[split] PSA: Hate Speech (discussion of video etc)

[pocaracas]

How about if, instead of a drunk motherfucking stranger screaming in your face, you have a person you've interacted with a few times and have never considered that person to be a threat, who, while in full possession of his or her wits, in a completely normal tone of voice is calling you nig**r? Would you feel threatened? Would you consider that violence would be an acceptable reaction? Or just as last resort, too? A last resort to what? what did you mean by that? a last resort to make him stop saying that word? Or to keep him/her from physically assaulting you?

Wow. Just the thought of being unable to call some someone  a N**GER without receiving any sort of negative feedback really has you SHOOK, doesn't it?
Poca wants answers, dammit! Lol

No, that's not it.
I'd expect some negative feedback to any insult.
It's the especially visceral reaction that you guys have due to that particular word that baffles me.

To answer truthfully: If it were a mere acquaintance, I would tell them in no uncertain terms that I think they're an absolute piece of shit and to fuck off forever. Wouldn't want anything to do with them after that. I would refuse to involve myself with them unless it was a matter of extraordinary prudence or I simply had no choice.

See?... would that be the same reaction to any of the other available insults? such as "bitch" "whore" "retard" "stupid" "motherfucker" "douche"... etc...?

If it involved a supervisor, subordinate, or co-worker, I would go straight to Human Resources, file a report, and do my level best to see to it that he/she was fired or put on the fast track to being fired. The use of derogatory slurs to refer to employees is unacceptable in my place of work, as it is understood that it creates a hostile work environment.

Yes, well.... in a professional environment, no insult is ever acceptable.

Something tells me that you'd feel threatened at anyone aggressively screaming at you, regardless of what they say, or their prior alcoholic intake. Does that particular word heighten your threat level in this situation? Why??

Something tells me that you're quite bad at guessing.
Clearly, whether or not I actually feel concerned for my safety depends on the context of a given situation and the variables within it. 

Bad at guessing? Are you wanting to say that you wouldn't feel threatened if someone were screaming threateningly at you?

Of course it depends on the context... clearly, not on the usage of that particular word... but that word does seem to cause an escalation that other insults do not. Why?

Got any more questions? If so...How about you just go ahead and tell me precisely what it is that you want from me, so I can go ahead and tell you "No" in an effort to save to time?

You and I will never see eye to eye on such matters.

Perhaps not, but I'm still curious as to why that particular word is worse than any other insult, to you.

Because, in my non-native speaker point of view, that word is just one more in the huge arsenal of insults in the English language. It's an insult that only works when targeted at a particular group, yes, but such is the nature of many of them, isn't it?
e.g. "son of a bitch" and "wanker" should probably only apply to men. "orange buffoon" applies only to Donald Trump, "four eyes" applies only to people who wear glasses... I don't know what else... I'm not very good at curse words.

I've heard that it carries a history of slavery, abuse and dehumanization... But how do those apply to the generations that never lived those things? How does that apply to those who utter the word and never were slavers, abusers or dehumanizers? Do you think that by using the word they are actually wishing that things would go back to the way they were? Or are they merely using the words as a generic classifier of black people, while understanding that it is insulting to those black people and, in some cases, due to being racists, such insulting character is perceived as good to preserve? If so, then removing the grievous insulting part of the word, by ignoring those who utter it, perhaps society would move quicker in eradicating the use of the word. As it is, from what I see, the visceral reaction to hearing that word is just perpetuating the hatred that these two groups of people have towards each other...
Just to add a difficulty into it, I am fully aware of racism flowing both ways.
Heck, I'm aware of racism in between neighboring African populations, between different skin colors in India and Bangladesh, and between China and Tibet... and so many other struggles between different ethnic groups around the world.
Just as I'd like to see the hatred in America subside, I'd like to see it subside everywhere around the World. America, however, is still perceived as a sort of example to follow, so I think that if you guys can overcome that, other ethnic struggles would follow suit.
Can you Americans talk about it among yourselves without worshiping the word as some holy grail of insults? Or is that impossible and banning the usage of the word is the only way that people can understand?