Burying the N word

[Subdude]

At what point should Editor stop censoring? I think he's gone too far already. I'd rather have no censoring and instead just have conscientious posters who report obsene or unappropriate content. Let the moderators deal with it on a case by case basis. Otherwise, with enough complaints all our posts will just be underscored lines with conjuctions in between.

The problem is that posters rarely report obscene or inappropriate content, and it is hard to catch everything. That is like arguing that traffic laws should be repealed, and accidents dealt with on a case-by-case basis. HAIF isn't truly a public internet forum. It is privately owned and operated for-profit venture. If it gets too trashy it won't draw advertisers, at least not the right type.

[millennica]

I agree with Jeebus, Red and Marty. I don't think words even derogatory or offensive ones should be censored when they are part of a discussion about language use or in other situations where the purpose of the discussion is not to demean or insult but to understand and enlighten. It for precisely this reason that I am not opposed to students reading Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn in classrooms (even though I feel that not all teachers are well- equipped to handle the reading discussing texts such as this one) and have even fought against other African American parents who have sought to have the text banned from my son's classroom.

I also want to point out that African Americans using the term among themselves is not a new phenomenon. Whether or not one agrees with it, this has been going on for many generations. I am older than many of the other African American posters and using the "N" word to refer to other African Americans sometimes endearingly and other times hostilely is nothing new. Before US society was officially desegregated, much of what happened in the Black community stayed there. What is different today is to extent to which that behavior has become visible to those outside of the African American community and commercialized through rap culture. And this is what concerns the Black leadership. This is also not the first time that Black leaders and Black entertainers have tried to get Black folks to stop using the term. After a visit to Africa, Richard Pryor notorious for using the "N" word in his comedy routines had an epiphany and vowed to stop using it. During the civil rights era into the Black is Beautiful era, organizations such as SNCC, the Black Panthers, and various pan-African groups tried to get Black folks to stop using arguing that using the word was an act of self- hatred and self-loathing.

As to whether this current campaign will be successful, I can't say. In the past, the Black leadership was able to get a certain segment of the Black community, but certainly not everyone, to discontinue using the word as can be seen by the current situation. My sense is the same thing will happen this time. Plus

[Subdude]

Please note that some of the terms tossed around in this thread are going to be considered offensive by some people, and limit their use accordingly. There has already been complaint. I understand that no one is trying to be intentionally offensive, but bear in mind that it isn't up to us what others find offensive.

All the regular HAIF rules on language usage still apply.

Thanks

[houstonmacbro]

To explain something is one thing --I do not think the n-word has any more power to hurt ini that context than hearing 'rain' or 'christmas') ... but when someone CALLS someone the n-word as an act of derision or racism or whatever... that is where I draw the line.

Actually, I have enjoyed reading the various definitions and interpretations.

Oh yeah, I was tripped out a couple of years back when I heard a group of rowdy teens behind me using the n-word. I was in a mall and it was lots of teens there, hanging out, etc. and when I turned around, low and behold ... the shock ... the horror ...

... it was a group of Hispanic and white teens calling each other that.

I was like "Now that's what you call progress!!"

[gwilson]

I was like "Now that's what you call progress!!"

That made me lol. Whew.

[nmainguy]

The problem is that posters rarely report obscene or inappropriate content, and it is hard to catch everything. That is like arguing that traffic laws should be repealed, and accidents dealt with on a case-by-case basis. HAIF isn't truly a public internet forum. It is privately owned and operated for-profit venture. If it gets too trashy it won't draw advertisers, at least not the right type.

So to get the "right type" of advertsers you censor one racial epitath but allow "faggot", "spic", "queer", etc... to stand? Maybe a letter writing campaign might clear things up when it comes to advertising on a selectively discriminating website?Personally as an an adult I can handle the occasional "______" reference as much as I can handle the equally derisive "faggot", "spic" or "queer" handles. I'm with jeebus on this. Just stop censoring. This is not a Tea Party. It's a "privately owned and operated for-profit venture." It's too bad the editor who is oh so willing to take our donations has no problem with his selectivity when it comes to censorship. And what's so hard about handling a reported infraction of the guidelines? So far we've had an extortionist/plagerist reported; we've had a guy who advovates leaving illegals to lay dead on the streets as a disincentive to immigration and another guy who gleefully mocks another member's health and then advocates said member's suicide. Please stop saying you moderate until these-few among many-infractions of the guidelines are inforced. All you do is make yourselves look all the more foolish.

[dalparadise]

So far we've had an extortionist/plagerist reported; we've had a guy who advovates leaving illegals to lay dead on the streets as a disincentive to immigration and another guy who gleefully mocks another member's health and then advocates said member's suicide. Please stop saying you moderate until these-few among many-infractions of the guidelines are inforced. All you do is make yourselves look all the more foolish.

____. I didn't know this stuff was going on here. That's truly sad.

What's worse, though, is those who can't seem to draw a line between that stuff and free debate and who do it, supposedly, to "protect the children". That kind of silly thinking is what is dragging this site down, not dirty words or opinions that stray from the majority on an anonymous message board.

[nmainguy]

____. I didn't know this stuff was going on here. That's truly sad.

What's worse, though, is those who can't seem to draw a line between that stuff and free debate and who do it, supposedly, to "protect the children". That kind of silly thinking is what is dragging this site down, not dirty words or opinions that stray from the majority on an anonymous message board.

Agreed. There is no word uttered that our youngest member (Trae?) has not heard in his schoolyard. Anyone who uses a teenager as an excuse to censure speech is just an intellectual coward. How many 16 year olds have never heard any number of profanities? If the editor is so hell bent on banning words then let's submit a list of epitaphs to add to his list. Should spic, chink, faggot, queer, lesbo, WOP, etc... be included in his list or are those OK? You would need a really big filter to block out every conceivable epitaph unless all you care about is one that refers to Negroes. BTW, I've never seen "honkey " banned just because it's a racial slur aimed at Caucasians.

[editor]

Since certain members of HAIF are not capable of participating in an intelligent debate on this issue, this thread is closed.