So, what words can we use to talk about the N-word without using the phrase "the N-word"? That's the question Washington Post is asking for their writing style sheet.
an excerpt from the Post:
Podesta wrote that it would be better for Post reporters to "take a few more words and say something like 'a well-known racial epithet.'"
In a telephone interview Monday afternoon, Podesta said the issue came up first as an aside during a conversation with an African American colleague.
"She said, 'You know, I'm really sick of this term, it's really trivializing and childish ... and we should find something more adult" when referencing the word, Podesta said.
Other African American journalists told Podesta they found the word "annoying," a few suggested simply running the word, at least on first reference.
"The word is so freighted with meaning, it's like, wink-wink, we're saying the word, and we're not saying it," Podesta said.
Last June the black-owned and -oriented Chicago Defender stirred some controversy with a story about the African American community's view of the word that carried the word in a front-page headline.
"Black America, isn't it about time we made up our mind about the word nigger?" the headline read.
"If we (at the Defender) can't raise the issue, then who can?" the paper's executive editor, Roland Martin, said at the time.
At the Post, Podesta's memo also urged staffers to "be careful about" other terms, including "anti-immigrant," and "jihad" and "jihadist."
So what do you guys think? Should the word just be out there with an overall apology that encompasses any writing that comes out from now on that no one is being called a name, should be come up with other terms, is "the N-word" sufficient and people should just get over themselves? I'd be interested in hearing what you have to say. I'm not sure what I think. I can't stand to hear or see nigger in print, although it loses its sting when discussed academically. "The N-word" is kind of annoying, but not as annoying as the Washington's Post's suggested euphemism, "a well-known racial epithet". Is there a better course that can be used for the present or are we just stuck where we are?
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3 comments:
I think we should keep our heads in the sand as long as possible. Side me with "The N-Word" crowd.
"N-word" seems too informal, almost slang-like, for a newspaper.
I'm not sure I see the purpose in specifying whether a given epithet is well known. I should think "a racial epithet" would be sufficient.
I would use the word as is in the title of a play, book, or other work of art or if quoting from one.
I'd be hesitant to use it otherwise, except in an academic sense. People who used it back in the days when it was more commonly heard may not have known any better. Anyone who uses it nowadays probably isn't worth quoting.
Perhaps you should launch a "take it back" campaign, ala Randal in Clerks II.
WHAT IF WE JEST CALLS UM "DARKEES"?
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