No More 'N' Word: A Texas Mayor Tries to Get Rid of Racial Slur in Town

[babylonsister]

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/strange/news-article.aspx?storyid=74250

No More 'N' Word: A Texas Mayor Tries to Get Rid of Racial Slur in Town


BRAZORIA, TX -- A Texas town is considering a law that would outlaw the "N" word. Under the proposal, anyone caught saying the slur could receive a fine up to $500.

Welcome to Brazoria, home of the "No Name" festival, and if the town's mayor has his way, no "N" word either.

"This is a melting pot -- this country is, OK? There is no room for any racial slurs, whatever."

Mayor Ken Corley is getting plenty of feedback on his proposed city ordinance to ban the racial slur. He says it's a quality of life issue

"When you're in town and you're riding around and somebody pulls up next to you and they have their radio on and they have some gangsta rap, I don't want my children or my grandchildren -- I don't want anybody in this town -- to be subject to that language."

The idea is drawing mixed reviews from Corley's constituents.

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[RB TexLa]

1. Would the person playing the "gangsta rap" get the $500 fine or the artist?

It would be the artist who actually says the word. :shrug:

Certainly understand what he is wanting in spirit but I don't think there are many judges who are not going to strike this down.

[derby378]

2. Good luck with that, paleface...

As offensive as the "N-word" is to many people in America, I have to side with the First Amendment on this one.

On edit: That reference was directed at the mayor, not babylonsister. I met her at Camp Casey in 2005. She's good people.

[theboss]

3. So much for me playing the latest Ghostface Killa CD.....

First Amendment wins. Have a nice day.

[efhmc]

4. It would be nice to get rid of the b word also, referring to women but I

do not see this happening. A lack of respect for others is what is missing in our society and unhappily, banning a word will not change that fact.

[jobycom]

8. I used to use that word as a term of endearment for my spouse.

Used to stun people when I'd say it around others. But it was a word I never used towards other people, and not a word I would say in anger, especially directed at others. My spouse had/has a grating personality, and using that word was my way of saying I didn't mind her attitude, even that it was part of what I liked about her.

I don't use it anymore because we've split up, so it wouldn't come out the same. Proof of what you say, that it's not the word, it's the purpose of the word that is the problem.

[jobycom]

5. Leave it to a Texan to discriminate against blacks by banning the N word

I thought for a minute this was going to be a statement against racism, but no, just more bias against black culture, black music, etc.

And as a point of semantics, it's a "racial slur" only when it is meant as an attack on someone's race or on someone because of their race, so it's not a "racial slur" when it's used as a term of affection or comaraderie, as is often the case in "Gangsta" rap. I mean, I'd like to see the word vanish, too, but it isn't the word that is the problem. It's what white people mean when they say the word that is the problem. Americans seem to have a lot of trouble understanding the difference between the sound of a word and the meaning of that word.

[babylonsister]

10. I have no idea how you came to that conclusion. Could you

possibly be reading more into this than there really is?

[jobycom]

18. I'm not sure what you're asking.

I was commenting on this quote from the mayor, explaining his law: When you're in town and you're riding around and somebody pulls up next to you and they have their radio on and they have some gangsta rap, I don't want my children or my grandchildren -- I don't want anybody in this town -- to be subject to that language.


That's what I was commenting on. I'm not sure what your question is questioning, I guess.

[babylonsister]

21. You accused a man who might think he's doing the right thing by

banning a racial slur of being racist for the banning. You convoluted the whole meaning of the article and this man's intentions imo.

[jobycom]

23. I absolutely, positively, and in all ways DID NOT.

I accused no one of being a racist. I did not convolute the article or the man's intentions. Reread my post if that's the opinion you got.

[babylonsister]

25. "Leave it to a Texan to discriminate against blacks by banning the N word"

OK, not a racist, a discriminator. Whatever.

[jobycom]

27. Not a "discriminator," either. You are applying labels where I applied none.

I said his law would discriminate against blacks, and then in the article I was more specific, and said "black music, black culture, etc."

