anymore than n!gger is short for Negro (black in spanish)

The word Jap was created in boot camps during WWII during the same time that internment camps were being used and government sponcored racist policies were being put in place against asian people. The word Jap was a cleverly used propaganda tool to dehumanize the asians and desensitize us toward the use of violence on the Japanese. Keep in mind we are talking about a time when many blacks still couldnt vote in the US and racial genocide was taking place in Europe. If you do not understand that the word Jap in much more than an abriviation for Japanese, than you obviously do not know the history around the term. Consider yourself enlightened

BTW, My asian friend sitting next to me finds the term Jap HIGHLY offencive and was teased with that deragatory term as a kid too.

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Winner of the "peoples Choice award" for supreme advocate for the people!

I'm not "always right", it just seems that way

Spelling is for kids! I think you got the point!

[This message has been edited by Fordman50 (edited 08-31-2001).]

Originally posted by Manu:
Man, the thing is...if people didn't let the word jap get to them, it wouldn't be derogatory. I am NOT saying if it offends someoen they shouldn't have the right to be upset, but the fact is, everyone finds something offensive.

If the USAGE of the word is not meant to instill any hate/violence/etc then how is it derogatory? It is like if a white guy calls a black guy a ******, that is bad, but a black guy calling another black guya ****** is fine?

Well, yeah, cause in one case it is probably meant as a derogatory manner.


Okay then I guess you won't mind being refered to from now on as haji, or sand ******, or raghead or dothead or coolie. WTF Manu I can not believe that you actually believe that this kind of language is really no big deal. The way jap was being used was to describe Japanese people as a whole jap is clearly deragatory in that context or most any context for that manner. If one black man refers to another as "my *****" it is a term of endearment. If a white male says the "******s" are what is wrong with this country then that clearly is a big difference. I think blacks should stop using ***** so freely only because it demonstrates apathy about the word when clearly that is not the case.
"***** say ***** we cool but, cracka say ****** get f-cked the hell up"
Easy E NWA

Over all I think it would be pretty easy to refrain from using these terms. I do think the argument that if that is who and what you are and you embrace it, then you should just let it fly and suffer whatever fall out comes from it has merit.



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"Discrimination is a hellhound that gnaws at Negroes in every waking moment of their lives to remind them that the lie of their inferiority is accepted as truth in the society dominating them"
Martin Luther King Jr.
"You cannot separate peace from freedom, because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom" -Malcom X

Actually, since I'm the offending party, I will say I never thought Jap was offnsive, that is why I put dirty in front of it. I don't see how eveyone can get their knickers in a twist over a perceived insult. i think the condemnation is too selective. I don't think "mylittle ho" is a term of endearment, do you? No one objected, not even me. But do you hear me respond with, "it doesnn't bother me cause your a ****** and you can't help yourself"?(although it may in fact be true since the epithet is framed in ebonic form) Get a life for Pete's sake.

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The truth is the hellhound that gnaws at the heels of those that lie and accuse you of oppressing them!

future Emperor in need of a cabinet(except Minister of Spanking)until then you can call me Chief!

Willie and Al smoke shrub but never inhaled!

Conservatives are RACIST-the world according to IAN.

Mr coy again. For such a "smart" man you sure claim to be ignorant about the words you repeatedly use Cosmo. We have had this conversation two times before over your use of the word "queer" and "wigger" (white+******) You sat back and told us that you thought they were good words and acted surprized that they may be offencive http://discussanything.com/Ubb/rolleyes.gif For a man who places so much value on the truth, you sure show little repect for it or our intelligence for that matter.

Im not Mr. PC by a long shot. I dont mind ruffling your feathers about the choices you make or who you vote for, But Im not going to insult you because of the way you were born. That just plain wrong and its not the way my mother raised me.

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Winner of the "peoples Choice award" for supreme advocate for the people!

I'm not "always right", it just seems that way

Spelling is for kids! I think you got the point!

A little empathy goes a long way
http://www.bushorchimp.com/images/pic36.jpg

Ian, your propensity for twisting facts never ceases to amaze me. I never claimed they were good words, I said they gt used quite often. I routinly hear homos referred to as Queers and no one objests. There is a TV show called Queer as Folks for god sakes, and in NY at least there is an advocacy group called Queer Nation, there is a newspaper called Queer Nation. As for Wigger, it is a derogatory term. So what? A person doesn't have to be a wigger do they? Its not racial, they can change. And lets face it it is a bad thing to be.

