Responses to the Offensive Article
Unsurprisingly, the article I wrote about double-standards, which used 'nigger' as an example, has gotten me the largest email response of all the articles I've written. It's a sensitive topic, and I used the most offensive example I could in order to help make my point, which is that double-standards are stupid, and if one group of people can't do something, then nobody should be able to do that thing - and that includes using the word nigger. I'd like to share with you now a few emails I received on the topic, and my responses to those emails.
I chose these emails because they are all vastly different in tone. I guess you could view it as examples of how to address an issue, and how not to address it. I'll save my favourite for the end, as most people do. If you need a refresher, here's the original article. Now, on with the mayhem! I'll warn you ahead of time, though, this is a long one, but it's totally worth it to stick around to the end.
From: Cameron Scott
Subject: The Nigger Article
Chris,
I stumbled on this article while surfing on my kids computer. Here's is a Black adult perspective. It is a double standard one whose origin may be lost so you may not be able to answer the question "Why does the double standard exist". It would have been nice for you to discuss the idea of context. For example, your emotions will vary depending on who and how someone says something. If your friends call you an asshole that may make you feel one way. If someone that does not like you calls you an asshole you may feel threatened.
So I can't tell you why there's a double standard I could make some educated guesses, but I don't like to spread commentary like its fact (hint, hint). My advice is until everyone feels like you say you do don't call any Black people niggers. It could be perceived as a threat. And understand that if someone you don't know calls you a Kyke you have been threatened.
Scott=
You know what this is? This is proof that stereotypes are bad. I wrote an article about how the use of the word nigger is a huge double-standard, and a black man wrote in with a reasoned response in order to voice his own opinions on the matter. Bravo, Scott. This is the response I sent to him, though delivery failed so he didn't get it and this is the first he'll see of it:
Hi Scott,
Thank you for taking the time to write to me, I appreciate it. I always like getting feedback, especially from people an article may be addressing.
The point I was trying to make in the article isn't that I should be able to call people nigger, it's that nobody should use words like nigger or kyke, specifically because they are words that were created for no other reason than to disparage an entire group of people. Nor should anyone say gook, nip, towelhead, etc. Double standards suck, and if one group shouldn't do something, then all groups shouldn't do that thing.
Now, am I being threatened if someone calls me a kyke? Of course I am. But I'm not going to get offended from hearing it, and if I hear someone say it to someone else I'm not going to do anything other than make a mental note about who said it. The fact is most people don't even know the word, because it's fallen out of use from people ignoring it; I only know it because I've seen the movie School Ties (excellent movie, incidentally). Meanwhile, it's not unheard of for a black man to confront someone for saying nigger in a conversation that had nothing to do with them. In 60 years, kyke will be nothing but a memory. Nigger will be here forever, because that's what happens when it gets used that often in popular music.
Oh, and I'm not spreading fact, I'm spreading opinion. So ...yeah.
Thanks for reading!
Chris
I also got some responses from people who aren't black, but who took the overall message from the article and wanted to respond to that directly rather than the one big example I was using. Those are mostly uninteresting and boring though, so here's one from an Indian serviceman in the United States military, who decided to push the double standards while experiencing one himself:
From: Polatok Ashami
Subject: Double Standards
Hey Chris I read one of your article and I could not agree more. Why is it that black people can call each other nigger but no one else. It is surely double standard and white people needs to stand up for themselves. Nothing against white people but I am going to give you the story.
I am in the military and serving since 9/11. I am a proud American (Indian enthnicity), and I am a muslim. So one afternoon we are working in the office and one of my black co worker refers to me as taliban in a conversation in a joking manner. I know for fact he was joking so I returned the joke saying "I don't remeber asking a nigger about it". Guess what happened, the whole fucking office froze in time for a long time. By the way all white associates, they looked at me like I shot somebody in the face. All white co worker supported the black dude saying I was wrong saying it but no one bothered about he refering to me as Taliban!!! What a fucking double standard there. The black dude immediately got in pissy mood.
I tried to explain to everyone that if you calling an American Muslim Taliban that is serving in the military fighting against those that attacked out homeland as a joke, why I could not call the same guy nigger. Matter of fact we muslims don't call each other taliban. But blacks does call each other nigger. So am I wrong ?
What do you think about it ? Let me know. thanks
First of all, everyone should thank this man for serving America. Maybe not by sending him an email that says so, since we don't want to flood his inbox, but I think quietly thanking him and all other servicepeople once in a while for the things they do and the things they sacrifice in the name of their country would be a good idea.
In True Islam, Terror Does Not Exist
No person can kill a human being. No one can touch an innocent person, even in time of war. No one can be a suicide bomber. No one can rush into crowds with bombs tied to his or her body. Islam states, "Do not touch children or people who worship in churches."M. Fethullah Gulen
Tuckish Islamic scholar and peace activist
Now, for some reason I never responded to this email directly - it must have gotten lost in time or something - so I may as well hit that shit now. First I'm going to address this bullshit view some Americans have of "every Muslim is a terrorist." I have never heard anything more offensive than this viewpoint in my life. Let me set you straight on something: everything you hate about terrorists, Muslims really hate about terrorists. In Islam, suicide is a mortal sin, so anybody who commits suicide or supports suicide bombers isn't really Muslim. They may claim to be Muslim, and espouse Muslim values, but real Muslims view terrorists the same way Christians view Anders Behring Breivik, the Christian Fundamentalist who carried out two terror attacks in Norway last July. Calling all Muslims terrorists is akin to calling all Christians pedophiles because a couple bishops have done it. It's not true, and it's offensive to say it is.
