N-word written in bathroom stall at U of O makes the news

[cybercoma]

I chose to not let it get to me, because people are quite damn ignorant.

And that's you. But if it did get to you, then you would have every right to be offended by it. What you don't have the right to do is tell people how they should react to things because it's not the way you would.

People really ARE to sensitive.

So what? They're entitled to be offended by things that are meant to be offensive.

Actually because he thought me and my other roommate were racist against him, after multiple threats FROM him, I evicted him. On his way out he end up cleaning out my roommate completely and as well as some of my items. Claiming I don't know what it's like to be black. And well, he is right, I DON'T know what it is like to be black. Kind of irrelevant.

Well your roommate sounds like an asshole. Your anecdote is irrelevant though.

So what would be your stance if it was a black person writing 'cracker' on the wall. You get upset by that? And what if it was a black person who wrote 'nigger'? What kind of position of hate speech would you tow there? Self hating black man?

I grew up attending a high school that bordered both middle-class and underclass neighbourhoods, where black kids were racist towards white kids. Of course it's not appropriate and of course white people have every right to be hurt and offended by their racism. At the same time, when I'm growing up in a society that privileges me for being white, their racism holds little power and is a reaction to the pervasive and insidious oppression that still exists. They grew up being stigmatized with characteristics that they may or may not have had as individuals because white middle-class society has a particular image of young black people living in poverty, whether individuals have those characteristics or not. So it's still racist when they're being racist. Yes. They don't have the power to stigmatize white society because they hold no power over it. There's a difference in power relationships, whether people want to admit it or not. Power and privilege are not fantasies made up by academia. They're reflected in aggregate statistics about race and society. As for black people being racist to other black people, that's the most insidious form of oppression when they perpetuate the stigma, which maintains the status quo of power and privilege, themselves.

[cybercoma]

It seems the event that caused the creation of this thread is rather outdated.

A more recent example of how people react to the word in question is the Paula Dean story.

The Food Network personality admitted using the N-Word in the past and now people that did business with her are turning their back on her.

On one hand, the Paula Deen thing ins unfair, since she grew up in a different context. Ask any middle to upper class white person from the South whether or not they used that word loosely in the 60s and earlier and you probably would be hard pressed to find anyone that didn't. She was born and raised in a racist society. She's as much a victim of her circumstances, as anything. However, from my understanding (I may be wrong), she made some recent remarks that were incredibly racist that any business maintaining an image to the public really needs to distance itself from, so I understand their POV as well.

[Shady]

The people that it's directed towards obviously.

I doubt it. Apparently the world has to come to a standstill because some random loser wrote something in a bathroom. Aren't there real problems anymore?

[cybercoma]

I doubt it. Apparently the world has to come to a standstill because some random loser wrote something in a bathroom. Aren't there real problems anymore?

There's no better way to prove your point than by knocking down a straw man.

[Michael Hardner]

Back to the OP, though, should it be necessary for mandatory anti-discrimination training due to this event ? Is it sending the wrong signal to respond to such fringe beliefs with such alarm ?

I think that there are groups that could garner attention by such acts. It may be better to just ignore them, to not use them as bellwether of real issues.

[GostHacked]

I doubt it. Apparently the world has to come to a standstill because some random loser wrote something in a bathroom. Aren't there real problems anymore?

There are. However in other threads, the attack is on the messenger and not the message, which is detracting from the real problem.

[Shady]

There's no better way to prove your point than by knocking down a straw man.

Maybe we can install cameras in bathrooms to make sure that nobody writes anything bad in a bathroom ever again!

[Shady]

There are. However in other threads, the attack is on the messenger and not the message, which is detracting from the real problem.

I think it's possible to discuss the good of Saint Snowden as well as critique the bad.

[jacee]

On one hand, the Paula Deen thing ins unfair, since she grew up in a different context. Ask any middle to upper class white person from the South whether or not they used that word loosely in the 60s and earlier and you probably would be hard pressed to find anyone that didn't. She was born and raised in a racist society. She's as much a victim of her circumstances, as anything. However, from my understanding (I may be wrong), she made some recent remarks that were incredibly racist that any business maintaining an image to the public really needs to distance itself from, so I understand their POV as well.

The Nword was used in the South much later than the 60's and still is used as an assertion of right - ie 'Don't tell us what to do!'

Deen represents an entire swath of society. The Nword figures prominently in the current backlash against 'political correctness' not just in the south, but in the street lingo of our cities (where it's a derogatory term applied regardless of race) and especially in Nova Scotia.

It's no surprise to me that it shows up on a bathroom wall.

[g_bambino]

And that's you. But if it did get to you, then you would have every right to be offended by it..

But, does his choice to be offended give him the right to expect that a whole group of people entirely unassociated with the affair be subject to mandatory "anti-discrimination training"? To me, the answer is a clear and resounding "no".

