Racial vilification (Re: warp & woof,

[jbor]

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>From: Terrance <lycidas2 at earthlink.net>
>

>> "Ivan Z. Cestero" wrote:

>>>
>>> hey has anyone mentiond the rather important fact that  'nigger' and
>> 'nigga' are ostensibly two different words?
>>

> Yes.

Although the distinction is lost in oral discourse, of course.

An example from my experience was when a young (13 or so) very dark-skinned
Cambodian boy in a thoroughly multi-ethnic classroom (but predominantly S/E
Asian/Eastern European/Middle Eastern/Central & Sth Amer.) referred to
*himself*, quite loudly, as "nigger".

As the ostensible authorities there were a number of considerations for the
class teacher and myself. Firstly it was important that we didn't make a big
deal out of it, because then it would become "glamourised" as a taboo term.
Secondly it was important to censure the boy for the use of the term as,
like any author expletive, it was unacceptable in the context of the
classroom; we simply told him not to use the term again (not to call out
inappropriately) and said that we would speak to him after the lesson.
Thirdly it was important not to embarrass or belittle the boy in front of
his classmates.

The students in the class were not naive (Tupac and Snoop Dogg were the
heroes du jour), nor were there racial tensions amongst them.

Afterwards we explained to the boy in private that in many contexts the term
"nigger" is an abusive one -- that it is racist in derivation and often
still used as a put-down -- and while we knew he didn't intend it in that
way and weren't offended by it ourselves he could never be sure what effect
it might have on others. He understood and accepted this, and there was no
repeat incident.

At the time I also suspected that there might have been an element of low
self-regard in his use of the term to refer to himself, or that perhaps he
was simply trying to "fit in" with the peer group by being provocative, by a
type of self-deprecation where he was mimicking an epithet/put-down the
others might use towards him. We kept an eye on him in terms of student
welfare, but there were no repercussions.

best