Latest on "negro"

[Jonathan Lighter]

You've studied logic, John. Why would you think it applies here?

There's been an increasing tendency for the past thirty-plus years to
interpret "Negro" as a  mealy-mouthed or dog-whistle equivalent of
"nigger," which is allegedly what white people who say "Negro" *really*
mean, and what black people who say it are buying into.

I won't get into why, because it makes little sense.

Also, to be precise, I think Costello - an unusually articulate,
professional user of current English - may have said "mind-boggling," not
"mind-blowing."

In either case, notable emphasis on "mind."


JL


On Fri, Apr 25, 2014 at 5:40 PM, Baker, John <JBAKER at stradley.com> wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Baker, John" <JBAKER at STRADLEY.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Latest on "negro"
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Costello's remark seems a bit bizarre to me.  Bundy is not a racist
> because he used an old-fashioned (but not inherently invidious) term to
> refer to people of sub-Saharan African descent.  He is a racist because he
> thinks they should be picking cotton rather than, as he puts it, on
> "government subsidy" (although he demands a much larger government subsidy
> for himself).
>
>
> John Baker
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf
> Of Jonathan Lighter
> Sent: Friday, April 25, 2014 10:05 AM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Latest on "negro"
>
> Yahoo! News doesn't capitalize the word in its headline:
>
> "Jon Stewart takes a victory lap around Cliven Bundy's 'negro studies'
> debacle<
> http://hsrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=A2KLtUc5aVpTZEEBWhibvZx4;_ylu=X3oDMTNtM3ZpajVwBGJwb3MDMQRjY29kZQNnYQRjcG9zAzQEY3QDMQRnA2MyZGJmZjc5LWM2YWUtM2FhMy1iOGYwLTJkNjE0N2Q2NGJhYQRpbnRsA3VzBHBrZ3QDMwRwb3MDMQRzZWMDdGQtc3RybQRzbGsDdGl0bGUEdGVzdAMyOTc-/RV=1/RE=1399643706/RH=aHNyZC55YWhvby5jb20-/RO=2/RU=aHR0cDovL3RoZXdlZWsuY29tL2FydGljbGUvaW5kZXgvMjYwNTEzL3NwZWVkcmVhZHMtam9uLXN0ZXdhcnQtdGFrZXMtYS12aWN0b3J5LWxhcC1hcm91bmQtY2xpdmVuLWJ1bmR5cy1uZWdyby1zdHVkaWVzLWRlYmFjbGU-/RS=%5EADAiCWytwLUFCBVirKlAroEtbIGOmg-
> >
> "
>
> On CNN, child-free Carol Costello notes that Bundy's "use of the word
> 'Negro'"  was by itself "mind-blowing" and "reprehensible."
>
> (Bundy said today he thought that people of all colors should be able to
> sit anywhere on the bus they wanted.)
>
> JL
>
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