October 29, 2008
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The N-word. A word that makes me want to throw up. When said by others who are not black/African American, the urge to upchuck happens quicker. Just like the F-word, it’s been given a lot of power. Power that is so unattractive.
And, I’m sorry to have to be “that person,” but “mandatory volunteer work for a grade” doesn’t sit well with me. The response that “well, if we don’t nudge them they’ll never do it” is like the idea that “if I don’t introduce them to ‘great literature’ they’ll never read.” Isn’t it?
Just because we don’t SEE racism, ageism, lookism, and sexism happening in our own classrooms, before our own eyes, doesn’t mean it isn’t happening on campus. I just saw a whole bunch of one particular -ism occur all over the place in a meeting. Super fun. Not.
I can’t quite understand why it’s completely our duty as a campus to break down the stereotype of our students for the community members by having them volunteer. “Oh, look dear; there are some NDSCS students helping us out. They aren’t so bad afterall.” *insert cheesy smile* Shouldn’t the community do some work on breaking down the stereotype for themselves? Just a thought.
[Eventually, I will probably become the crazy English professor lady who has fifteen cats and mumbles to herself about dryer sheets.]
Comments (3)
Stereotypes are, unfortunately, based within a kernel of truth…otherwise they wouldn’t be stereotypes. I think that what needs to happen is that people need to understand that no matter WHAT you do, there will be some sort of -ism out there, and that its not completey a moral thing.
Perhaps if we, as in the musical Avenue Q, admit that “everyone’s a little bit racist,” we might actually be able to have some sort of semblance of unity.
@Evowookiee - Oh, sure, there are -isms out there… but let’s talk about them; how can we make it easier for students of a variety of backgrounds to come to our campus and be successful?
And, perhaps we are all a bit racist, but I don’t think it’s professional to use the N-word, just like I wouldn’t throw out the F-bomb in a meeting. If I started out saying “N-word,” then please note that and reflect that usage.
@teacher47 - I wouldn’t say that I promote the usage of the term, but I observe that it is a cycle of exponential returns. Racism breeds language, and language promotes racism. When black people run around using the N- word as a term for each other they are creating a divide, and further promoting the use of the word. When white people use it…its just stupid, ignorant, and it normally is to cause an adverse response.
But to my point
We have become so accustomed to walking on eggshells, trying our hardest not to insult or offend each other that we have actually created meaning to these words. A case in point would be the famous Saturday Night Live sketch with Richard Pryor and Chevy Chase, where Chase is throwing our racial epithets and Pryor is responding in kind as part of a ‘word association’ game for a job. In the end Chase throws out the N- bomb…inciting Pryor to say “DEAD Honkie!”
I think that the more we seperate ourselves from each other in an attempt to not step on any toes, the more segregated our culture will become. The way I see it, we need to stop looking at it as “black community/ white community” and stop trying to point fingers at who has done what. In doing this, we have simply created a different type of separation, and this is not the future that Dr. King had in mind.