Year: 2006

That Word

Somehow, I missed the news about Al Sharpton’s issue with certain language in the TV version of The Boondocks until I read about it in the comic strip version this week. Today’s journal entry, though, is not so much about that controversy as it is about the trend for news outlets to use the cutesy term “the n-word” instead of the real word in question, which is “nigger”.

There. I typed it. Do you find the word rather repulsive? Yeah, so do I. That’s the point, after all. It’s hard to demostrate how offensive a word can be without using the actual word. When newspapers use stupid euphemisms like “the n-word”, the word is stripped of its outrageousness, and it sounds like nothing more severe occurred than little Betsy Wetsy saying “I have to tinkle.” In fact, it makes the whole thing sound sort of cute and endearing, like a fight between Bobby and Cindy Brady.

Surely no one could really object to the use of the word “nigger” in the context of a discussion about the use of that very word, could they?

I remember once, many years ago, that my grandmother was talking about a man she knew. She whispered the word “homosexual” but defined it out loud it as “you know, in love with another man.” In her universe, the word was apparently more upsetting and delicate than the idea behind it. It’s apparently the same for most newspapers.

If someone is using words like “nigger” or “spic” or “faggot”, I want to know about it. They’re not using cute little sanitized family-friendly words and I don’t want to read some wimpy newspaper’s cute little sanitized family-friendly minimization that masks the impact of what was really said.

What I Like About the South

That’s what I like about the south:

  • Standing in line at the cafeteria behind the elderly Chinese couple who are having chicken pie, black-eyed peas, and turnip greens.
  • Talking to the very proper, almost geeky librarian who tries to supress her southern accent, but — if given the opportunity — wouldn’t get rid of it entirely for anything in the world.
  • Knowing that any small town big enough to have a Wal-Mart Supercenter probably also still has a daily newspaper.

Mood Lifter

I can wake up in the bleakest, nastiest of moods and feel as happy as a clam after a few hours spent in the library and a few dollars spent on photocopies. In fact, I can only think of two other things that can make me that happy that fast. One of them is food and the other isn’t — or is, depending on how you’re mind is working today.

I had a realization today, one that I’ve had before and will probably have again. There’s probably no better career choice for me than to become a librarian. Whenever I think of it, I can’t come up with any compelling arguments against it aside from the potential of having to deal with the public. It’s something I really need to think more about.

But now I’m going to read about the grand opening of Charlotte’s first self-service A&P store in 1938.

Message Board Moron

I’ve had my websites for a little over ten years now. I added a message board to this one five or six years back, because it amused me and because I thought some of my visitors might enjoy it. I also added a much nicer one at another site, which actually gets traffic.

Over the years, I’ve only pulled a few messages and I’ve banned very few users. Ninety per cent of these pulls and bans were for spam. A few more were obvious trolls (people who simply wander in to any message board they find and start posting statements designed to piss people off and get a reaction whether on topic or not). Only in two cases have I pulled posts and/or banned regular posters for specific content violations. Both of these cases have been recent and both revolved around posts which I perceived as racist and inflammatory.

I mention this now because some people (including the recently-purged poster) may have gotten the idea that I remove posts from my message boards because I don’t like the grammar they use. Nothing could be further from the truth. I’m a language snob, I know I’m a language snob, and I usually manage to grit my teeth and cope with other people’s more casual approach to grammar and punctuation. Maybe the confusion with the recent post occurred because it just happened to occur at almost the same time as a language rant I’d posted just a bit before. This was a coincidence.

Just for the record, here is the post I pulled from the Otherstream message board:

Hey big guy, don’t forget to mention NC’s newest Idol star “Rhonetta Johnson”, she’s making all the crack head/ghetto mama’s proud thru out the Charlotte area! A fine product of our welfare system, as I heard she know’s her ABC’s to G, and can count to eleventeen. LOL

As should be apparent, the problems with this post are definitely not limited to the bad grammar and punctuation. However, it IS a bit ironic that the poster has the audacity to criticize someone else’s educational attainment when he can’t even seem to compose a sentence himself, isn’t it?

This individual has posted on my message board many times before, and sometimes even has expressed some valid and relevant opinions. Other times, I’ve generally just ignored him and laughed off whatever he was trying to say. On one occasion, he made some pretty blatantly unfounded comments about me. I didn’t “censor” that, but this last bilge was just a little too much.

Maybe I should’ve just left it there and let him dig his own grave. Maybe I should have just pulled it down and let the incident pass. Or maybe I should’ve made it more clear what had happened when I commented on it earlier. Either way, I just wanted to clarify for the record.