06-04-2004, 08:56 PM
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Kaffir Lily is an offensive name
The message
from (paghat) contains these words:
"All Japanese people have buck teeth & say 'so sahwee'" is a racist slur.
"All black people have smaller brains" is a racist slur. It doesn't take
words like Gook or ****** to be slurs, & I side with Lenny Bruce on this
issue entirely: You would EMPOWER words to do harm, then make the words
taboo. I would rob the words of power.
I understand the argument, I just happen to disagree with the tactic.
I'm not convinced that celebrities always believe, or personally
practise, the heartfelt personal credos they mention on stage during
paid performances..or consider the wider social implications for less
privileged, cushioned members of society who adopt a celebrity's
catch-phrase philosophy. His adult sophisticated response doesn't take
account of the fact that it may be applied by and to other, more
vulnerable people than himself, who may be less socially, emotionally or
intellectually equipped to cope with the consequences.
It MIGHT be just two reasonable
approaches, but I suspect not; I think you're just wrong. You can make the
personal decision to personally not use words, but when you decide that
the speech of others is inherently bad because they don't share your
desire to FURTHER EMPOWER words by making them taboo, well, we should all
respect each others' choices I guess, but I do believe you do the greater
harm spreading the power of words to do harm instead of undermining that
power.
I pointed out to some who didn't know, that the term is still actively
used as racial abuse in Britain and her old colonies; enabling such
posters to make an informed choice about using it. I'm neither
empowering the word nor creating a taboo for others.
Janet.
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