Ta-Nehisi Coates explains why white people cant say theN-word

[sheshe2]

Ta-Nehisi Coates, a writer at the Atlantic and author of We Were Eight Years in Power, has perhaps the best explanation I have ever heard on the topic, given during an event last month at Evanston Township High School in Illinois.

Coates first pointed out that it is normal in our culture for some people or groups to use certain words that others can’t. For example, his wife calls him “honey”; it would not be acceptable, he said, for strange women to do the same. Similarly, his dad was known by his family back home as Billy — but it would be awkward for Coates to try to use that nickname for his father.


“That’s because the relationship between myself and my dad is not the same as the relationship between my dad and his mother and his sisters who he grew up with,” Coates said. “We understand that.”

snip

“So here comes this word that you feel like you invented,” Coates said. “And now somebody will tell you how to use the word that you invented. ‘Why can’t I use it? Everyone else gets to use it. You know what? That’s racism that I don’t get to use it. You know, that’s racist against me. You know, I have to inconvenience myself and hear this song and I can’t sing along. How come I can’t sing along?’”

Coates concluded that white people should use this sense as a lesson: “The experience of being a hip-hop fan and not being able to use the word ‘ni**er’ is actually very, very insightful. It will give you just a little peek into the world of what it means to be black. Because to be black is to walk through the world and watch people doing things that you cannot do, that you can’t join in and do. So I think there’s actually a lot to be learned from refraining.”

More: https://3chicspolitico.com/2017/11/11/ta-nehisi-coates-explains-why-white-people-cant-say-the-n-word/

[nycbos]

1. Chris Rock did a good routine on this

[oasis]

2. Coates' illustration makes good sense.

[Billy Jingo]

3. Reminds me of the bit from The Big Chill

"Ever gone a week without a rationalization?"

[Hoyt]

4. It's a shame anyone has to explain it to white wingers nowadays.

[Billy Jingo]

6. Either it's wrong or it isn't.

Stop rationalizing.

[LanternWaste]

17. Absolutism, lacking context, is also wrong...

Absolutism, lacking context, is also wrong...

Stop justifying logical fallacies.

[Billy Jingo]

21. He is rationalizing. And context isn't the determining factor according to the OP.

But if Coates, or anyone else for that matter, wants to drop N-bombs, that's their business. But pretending it can only be objectionable in the general sense depending on the ethnicity of the one uses it is absurd. It is either vulgar no matter who uses it or its vulgarity is based on the context of its use and not on the melanin content of the user.

[whistler162]

5. Perhaps he should try explaining to

anyone who uses the N word why it is not acceptable without regard to the racial heritage they identify with.

[bettyellen]

7. That was not the point he is trying to make. The colorblind theory is bullshit...

And it's not the same coming from a black person. They're not weaponizing slurs like white people have for many generations.

[whistler162]

13. FACE PALM AND SHAKES HEAD

with sorrow!

[gollygee]

22. You really need to think about the history of this word

It is a word of oppression, of slavery, of human beings being bought and sold and mistreated as property. And continued oppression in the many years since then.

When black people use that word with each other, they are saying that they share that history and oppression. "We are in this together. We share this horrible history." It's about solidarity.

White people don't share that history. We can't use it to say "I've gone through this too. My ancestors were also enslaved. I am also a victim of systemic oppression." When we say it, it means something different. Think about what it means when white people use that word.

This is not that complicated. If you open your mind and your heart, I believe you will be able to see the difference.

[bettyellen]

23. More eveidence of social communications issues. You are not an anime character, and neither am I.

Perhaps that is part of the problem? Not so much real life experiences with the issue?

[Blue_true]

8. Calling someone from a racial or ethnic group a slur is not the same as a

person from that group using the slur. In the first case, using it is offensive, in the second it is more of a gentle insult.

I am not of Italian or Irish origin. I sometime hear people from those groups use slur words to describe a member of their group that I could NEVER bring myself to say or write. If I used the slur, someone should punch me in the mouth. I will call Italian and Irish friends assholes, or idiots when ticked off at them, but never something ethnic.

[whistler162]

14. FACE PALM AND SHAKES HEAD

with sorrow!

[raven mad]

9. I said it once. I was in pre-school, about 4 or 5.

I DO NOT like the taste of Ivory Soap, which is what I ate when mom got me home!

[sheshe2]

10. Good on mom...

And good on you for the lesson learned.

[raven mad]

11. Mom was a stickler!

i STILL don't buy Ivory. But my kids never said it.............. on the threat of Dove!

[MurrayDelph]

12. I'm an old white guy

I was born in downtown L.A.
I spent the first five years of my life in South Central.
I lived in View Park for the next 30 years, during which I went to a middle school on a street now named for MLK, and taught in Watts.

The only time it's appropriate fora white guy to use the N-word is if he is discussing Dick Gregory's autobiography.

[ProfessorGAC]

18. Or Is Referring To The Richard Pryor Album

Yes, we NEVER get to use that word, and i don't really understand with the problem is. Why is it so important for some white people to use that word? Lots of other words in the language that aren't meant to insult. We can use any one of those words.

[Ron Green]

16. It was the way white people talked when I grew up,

in a county that was 40% African-American. In a town where my high school was named “ ________ High School” and the other one was “ ________ Colored High School.”

The word was modified to “negro,” “negra” or “nigra,” depending on the social or political context, but normally was used unmodified.

Not until the very late 60s, even the early 70s, did these things change. Those of us who went away to college or the army during those years saw the difference more clearly upon our return than did, I suspect, those who stayed and had to learn new ways.

I think Ta-Nehisi Coates is right on in suggesting that being disallowed from the use of the word is clear instruction in the experience of discrimination.

[Orrex]

19. I've never heard it explained like that before. Very insightful.

In general, I've found it helpful to follow the comedians' rule of "Don't Punch Down," meaning that you don't take shots at anyone who is at a disadvantage relative to you.

For an average, generic white dude like me, that means I don't get to use racist or sexist slurs, and tough shit for me if I feel cheated as a result.

There is an argument to be made that artistic usage of these words can still be acceptable, but even there it's not a license to blurt out a stream of slurs simply for the sake of sensationalism.

Of course, a certain type of person will therefore claim that they should get to use those terms specifically for the sake of sensationalism (a la Tarantino or Maher). Those assholes are free to do so, but they can't claim to be shocked or persecuted when they're called out for it.

[cwydro]

20. Someone posted this yesterday on another thread.

It’s excellent.

K and r.

[Blue_Tires]

24. kicked