The N word

[Captain Oates 911]

How times change as to what words are acceptable in society

When I went to Aireborough Grammar School in Yorkshire in the 1960's we had a spinster music teacher called Miss Mathers

She taught us to sing sea shanties. The best one was Johnny come down to Hilo

This is what we sang in our 100% government funded school:

I never seen the like

sin I been born

When a big buck <nword> with his sea boots on

Said Johnny come down to Hilo

Poor old man

The other song was was

Well I came to a river

and I couldn't get across

Singing polly wolly doodle all the day

So I jumped on <nword> coz I thought he was a hoss

Singing polly wolly doodle all the day

Imagine that in an English or American State school now ! But it was quite normal with no malice behind it

Me and my dad worked with a black guy unloading coal trucks by hand and it didn't even register that he was black - he was just Walter and he had been a pro boxer with the title of 'kid chocolate'

His name was Walter Ingram and he was a big friend of me and my dad (my father and I) and him and his wife and my mother and father used to go boozing together every Saturday night

Then I left school and after a couple of years I joined the police force where up to a month before, they had regularly arrested men suspected of homosexuality and imprisoned them.

Now the country is being run by homosexuals as far as I can see on the telly

So this controversy about Rick Perry's stone inscribed with the nword should be put in context. The invective and force behind it in racist circles has not always been attached to the word - not in England anyway. My mother used to go to a shop called 'Brown Muffs' (really ) and buy her handbags - various colors but she liked the ones labelled <nword> brown ! Yes that's how they were labelled in the shops in Bradford.

I think any word can be made into a bad word according to how its used. The spastics society had to change to 'SCOPE' when all the kids called other kids <s-word>

So the kids starting calling each other 'SCOPES' and that became powerful

Now 'community organizer' is a term of abuse and I am trying to get 'job creator' disrespected.

So the nword has its power from places where it was used as a lash and I can understand people hating it in that context - but I can never ask for boots in <nword> brown again - that's a shame because it was a beautiful color and it was used as innocently as 'cherry red' at the time.

We should remember how recently all this was normal when we think of George Washington's slaves

[Dan and Judy 614]

Any relation to Jerry?

[Dan and Judy 614]

Me and my dad worked with a black guy unloading coal trucks by hand and it didn't even register that he was black -

It's probably hard to tell who's black and who aint when you're all covered in coal dust

[scandal 951]

YEEHAWW! Sing it everyone! 1, 2, 3!

Throw the Jew down the Well! So my country can be free! :dance:

[Captain Oates 911]

Any relation to Jerry?

You mean Walter ? He was a top pro in his time. South African. He used to fight in the fairground boxing booths. The local tough drunks used to pay to fight him and he splatted them in 10 seconds flat. His face was covered in white scars from his career and when we finished unloading the coal trucks, me and my dad were jet black with white eyes and Walter was still white because the coal dust didn't stick to his scars.

Of course the Pakistanis started arriving shortly afterwards and I did see racism then - but Africans were easily accepted where I lived and I never saw racism towards Walter and his wife by anyone - she was white too.

Bit different in Alabama I suppose.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

YEEHAWW! Sing it everyone! 1, 2, 3!

Throw the Jew down the Well! So my country can be free! :dance:

Yeah, what's wrong with racism so long as it's worked into children's books or folk music.

[Dan and Judy 614]

You mean Walter ?

Jerry Mathers (the Beaver)

Edited October 5, 2011 by Dan and Judy

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

Jerry Mathers (the Beaver)

I always wondered what June Cleaver would look like in a teddy and heels.

[Dan and Judy 614]

I always wondered what June Cleaver would look like in a teddy and heels.

Teddy is the nickname for Theodore so I am detecting some sick double entendre here.

Im not sure what it is but Im sure it is sick

[Captain Oates 911]

Anyway, ignoring all the whooping and childishness from the sidelines, I will continue in the hope of more thought out comment

All these descriptors change over time and I am sure that 'African-American' is not long for this world as a descriptor. In 50 years it will be gone.

For instance, Kirk Douglas was Russian and Jewish. His son doesn't have a Russian name and call himself a 'Russian-American', he just calls himself Michel Douglas.

Similarly, 'Hispanic' has gathered quite a few negative connotations and is somewhat superfluous. I tried to speak Spanish with my El Salvadorian hairdresser and she didn't want to. She has been a citizen for 20 years and an English speaking American is what she prefers to be.

So I don't like the descriptor African-American and I think Americans of that ethnicity would have dropped it by now had they been more included in the mainstream. They haven't, and so they carve out their own, and separate identity.

The time will come when it wont be necessary

Edited October 5, 2011 by Austin Devon

[Danno 1,228]

Anyway, ignoring all the whooping and childishness from the sidelines, I will continue in the hope of more thought out comment

All these descriptors change over time and I am sure that 'African-American' is not long for this world as a descriptor. In 50 years it will be gone.

For instance, Kirk Douglas was Russian and Jewish. His son doesn't have a Russian name and call himself a 'Russian-American', he just calls himself Michel Douglas.

Similarly, 'Hispanic' has gathered quite a few negative connotations and is somewhat superfluous. I tried to speak Spanish with my El Salvadorian hairdresser and she didn't want to. She has been a citizen for 20 years and an English speaking American is what she prefers to be.

So I don't like the descriptor African-American and I think Americans of that ethnicity would have dropped it by now had they been more included in the mainstream. They haven't, and so they carve out their own, and separate identity.

The time will come when it wont be necessary

I see you are a person of Faith.

[tmma 467]

Did anyone else from the UK collect the Golly Wog badges from the (I think) Robertsons Jam jars? I did! They're worth a fair bit of money now!

[Captain Oates 911]

I see you are a person of Faith.

I have faith in the changing times because I have never seen these things stand still. We have a half black President - that would have been unthinkable 50years ago.

We have racially integrated units in the US army and open homosexuals too. Imagine that in in 1945.

In the second world war (WW2), there were a lot of fights in English pubs because white American soldiers didn't like Black American soldiers coming into the pub and chatting the girls. The English soldiers stood up for the black soldiers and there were fights between white Americans and white English because of it. That history is part of the reasons for De-segregation in the US forces later

I think this evolving history around us is fascinating and the only thing we can be sure of, is that things will change - because they always have

Edited October 5, 2011 by Austin Devon

[tmma 467]

I have faith in the changing times because I have never seen these things stand still. We have a half black President - that would have been unthinkable 50years ago.

We have racially integrated units in the US army and open homosexuals too. Imagine that in in 1945.

In the second world war (WW2), there were a lot of fights in English pubs because white American soldiers didn't like Black American soldiers coming into the pub and chatting the girls. The English soldiers stood up for the black soldiers and there were fights between white Americans and white English because of it. That history is part of the reasons for De-segregation in the US forces later

I think this evolving history around us is fascinating and the only thing we can be sure of, is that things will change - because they always have

I know what you say is totally correct---but lets not pretend that there wasn't and still isn't a good deal of racism and prejudice in England too. Just sayin'

[tmma 467]

I always wondered what June Cleaver would look like in a teddy and heels.

LOLOL!!!!!!

You're funny and alittle odd.