This email presents another great double-standard though: it's okay to be racist towards Muslims, but it's not okay to be racist towards black people. Everyone jumped up to defend the black person against the use of the word nigger, but not one person saw anything wrong with calling a Muslim person taliban. I know they're also servicemen, but fuck those people, and fuck anybody else who doesn't see anything wrong with calling someone taliban or terrorist just because of their religion or their Country of origin.
If you care about racist slurs against one group of people, but you don't have a problem with racist slurs against another group, then fuck you, you're a goddamn racist. If someone uses a racist slur against me, they'd better be ready for me to use one against them right back. That shit isn't as funny when it's done to you, and people who think it's okay to be racist 'but only some of the time' need to pull their heads out of their asses. Being racist is never okay. Not all Muslims are terrorists, not all Chinese people are bad drivers, not all Jews are greedy, and not all blacks are violent drug dealing gangsters with massive penises.
Which leads nicely into the last email I'm going to address, which is, as I said, my favourite one of the batch. So far we've had a reasoned response from a black person, and a real-life example from someone who undoubtedly has to put up with racism far more than most people. What does this last one have in store? Believe me when I tell you it's comedy gold.
From: Brandon Jordan
Subject: Glad to read
Dear Chris,
So far, so good! Looks like a nice positive email so far. Let's see what happens! Oh, and before we get too far, I should point out that everything that follows from that email was written in a single paragraph; breaking it up is just what I did to make it more readable.
I stumbled across your website today, and I have to say that it is great. Its great that you are so vocal about your views on the nigger. I hope you get your message out to as many as possible. That way I know you will always be hated almost anywhere you go because you are a white trash piece of shit racist living in the wrong era. Nobody likes you, but so many people love the niggers you hate so much.
And right out of the gate, he's missed the point entirely. See, if he'd actually bothered to read the article, he'd know that the first line is "I'd like to talk to you all today about the biggest double standard in the world." The article isn't about black people, it's about how their use of a word that they don't let the rest of us use is stupid, and is an example of - wait for it - a double-standard! I read your email before replying to you, it's only fair that you read my article before responding to it.
You have the smallest balls in the world, so microscopic a new technology had to be invented to realize they were there.
I'm not making this up, folks, he really did put this line after that first bit. For what it's worth, my balls are not small. They're actually comically large. And the one on the left is a chain smoker. The one on the right is trying to get him to stop, but so far it doesn't seem to be making any kind of deferens.
"How much cooler" you are?? LOL where are you cool at? Nowhere but at a KKK meeting, and they havent been "cool" in a LONG time (if ever).
But... but... of course I'm cool! I have my own website and everything! Also, I've never been to a KKK meeting, but based on what I've seen of them in movies, they tend to have massive fires. I don't know much about fires, but I do know they tend to be rather hot, and that's the opposite of cool. Well, technically 'warm' is the opposite, so hot is like the super-opposite! That dickery aside, though, he's basically calling me an insensitive racist in this email, so in response to that I refer you to paragraph schmenty up there, where I make my views on racists quite clear.
You smell like a plate of fermented bull balls. You look like a gremlin. Nobody wants you. Nobody needs you, so you and your little hate website are irrelevant. SO Have fun with your thoughts, Chris. LOL Nobody gives a Fuck.
Gremlins get the bitches
Okay, I have to say something here. 'A plate of fermented bull balls' is oddly specific for an insult. I can only assume that this kid has actually smelled them in the past, because it clearly has left enough of an impression on him that he needs to vent his frustrations about them by linking them to people who are better looking than him. Also, the Gremlin was a fine looking vehicle; it just wasn't very good functionally. And there he goes projecting his own problems onto me again. Moving on:
Just in case you mistake me sending this email as a sign of how penetrating your message is, it took my almost no effort and time to write., and I just thought you should have so kind of idea of how important you are. You will be forgotten in the next 10 minutes.
It obviously didn't take long; you didn't even wait until you'd read more than the title. And the poor grammar and punctuation (... it took my almost no time to write., and I ...) means you didn't bother to proofread either. So you didn't do any actual research, and you didn't make sure your own part was done properly. It's no wonder you never did well on any group assignments.
I did write a response email to him, which I will put below. He didn't ever reply to it, but then I wasn't expecting him to. So now I include it here, for completeness:
Hi Brandon,
If you think I'm a racist, then you clearly missed the point of the article. The article is specifically about the WORD nigger, and how it's a double-standard for one group of people to be able to use it, but for everyone else not to be allowed. At no point in the article do I express any hatred towards any group of people (aside from the obviously-sarcastic "Typical" line), I am simply using the most polarized example of a double-standard I could think of in order to point out that double-standards are stupid.
Now, if you'd like to discuss the psychology of how the word is used and interpreted, then I welcome your feedback. But please, in the future, make sure that the article you're responding to says what you think it says. Otherwise you just make yourself look silly.
Cheers,
Chris
Now if you'll excuse me, I have a bull to track down and shove into a Gremlin. Happy Black History Month.