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The truth is the hellhound that gnaws at the heels of those that lie and accuse you of oppressing them!

future Emperor in need of a cabinet(except Minister of Spanking)until then you can call me Chief!

Willie and Al smoke shrub but never inhaled!

Conservatives are RACIST-the world according to IAN.

Everybody needs to listen to the sketch by George Carlin: "They're only words". Basically what he is saying, is that there is nothing wrong with the word n!gger in and of itself. The problem lies with the racist a-hole that uses it in a derogitory manner. THe words aren't the problem, it's the context and the attitude behind the words. I know that everyone here has made up words with their friends. Even if it's only been once to hide the meaning of a word they are trying to get across. Even if we could totally eliminate the word "n!igger" from the english language, the attitude would still exist, and another word would take over.
Anyway, that's my view. http://discussanything.com/Ubb/smile.gif

By making certain subjects taboo, we will never discuss them and let them into the open air. "Without air they will stink"

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The truth is the hellhound that gnaws at the heels of those that lie and accuse you of oppressing them!

future Emperor in need of a cabinet(except Minister of Spanking)until then you can call me Chief!

Willie and Al smoke shrub but never inhaled!

Conservatives are RACIST-the world according to IAN.

Originally posted by PFDarkside:
Everybody needs to listen to the sketch by George Carlin: "They're only words". Basically what he is saying, is that there is nothing wrong with the word n!gger in and of itself. The problem lies with the racist a-hole that uses it in a derogitory manner. THe words aren't the problem, it's the context and the attitude behind the words. I know that everyone here has made up words with their friends. Even if it's only been once to hide the meaning of a word they are trying to get across. Even if we could totally eliminate the word "n!igger" from the english language, the attitude would still exist, and another word would take over.
Anyway, that's my view. http://discussanything.com/Ubb/smile.gif

Right On.

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Manu Narayan

here's one. We can either be children or adults. What does the word ****** mean? What does wigger mean?

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The truth is the hellhound that gnaws at the heels of those that lie and accuse you of oppressing them!

future Emperor in need of a cabinet(except Minister of Spanking)until then you can call me Chief!

Willie and Al smoke shrub but never inhaled!

Conservatives are RACIST-the world according to IAN.

Originally posted by PFDarkside:
Everybody needs to listen to the sketch by George Carlin: "They're only words". Basically what he is saying, is that there is nothing wrong with the word n!gger in and of itself. The problem lies with the racist a-hole that uses it in a derogitory manner. THe words aren't the problem, it's the context and the attitude behind the words. I know that everyone here has made up words with their friends. Even if it's only been once to hide the meaning of a word they are trying to get across. Even if we could totally eliminate the word "n!igger" from the english language, the attitude would still exist, and another word would take over.
Anyway, that's my view. http://discussanything.com/Ubb/smile.gif

George Carlin for president! I agree with this theoretically. At the same time, how can you seperate the from humor and the hatred.

Also, if you want to seperate yourself from a n*, don't use it humorously if you take offense to it being used outside of your 'culture' circle. I've had many an arguement with some of the black folks in my neighborhood about this. And they retort with 'there is a difference between *****h and n*'. Since I am not in the field of studying semantics, I'll leave that one alone. http://discussanything.com/Ubb/smile.gif

On a seperate note, I had a teacher called me a dirty wetback http://discussanything.com/Ubb/smile.gif I don't know if I took offense as much as I felt sad for her students. How can they learn what tolerance is if the person who is teaching them about the world has none. *shrug*

Cristina-


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"Science is not the affirmation of a set of beliefs but a process of inquiry aimed at building a testable body of knowledge constantly open to rejection or confirmation. In science, knowledge is fluid and certainty fleeting. That is at the heart of its limitations. It is also its greatest strength."

"Myths are about the human struggle to deal with the great passages of time and life--birth, death, marriage, the transitions from childhood to adulthood to old age. They meet a need in the psychological or spiritual nature of humans that has absolutely nothing to do with science. To try to turn a myth into a science, or a science into a myth, is an insult to myths, an insult to religion, and an insult to science. In attempting to do this, creationists have missed the significance, meaning, and sublime nature of myths. They took a beautiful story of creation and re-creation and ruined it."

