Latest on "negro"

[Jonathan Lighter]

It's OK for newspeople to use it too - in quotation

Had Bundy used the "'N-word'  N-word," they wouldn't have repeated it.

I did seem to detect some embarrassment (wide eyes, lowered voice, etc.) in
some of the repetitions, however.

JL


On Sat, Apr 26, 2014 at 10:42 AM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> Subject:      Re: Latest on "negro"
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> At 4/26/2014 09:23 AM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>
> >To clarify: Costello and everyone else who commented scored Bundy as a
> >racist for his idiot musings about slavery. But they also condemned his
> use
> >of what one black commentator called "the 'Negro' word."
> >
> >Nobody explained why "the 'Negro' word" was bad, however. It just is.
> >You're just supposed to know. You're not supposed to say it.
> >
> >How does the American Negro College Fund stay in business??  They even run
> >ads on TV!!
> >
> >(I think the word is still OK for anthropologists, because they write
> books
> >nobody else reads.)
>
> I hope it's also still OK for writers about the 18th century, even in
> paraphasing!  Because if I could only write, I'd try to publish a
> book, if only anyone might read it.
>
> By the way, I know two journals that will not publish the word
> "Negro" unless it is in a direct quotation -- "Slavery and Abolition"
> and the "South Carolina Historical Magazine".
>
> Joel
>
>
> >JL
> >
> >
> >On Sat, Apr 26, 2014 at 1:03 AM, W Brewer <brewerwa at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
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> > > -----------------------
> > > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > > Poster:       W Brewer <brewerwa at GMAIL.COM>
> > > Subject:      Re: Latest on "negro"
> > >
> > >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > >
> > > WB:  <<Can we still use the A-A word?   Jist wundrin'.>>
> > > WG: <<Why does it matter to you? Are some of your best friends
> n-words? Do
> > > you otherwise expect to have occasion to speak to black Americans about
> > > black Americans? If so, then use whatever terms you ordinarily use. If
> not,
> > > then use whatever terms you ordinarily use. Who is included in that
> "we,"
> > > BTW?>>
> > > WB: Judge not, lest ye be judged.
> > >
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