I didn't impune the man's intentions, I didn't comment on the man's intentions, I didn't label him in any way (I was very careful not to, in fact). But no matter his intentions, the stated purpose of his law is to ban the word even as used in rap music, which would mean that people would be limited in the music they could listen to. Intended or otherwise, the outcome of this law would be to discriminate against people who listen to rap music, since one could still play country, rock, gospel, or orchestral music whenever and wherever they wanted.

[acmejack]

15. In other words if a white person uses it?

[jobycom]

17. I said what I meant. nt

[acmejack]

19. A word should not have a racial identity!

Where it is perfectly acceptable for you to use casually but an egregious sin for me to speak.

[jobycom]

22. That's just silly.

So if I'm talking about the town of Fucking, Austria, I have to mean the same thing as a frustrated tourist who screams out "Fucking Austria!"?

Context is everything.

[acmejack]

26. Not silly at all.

People shouldn't run around using the word in casual conversation, songs, and comedic routines on television and then forbid it's use to members of all other races. Context or not. Can't you see what I am trying to say?

[jobycom]

28. I can see it, but I totally disagree with it.

A word only has the meaning a person gives it. I know gay people who call each other, and themselves, by the F word, I know women who call themselves the B word. People often apply words to themselves that others use as horrendous insults. It's a way of diffusing the word's power, but more than that, it's a way of challenging the negative connotations that inspire the word. A woman angry at being called a B by others might embrace that aspect of her personality, rather than letting others use it as an insult, so she might start applying the name to herself as a way of proving, to whomever she's trying to prove it to, that the word, and therefore the image, is not negative. But that's not going to mean she she'll let someone else call her that as an insult.

Any word can be used as an insult said in the right way. The problem with the N word, and must insulting names, isn't the word itself, it's the horrendously dehumanizing meaning of the word when used by the dehumanizers. If a group of victims choose to use the word themselves, not to dehumanize themselves, but as a term of friendship, identity, whatever, for the purposes of demystifying the word, or diffusing its hurtful qualities, or whatever, that's a very different use than having the word shouted as an insult, or dropped in casual conversation to show complete disdain for a person or an entire grouping of people.

You honestly can't see the difference between, say, Jay Z calling his friends the N word as a form of camaraderie in a song, and someone like Trent Lott calling, say, Al Sharpton by the same word? Personally, I don't like the word being used in any context, given the history of the word, and there are a lot of black leaders who agree with that. Richard Pryor's conversion on that issue was well publicized. But the short answer is yes, the word is a very different word when used by a white person than when used by a black person.

Back to my original point--banning the word used as an insult is one thing, banning its use in rap music gives the ban a completely different context. You can't see that?

[efhmc]

6. Thanks for the nice word of prejudice against Texans.

I really appreciate it. (On edit: should be a response to message #5)

[babylonsister]

7. What is that supposed to mean? I give the man credit for

recognizing a problem and trying to correct it. And FWIW, I live very close to Brazoria County.

[efhmc]

11. Please see my correction.( I agree that there was an attempt to do

something positive here.)

[jobycom]

12. You're welcome.

As a Texan, I stand by the comment. Maybe you'll even catch the irony of that, in the context of my post above. Maybe not.

[EdwardM]

9. The moral of the story is,

The government gets to decide what you can and can't say.

[dogday]

13. The fine should be "Washing your mouth out with soap"

Why don't they just make you stick a bar of soap in your mouth like Mom used to?

[kenny blankenship]

14. Does this mean no Chappelle show repeats?

[The2ndWheel]

16. But they can still think the word, right?

If we want to creat some artificial world, just wait a few years until we can mold thought. Banning the use of a word won't do much. Especially if we don't have telescreens in every room of a private home or street corner.

Corley is too ahead of his time. Patience there fella. Although I guess the $500 can go towards learning more about the brain.

[scrinmaster]

20. So much for the first amendment. n/t

[RedCappedBandit]

24. Slippery slope

I disagree wholeheartedly.