"It is sad that while science moves ahead in exciting new areas of research, fine-tuning our knowledge of how life originated and evolved, creationists remain mired in medieval debates about angels on the head of a pin and animals in the belly of an Ark."

"The first-cause and prime-mover argument, brilliantly proffered by St. Thomas Aquinas in the fourteenth century (and brilliantly refuted by David Hume in the eighteenth century), is easily turned aside with just one more question: Who or what caused and moved God?"

"Ultimately all hominids came from Africa, and therefore everyone in America should simply check the box next to 'African-American.' My maternal grandmother was German and my maternal grandfather was Greek. The next time I fill out one of those forms I am going to check 'Other' and write in the truth about my racial and cultural heritage: 'African-Greek-German-American.' And proud of it."

-- Michael Shermer

I think I'm turning Japanese
I think I'm turning Japanese
I really think so

Anyone remember that POS song?

Yea, I don't like it..

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Red 86 GT


"Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism, because it is a merger of State and corporate power."
Benito "Il Duce" Mussolini

Originally posted by Cosmo:
here's one. We can either be children or adults. What does the word ****** mean? What does wigger mean?



Wigger means you. I think you're a prime example of a wigger as far as i can tell.



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"He could not plead want of employment, nor incapacity of getting his bread in an honest way, but frankly own'd it was to get rid of the disagreeable superiority of some masters he was acquainted with and the love of novelty and change."

William Defoe on Bartholomew Roberts career of piracy

Originally posted by Cosmo:
Ian, your propensity for twisting facts never ceases to amaze me. I never claimed they were good words, I said they gt used quite often. I routinly hear homos referred to as Queers and no one objests. There is a TV show called Queer as Folks for god sakes, and in NY at least there is an advocacy group called Queer Nation, there is a newspaper called Queer Nation. As for Wigger, it is a derogatory term. So what? A person doesn't have to be a wigger do they? Its not racial, they can change. And lets face it it is a bad thing to be.



Well then im sure you wont mind if we refer to you as a Wigger from now on.

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"He could not plead want of employment, nor incapacity of getting his bread in an honest way, but frankly own'd it was to get rid of the disagreeable superiority of some masters he was acquainted with and the love of novelty and change."

William Defoe on Bartholomew Roberts career of piracy

[This message has been edited by CodyChaos (edited 08-31-2001).]

Cosy, if you run out of things to say, I can supply you with a list of names to call me. You haven't repeated yourself yet. But I find it a common denominator among your kind that you must resort to name calling.

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The truth is the hellhound that gnaws at the heels of those that lie and accuse you of oppressing them!

future Emperor in need of a cabinet(except Minister of Spanking)until then you can call me Chief!

Willie and Al smoke shrub but never inhaled!

Conservatives are RACIST-the world according to IAN.

Originally posted by Cosmo:
But I find it a common denominator among your kind that you must resort to name calling.

"whiggers"

"homos"

"dirty Japs"

Pot, kettle. Kettle, pot.



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-Curt

"There ought to be limits to Freedom." -Shrub

I don't think homo is derogatory.

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The truth is the hellhound that gnaws at the heels of those that lie and accuse you of oppressing them!

future Emperor in need of a cabinet(except Minister of Spanking)until then you can call me Chief!

Willie and Al smoke shrub but never inhaled!

Conservatives are RACIST-the world according to IAN.

Man, the thing is...if people didn't let the word jap get to them, it wouldn't be derogatory. I am NOT saying if it offends someoen they shouldn't have the right to be upset, but the fact is, everyone finds something offensive.

If the USAGE of the word is not meant to instill any hate/violence/etc then how is it derogatory? It is like if a white guy calls a black guy a ******, that is bad, but a black guy calling another black guya ****** is fine?

Well, yeah, cause in one case it is probably meant as a derogatory manner.

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Manu Narayan

Personaly, I dont let words bother me either. I have been introducing myself to others as a cracker for years in jest. I just thought it was worth pointing out the history and meaning of the term and the fact that many ARE offending by it.

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Winner of the "peoples Choice award" for supreme advocate for the people!

I'm not "always right", it just seems that way

Spelling is for kids! I think you got the point!

Uh, I have never heard of a homosexual person who referred to themselves as a 'homo'. It just has a negative connotation - maybe not flat-out offensive, but it definitely does have negative meanings attached to it, suggesting ignorance and prejudice. And yeah, I'd say in this context, it could definitely be seen as derogatory.

