I know there is a thread already but I need to address the C.H.A.N.G.E controversy from a different

[wndycty]

angle.

For those you who don't know I teacher in Florida got in trouble for writing C.H.A.N.G.E. = Come Help A N-word Get Elected on a chalk board.

Let me start off by saying that was COMPLETELY INAPPROPRIATE for him to do and he should be disciplined, HOWEVER without knowing much about the man I'm going to stop short of calling him racist. Why?

Because many of us in the Black community (I hate always bring up my race but it adds perspective) got that joke from other Black folks, laughed our asses off and forwarded it other Black folks. I actually got it from my 69 year old mother who wrote "I'm probably going to regret this but its too funny."

As many of you know the use of the N-word amongst Black folks is acceptable to many of us (many identity groups reclaim and use slurs against them amongst themselves. . .and Black folks are no different) and coming from one Black person to another it was funny as hell.

Again the teacher in question needs a huge sensitivity class but I'm not ready to label him a racist.

[yardwork]

1. But the teacher isn't black.

[wndycty]

3. I did not excuse his use of it, I said it was inappropriate I just said I stopped short of . . .

. . .calling him racist.

[yardwork]

5. You are more forgiving of him than I - and I'm white. I call his behavior racist.

Without knowing anything else about the teacher, I'll stop short of calling him a racist, but his action in and of itself was racist. And stupid. And unprofessional. And unbefitting behavior expected of a teacher.

[wndycty]

6. Stupid, unprofessional, behavior unbecoming of a teacher. . .AGREED

Racist? He very well could be but I need to know more.

As I said its a joke I loved, laughed at and sent to other Black folks who loved it and laughed it.

Race is a complicated discussion nowadays.

[yardwork]

8. I appreciate your insight and I'm glad that you posted this.

I see your point. It's possible that the teacher was attempting to be cool and bond with his students and didn't realize that it's not ok for white people to use the n word. One would think that a teacher would already know this but maybe he's been in a coma for the past couple decades or something.

[wndycty]

10. A college degree does not equal common sense. . .

. . .I have never understood how people think just because members of any particular identity group may use slurs amongst themselves that it is OK to use those slurs if you are not part of that group.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

2. That's just about the stupidest argument I've heard on DU today.

And I've heard plenty.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x4163221

[wndycty]

4. What was stupid about it? I said he should be disciplined and it was completely inappropriate. . .

. . .so what was stupid about my argument?

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

9. The part where you argued his use of the word "nigger" wasn't racist.

That part.

[wndycty]

13. Well if you understand the joke. . .

. . . and understand that some Black folks (myself included) us the n-word casually when talking amongst ourselves (even with discussing Obama) you might understand where I'm coming from.

I think the guy is an idiot to put that on chalkboard or to repeat it in mixed company, but how the hell would I look being outraged when this is a joke I have been laughing at for a week or two?

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

15. Oh, I understand where you're coming from.

It just doesn't matter.

He's still racist, despite the fact that black people use the word, or that he may be too stupid to know any better.

[wndycty]

17. And I'm opting for the too stupid to know better. . .

:kick:

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

19. That's just a rehashing of the "just following orders" argument.

"Too stupid to know any better" is not a valid excuse for racism.

[wndycty]

20. If he just called Barack the N-word it would have been different. . .

. . .but he was repeating a joke that was going viral amongst Black folks so I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt on racism. He was a dumb ass to think it was appropriate for him to repeat in a class room of all places, a big ass dumb shit, not arguing with you on that.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

21. He was calling Barack the N-word.

[wndycty]

22. Do you or do you not get the context of the joke/phase?

. . .when I first got it, from my mom of all people, it was Black folk to Black folk. He was wrong to repeat the joke and he had no business doing it in a classroom, but if he was quoting the joke it is completely different than just calling him the n-word.

[Quantess]

7. Or, he was set up.

He's either
1. an arrogant, dumbass racist
2. sick of being a teacher and wanted to get fired
3. was set up by a student or a fellow teacher.

[Hepburn]

11. IMO, what is appropriate among some groups, is NOT appropriate in other groups.

I am white ~~ there is NO WAY in hell I would EVER for any reason use the n-word. In all my 60 years, I have NEVER uttered that word...even in a polite discussion like this about the use of the word.

I understand that it is something that some blacks feel comfortable using among themselves and with family. I have no opinion on that because like I said, I am NOT black and I am not a member of the family where this joke is going around.

I can say this: Most of my pals know I am an Obama supporter ~~ if I got a email or someone told me this as a joke, I would be totally offended.

I come from a Jewish background ~~ so I do understand that there are things that are funny among us Jews that if a non-Jew said, it would be offensive. That is how it hit me with the teacher doing this ~~ it is a PUBLIC school and with 7th grade students. Waaaaaaaaaaaaay out of line. And...it was done by a white teacher. Not F/N funny to me at all.

I have a close friend ~~ who happens to be black and male. I would never tell him that "joke" because IMO I do not have a right to tell it. Have I told him Jewish jokes? Hell, yes...but a joke using the n-word? I would bite my tongue off first...and this had NOTHING to do with political correctness ~~ it has to do with I would never, ever do anything to cause someone hurt for no good reason. And, to me, that word used by a white person is too much like what blacks have wrongfully experienced in our nation for far too long!

JMHO

[wndycty]

14. You are right. The guy was an absolute idiot who should be condemned and disciplined for his . . .

. . .judgement, but I'm no ready to call him racist without knowing more.

[Hepburn]

16. I guess I am over-sensitize cuz my first husband was a Southerner and...

...a racist POS. When I hear the n-word used by a non-black, it reminds me too much of what a complete asshole he was.

[wndycty]

18. Trust me. . .I'm not ready to give him a pass but I'm also not ready to call him a racist. . .

. . .without knowing more.

[crankychatter]

12. how dare you be logical, nuanced and kind

harumph and tut tut

[Solon]

23. Unless the N-word was used in a historical context, i.e. as a quote from a historical figure....

this white person is a racist. Simply put, I don't understand why it would be otherwise. And I'm white, so I'm trying to figure this out.

[TheKentuckian]

24. Its hugely stupid

is this classroom language.

Teach little Johnnie and little Jill how to be prejudice or ignorant. Yeah, even black people running around calling people niggers is ignorant. Maybe even willful ignorance, trying to convert a horrible term. Do you see Germans trying to rehab Nazi? Of course some white people will fight all night for proper respect for rednecks.