texas.

During a discussion on what resources would be needed in schools to accommodate migrant children, Bonnen, Speaker Pro Tempore of the House, recalled Texas’ experience educating children who moved from Louisiana. “I want to be clear,” he said. “A Katrina child is far different. We can make jokes and pick on Louisiana and it’s fun and all that, but it’s a hell of a lot different bringing a kid over from Louisiana than a child who’s just made a treacherous journey from South America. … We had to have a teacher who could do coonass and English, but here we have to do Spanish and English, maybe, and there’s a higher marker.”

Watch the exchange:

...more

[linuxman]

1. Ummm...

You are aware that Coonass is a term used by various Louisianans, regardless of race, right? It's essentially the louisiana equivilant of "redneck"

Fuck it, let's rage anyway.

[FreedRadical]

2. NO!!!

We will not allow your attempt to normalize hate speech. Seen this shit back when "niggardly" was discussed. I had people here tell me that it wasn't a racist thing to say. Went rounds and rounds with it. Don't see it being used around here. Because it is a racist thing to say.

Coonass IS a racist statement. It has no place in our society. Politicians who use this kind of language do not deserve the public trust. And you will not tell us it is normal.

[linuxman]

3. I'll tell you what...

I'll attribute your account to some sort of "performance art" and leave it at that.

[Aerows]

7. I absolutely guarantee

that you are not from Southwestern LA (or any part of the Cajun belt) and know nothing of the history of the term.

[tritsofme]

4. Certainly you've never been accused of being niggardly with your outrage.

I agree with you that the "coonass" guy is wrong , but niggardly? Come on. This is not to say a word like niggardly cannot, foolishly, be used to express racist views, but it is pretty silly to label it as hate speech when used innocuously.

[FreedRadical]

5. Just as the OP stated.

I see many are embolden by the open hate speech that is sweeping our county and indeed the world. You clearly have never been treated to the hate that is permeating all like some some kind of stink. And I take you comment as a deep insult. As deeply as I can by a keyboard warrior.

[Aerows]

6. I'm going to explain this again as I had to explain in another thread

It IS a slur, and unless you live in Southern Louisiana and the region, you probably have no idea why it is a slur.

There was oppression and attempts at obliterating the French-speaking culture in Southwestern LA, and this was a slur used to denote that anyone that spoke French was an undesirable.

Children in the 40's and 50's were beaten for speaking French. Cajuns can call each other "coonasses" but for non-Cajun people that have no idea of the history of the pejorative to do so is highly offensive.

It surprises me how ignorant some people are of the oppression that the French speaking Cajun population endured. Lower than a "coons ass" and being a "raccoon eater" out of necessity is hardly complementary.

In invoking "they had to speak coon ass" he was saying that they were French speaking and hard to understand. Which dredges up a lot of horrible memories for those beaten for speaking French in an attempt to obliterate them.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

8. Looks like it might be an anti-French term

or anti-Cajun. There was discrimination against French speaking Louisianans when the Anglos took over. French speaking kids were physically punished in schools and forced to speak English (there was a documentary on this i saw on PBS years ago). According to this wikipedia entry, "coonass" refers to Cajuns. "Coonass" might be derived from the French insult and curse word "connasse" which is in turn derived from the archaic French word "con" or vagina. "Connasse" in French is not a nice word. It's often shouted by people who get angry at each other for cutting them off in traffic and applies to men and women and means asshole, idiot, piece of shit, etc. Originally, it meant someone who engages in the vagina trade (prostitute).


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coonass

[Aerows]

9. Absolutely

People that are ignorant of the history of the region do not understand how vile it is to those that are from the region or have close ties to the region.

[Aerows]

10. I'm going to explain ONE more time

why this is hate speech.

In the 40's and 50's, specifically, non-French speakers attempted to obliterate Cajun culture. They beat children for speaking French in schools or where a non-French speaker could hear them. Speaking French was and is a part of their culture.

To invoke that "they had to speak coonass" means looking down on them for continuing to speak English interspersed with some Cajun French.

His comments had exactly EVERYTHING to do with making them "other" and for speaking Cajun French (which many still do despite the attempts to eradicate it).

[Skidmore]

11. I don't know how anyone could possibly interpret this man's words

as anything other than hate speech. It is shocking that this individual apparently feels so assured that he will not suffer rebuke or sanction to speak in this manner within the context of a government institution. There was a time when we, as a nation, had come to the point where this type of language had become shameful and you didn't hear it in public. People who engage in hate speech should be shamed. Tepid nonapologies have been accepted for too long.