Maloney quoted using the n-word

[ccharles000]

Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) will probably wish she would have chosen her words a little more carefully, even if she was quoting somebody else.

From a profile in City Hall:

There is Carolyn Maloney, ripping into Kirsten Gillibrand broad and hard for voting against the two stimulus bills and for changing her positions on several core Democratic issues, sounding out her case on the fly as, "It's the NRA, it's immigration, it's all these other things. In fact, I got a call from someone from Puerto Rico, said went to Puerto Rico and came out for English-only . And he said, 'It was like saying n–r to a Puerto Rican,'" she said, using the full racial slur. "I don't know — I don't know if that's true or not. I just called. I'm just throwing that out. All of her — well, what does she stand for?"

Maloney is getting ready to face the kind of political scrutiny she hasn't seen in years, maybe decades, in her primary against Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), and this probably isn't the start she was looking for.

Update: In a statement, Maloney apologizes.

"I apologize for having repeated a word I find disgusting," she said. "It's no excuse, but I was so caught up in relaying the story exactly as it was told to me that, in doing so, I repeated a word that should never be repeated."

http://briefingroom.thehill.com/2009/07/20/maloney-quoted-using-the-n-word/

[Vinca]

1. I read this on another site and can't understand the "newsworthiness" of it all.

She was quoting someone else and probably would have been better to paraphrase, but it's not earth-shattering news.

[uponit7771]

2. KKKons real true "colors" are showing, I'm not surprised they're gonna point finger at anything...

...remotely looking racial when it comes to a black or Latino person

[YOY]

3. Using a word in reference and using it in regular speech are two different things.

"They called John an XYZ." versus "John is a XYZ."

[BlooInBloo]

6. There's no point in going into the difference between use and mention on DU.

[YOY]

7. Yes I have seen a number of folks who are afraid to say certain words.

As if referencing those words will mark one as a racist, gay-basher, or antisemite.

[madamesilverspurs]

4. At least she didn't resort to the more common retreat

into juvenile explanation, as in: Mommy, Johnny said 'fart.' Fart is a bad word, isn't it? We're not supposed to say 'fart', he's bad for saying 'fart', isn't he Mommy?

[brendan120678]

5. LOL...

You must have been listening in on my family when my brother and I were kids.
;-)

[Mz Pip]

8. Hmmm....

I didn't know either of my sons posted on DU. Okay, fes up. Which one are you? :rofl:

[Rebubula]

9. Context

That is the key.

Words are words...unless they are used to hurt. Knowing the difference between the situations makes life a lot more tolerable.