On May 02 2012 01:58 Destiny wrote:
Why wouldn't I condone public use of racial slurs? It has abso-fucking-lutely nothing to do with racism.
People can use racial slurs without being racist.
People can be racist without using racial slurs.
Why the fuck would I care how someone expresses them self? That's idiotic.
Oh yeah, you got me. I'm one of those atheist, pro-drug legalization, pro-prostitution legalization, pro-homosexual marriage right-wing nutjobs!
The disgusting thing about "political correctness" is that it doesn't seek to address any of the underlying problems that are only hinted at by certain words. People act like getting rid of certain words will get rid of the nasty thoughts/emotions/history that brought certain words into being. People act like if they could get everyone in their community to stop saying "nigger", all of the bad racism/hate towards a certain group of people would suddenly vanish. This is disingenuous and ignorant thinking that only serves to endanger freedom of expression, while offering absolutely no positive effects whatsoever.
Since when has publicly endorsing certain words served to further racism? Have you seen the rap scene lately? Hollywood? Come on, man.
Why wouldn't I condone public use of racial slurs? It has abso-fucking-lutely nothing to do with racism.
People can use racial slurs without being racist.
People can be racist without using racial slurs.
Why the fuck would I care how someone expresses them self? That's idiotic.
Oh yeah, you got me. I'm one of those atheist, pro-drug legalization, pro-prostitution legalization, pro-homosexual marriage right-wing nutjobs!
The disgusting thing about "political correctness" is that it doesn't seek to address any of the underlying problems that are only hinted at by certain words. People act like getting rid of certain words will get rid of the nasty thoughts/emotions/history that brought certain words into being. People act like if they could get everyone in their community to stop saying "nigger", all of the bad racism/hate towards a certain group of people would suddenly vanish. This is disingenuous and ignorant thinking that only serves to endanger freedom of expression, while offering absolutely no positive effects whatsoever.
Since when has publicly endorsing certain words served to further racism? Have you seen the rap scene lately? Hollywood? Come on, man.
I am sorry that I was unclear, I was not trying to suggest that you were a right-wing nutjob. I do not know nearly enough about you to make an assertion like that. I was merely pointing out the fact that trying to paint the opposition as 'politically correct zombies' was unhelpful.
We disagree on a few points. First, you say that "[P]ublic use of racial slurs [...] has abso-fucking-lutely nothing to do with racism." I disagree. I think that publicly using or endorsing this language contributes to a culture of racism. While the speaker may harbor no ill-will to any minority group, if the use of this language is tolerated it can have wide-ranging negative cultural impacts. The intent of the speaker does not affect that in the least. I am not asserting that YOU are a racist. Once again, I do not know nearly enough about you.
The next point on which we disagree is that you seem to hold that people, like me, who object to public use of racial slurs think that eliminating their use will solve all problems. I do not believe that at all. These are deep problems, and they require large-scale, difficult solutions (primarily in terms of economic policy). However, simply because it will not solve ALL problems does not mean that we should not attend to something that will help our culture. When people stand up and say that they do not accept racist/homophobic/misogynistic language (all of which you use publicly), even if they are expressing this in a small thread on the internet or to a Starcraft team manager, a small good is done.