Jesse Jackson was caught on tape offering to castrate Obama for "talking down" to black folks and telling "n*gg*ers" how to behave. On The View, Whoopi Goldberg and Elisabeth Hasselbeck sparred over the racial slur, with Whoopi arguing that blacks can use the word while whites can't. Ta-Nehisi Coates, speaks into the issue with well-appreciated nuance and good sense. And so, I tried really hard to think about where I stand with it all.
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It is true that there is some nuance in which calling another black person "n*gg*r" is indeed a sign of affection. That is - I can conceptualize it. I can conceptualize it in a humorous content (the way the word "fool" can be used in a teasing, affectionate way), and I have heard and understood brothers talking to one another that way. And because I recognize the inflection, I don't flinch or even blink when someone uses it. I don't have any personal affectionate usages of the word - don't hang hard enough to have acquired the street sense of the word. But I get it.
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BUT... as a Baha'i, it occurs to me that we are missing the point if we leave it to purely situational ethics. Religion purports to give guidance on right and wrong that transcends situational ethics, and it occurs to me that this is one of those times when consulting the scripture might not be a bad idea. The thing is - it troubled me. It troubles me to see certain white folks, who likely call blacks "n*gg*r" all the time, complaining that they can't do it openly. Those type of folks - you just KNOW that they aren't being affectionate in their usage. And, here was Jesse Jackson - also CLEARLY not being affectionate in his usage. He's calling black folks names - and he wants to be able to do it under his breath, the same way racist white* people do, while complaining that Obama wants to encourage improvement for blacks. And - he gets a bye on the subject... because he's black, and because we all know - we black folk ALL know, just how prevalent it is in the black community for some of us to call others of us the "n" word in a less than affectionate manner. We on't like it when whites do it, because there's an inherent threat of an overwhelming prejudice - but we fail to notice the inherent threat of internalized self-loathing - buying into the frame that says that black people ARE n*gg*rs, or for that matter, that women ARE b*tches.
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