1. Kym Platt

December 7th, 2006 at 11:12 pm

I agree!

2. Del

December 8th, 2006 at 7:25 pm

I’m a librarian by profession and one of my listerservs is a progressive/radical org of librarians, the majority white.

Once a year, we have this heated discussion on race/racism and that lone wolf steps in and reminds us that race is a scientific construct and we have a larger enemy: poverty, power, capitalism, etc.

So I’d like to contribute Peggy McIntosh’s great anti-racism/white privilege checklist for all of those who forget that their behavior (or lackthereof) really fuels oppression on so many levels.

Peggy McIntosh’s “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack,” http://www.case.edu/president/aaction/UnpackingTheKnapsack.pdf and look at her list of “Daily effects of white privilege.”

3. R. Arthur Wilderson

December 11th, 2006 at 1:05 am

I wouldn’t mind seeing “Nigger” (or, being ambitious, all racial epithets) relegated to the dustbin of rarely used and antiquated words. I would, however, urge caution on the “all derivatives” clause. “Niger” is a perfectly respectable Latin cognate that predates and racist usage, and the word “Niggardly” is completely etymologically unrelated.

Do we have to get rid of those too?

4. Sokari

December 11th, 2006 at 7:08 am

I am not aware of the word “Niger” except as a country in West Africa! and if niggardly is etymologically unrelated then clearly it need not be got rid of. On the other hand if it is used in a derogatory way then it becomes a derivative of the said N word!

5. Anonymous

May 11th, 2008 at 12:39 pm

i personally would argue to regulate no words whatsoever and allow the charges associated with words to die with time. nigger has already reached the point where it is used as a term of camaraderie among black youth. to ban the term in general would necessitate a ban even for them. i have much the same opinion of fuck, shit ect.
avoiding a word is pointless. racism should be taken apart scientifically as it is an incorrect conjecture and has been proven as this.

6. Tristan

June 16th, 2008 at 1:09 am

I can’t believe there is discussion about a word that makes White people so fearful. The word “fag” is also feared among regular citizens as well. While I don’t use any of these words I have a problem with the fact that I am told NOT to use them or else. It’s got nothing to do with the word; it has everything to do with black power laying down law and I have a problem with that. I’m also tired of being called racial names and looking around to see that it’s ok to use the word “Cracker” or “white boy”. There will NEVER be equality among races living in one country. There will always be a see-saw effect of racial power and I promise you that there will be a time of chaos. This is human nature and you WILL understand this.