The only plus side to that original story is that there was no indication of discrimination in who should and should not get this so-called anti-discrimination training.

[Bryan]

Someone that starts shit by being racist is a racist.

Not if just getting a reaction was the goal. Getting a reaction out of people is a simple process of figuring out what their buttons are. Going for the "cheap heat" has got nothing to do with how you think, it's a matter of what other people might get upset at.

[Signals.Cpl]

Someone that starts shit by being racist is a racist.

Not really, they want to cause some commotion and start with racism because its easy, kind of like a bathroom troll.

What if it was previously suggested it was a black guy? What then? Is he racist against himself?

Edited July 9, 2013 by Signals.Cpl

[Sandy MacNab]

I guess when the racism is never directed at you, it would seem pretty benign.

Well, I have to admit you have an excellent point. You visable minorities have endured far more than we whites will ever know.

[cybercoma]

Well, I have to admit you have an excellent point. You visable minorities have endured far more than we whites will ever know.

It's spelled "visible" and as usual you make a lot of assumptions.

[Moonlight Graham]

Your story about your roommate making crap up is immaterial. When hate speech is used and the person isn't lying about it, then it doesn't matter if you were "just joking" or "didn't mean it that way." You're not the target of the language and the target has every right to be upset or offended and every right to criticize the language and social systems that allow it to flourish.

Black people are major part of the "social systems that allow it to flourish". Many black comedians and musicians/rappers drop the n-bomb all the time. Many black people use the "n-word" all the time in casual conversation. Not saying it's okay for a non-black to call a black person a nigger, but maybe more black people should denounce all uses of the word instead of empowering it. They're a part of the problem.

Anyways, my point about the story is that it isn't right to scribble the N-word on a bathroom stall door, but such a thing isn't national news, and black students wanting "anti-discrimination training mandatory for all students" is one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard, given nobody knows if a student or a non-black even wrote it.

Also, anyone has a right to be offended by a racial slur, but Gosthacked and anyone else also has a right to tell some of these people they are being over-sensitive. And how the heck can a black person be offended by an anonymous n-word when black people say it all the time and a black person could have easily written it?

[Moonlight Graham]

Well, I have to admit you have an excellent point. You visable minorities have endured far more than we whites will ever know.

I've heard countless non-whites call whites racial slurs before, so it works both ways.

[Moonlight Graham]

The other ridiculous part of this story is that the "n-word" wasn't directed at anyone specifically. As far as I know, I was just written "nigger". Not "so and so is a n*****" or "all n*****s must die". As far as we know it could have been written by a black person. If somebody had the purpose of expressing racial hatred when writing what they did, they didn't do a very good job.

[dre]

I have not faced racism but I have had a few experiences were people called me Nazi/Jew Killer ect and crap because my grandfather fought on the German side in WWII

This whole subject is sensitive to me because my grandfather died in Aushwitz

[Sandy MacNab]

It's spelled "visible" and as usual you make a lot of assumptions.

Huh? You talk as if you have had oodles of personal experience.

[Who's Doing What?]

^{Yo, I saw this whitey, trippin down the street and I rolled up on him and said hey whitey, ain't you in the wrong hood?}

^{And this dumb Whitey looked and me and told me mind my business.}

^{Well some of my family whitey's happened to be close by, so stepped up to see what the issue was.}

^{LOL Anyone see the irony?}

^{Can we say hyper sensitive?}

^{Like seriously.}

^{I got accused of being racist because I didn't recognise a guy and asked him if I could help him find something!}

^{The guy literally went to my supervisor and said he felt I was racist, and he never wanted me to talk to him again. Because I asked him if I could help him find something.}

^{F**king lighten up.}

Edited July 13, 2013 by Who's Doing What?

[Shady]

Stop, stop, stop everybody!

Last night I was out with a few friends at a sports bar to have a few beers and watch a few games with some friends. Went I entered the bathroom I noticed that somebody had written an anti-semetic remark AND a gay slur! Cyber, just wanted to know if I should call the cops??? Also, should I let the local media know as well???

[Bonam]

Stop, stop, stop everybody!

Last night I was out with a few friends at a sports bar to have a few beers and watch a few games with some friends. Went I entered the bathroom I noticed that somebody had written an anti-semetic remark AND a gay slur! Cyber, just wanted to know if I should call the cops??? Also, should I let the local media know as well???

I dunno man, it sounds like the crime was heinous enough that you shoulda just gone all out vigilante style on that sports bar. If a few bystanders get hurt in the deliverance of such paramount justice, well, it would be a small price to pay!

[dre]

I dunno man, it sounds like the crime was heinous enough that you shoulda just gone all out vigilante style on that sports bar. If a few bystanders get hurt in the deliverance of such paramount justice, well, it would be a small price to pay!

Its sounds more to me like he should stop bringing a felt marker to the can with him.