A lot of these words can be used among friends, but once you step outside of your circle of close friends or are in a formal discussion, it's totally inappropriate to use words like that. Like, I call my cousin a slut all the time, just joking around (ie. 'Hey slut, what's up?'), but I would never, ever call her that if we were discussing something seriously, and if anyone else called her that, there would be some serious issues. It's just a matter of taking the words back for yourself, like homosexuals did with the word 'queer'. It used to be highly offensive, but they decided that, if they could use it among themselves, hearing it from other people might hurt a little less. At least that's the impression I got, and the impression I've gotten with most derogatory names that friends use among themselves. You can tell a friend that he's an *******, just in a friendly way, but if someone comes up to him in a bar and says that, there's most likely going to be a fight. It's just a matter of context and comfort levels. And in a context such as a discussion board, there should be absolutely no derogatory terms used - it ruins the tone of the discussion and makes it uncomfortable for the people discussing. Using one of those names shows that you don't respect that type of person, and when you're discussing, that's not appropriate. If you're not sure if it's derogatory, just use the proper term...no one is going to take offense to that.

And yeah, wigger is absolutely a derogatory term. It's insulting to the people you're referring to, for their choice in style and cultural identification (believe it or not, there's really nothing wrong with what they're doing), and it's insulting to African Americans, because it's demeaning to black culture. (#1, it's white ******, which is clearly offensive, and #2, it's suggesting that there's something wrong with black culture, that whites who want to emulate it are horrible people).

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"I have no regrets. Regret only makes wrinkles." - Sophia Loren

Originally posted by Cosmo:
Cosy, if you run out of things to say, I can supply you with a list of names to call me. You haven't repeated yourself yet. But I find it a common denominator among your kind that you must resort to name calling.



Thats fine, what can I say if you're a wigger your a wigger. You've got something against my kind huh? What ya gonna do, exterminate "us"? I dont have anything against "your kind," just your personal ideas.


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"He could not plead want of employment, nor incapacity of getting his bread in an honest way, but frankly own'd it was to get rid of the disagreeable superiority of some masters he was acquainted with and the love of novelty and change."

William Defoe on Bartholomew Roberts career of piracy

[This message has been edited by CodyChaos (edited 09-01-2001).]

say what

[This message has been edited by CodyChaos (edited 09-01-2001).]

Originally posted by Fordman50:
Personaly, I dont let words bother me either. I have been introducing myself to others as a cracker for years in jest. I just thought it was worth pointing out the history and meaning of the term and the fact that many ARE offending by it.
In that context I do appreciate it.

I do, I call myself a dirty indian all the time. Or a camel jock, etc. With my firneds and I there are no racial slurs, cause we KNOW we mean no harm by it.



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Manu Narayan

I dunno manu...i've never called you a "camel jock" when i hang with you...

and if you guys refer to me as a dirty jew, i may laugh..knowing that you guys don't mean anything...deep inside of me, it's not really funny.

as for the use of "homo"....that is true...when used as an abbreviation for Homosexual...it's no offsensive...

but when it comes out of your mouth, or when you use it in a post cosmo...you offend..because you use it an offensive way.

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"The only thing i know is that i don't know"
-Socrates

and obviously he didn't know...when he drank hemlock. Thanks D Durden :)
http://216.105.37.221/images/gif006.gif

Ok, how do i use homo in an offensive way? I don't think I ever have, but correct me. Yes, of course wigger is a derogatory term, and I'll concede it means white ****** even, but then being black doesn't make one a ******. Maybe if we say white ****** , it would be more correct to say black ******, to differentiate from a normal person. No, I don't agree that there is nothing wrong with being white trash. White trash is a dysfunctioal culture. I'll give you my definition. People who don't value children, marriage, family, education, engage in promiscuous sex and breed indiscriminatey, are incapable of planning for the future, have no social taboo on criminal activity, and dental care is unknown, are white trash.

This kind of behaviour is just about guaranteed to bring about poverty. And it is hereditary in that the children emulate the identifiable parents or adults.

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The truth is the hellhound that gnaws at the heels of those that lie and accuse you of oppressing them!

future Emperor in need of a cabinet(except Minister of Spanking)until then you can call me Chief!

Willie and Al smoke shrub but never inhaled!

Conservatives are RACIST-the world according to IAN.