AZ - 6 Arizona Students Used School Spirit T-Shirts to Spell Out the "N" Word

[bluesneakers]

"Several police units arrived"? Have we lost our minds?

Those girls have no idea what that word really means, and the implications.

They absolutely know what it means, and you can bet the girls in the picture know better than to say it at school where anyone can hear them.

 

[bwt42]

They absolutely know what it means, and you can bet the girls in the picture know better than to say it at school where anyone can hear them.

Since you claim to know that they knew what that word meant, what was their goal? TIA.

 

[bluesneakers]

Since you claim to know that they knew what that word meant, what was their goal? TIA.

What difference does that make?

 

[bwt42]

What difference does that make?

I think it very important to understand why they committed such an atrocious act.

 

[Montjoy]

I think it very important to understand why they committed such an atrocious act.

Perhaps it's on par with understanding why someone would want to trivialize a hateful act.

 

[BayouBelle_LA]

Valley NAACP president Don Harris resigns after sexist comment

http://www.abc15.com/news/region-ph...p-board-meets-after-presidents-sexist-comment

It's good to see Don Harris has resigned. His comment and ridiculous apology are inexcusable.

 

[bwt42]

Perhaps it's on par with understanding why someone would want to trivialize a hateful act.

Agreed. I would find it informative to understand what motivated both.

 

[pappa rob]

I think it very important to understand why they committed such an atrocious act.

Because they're teenagers and thought it funny at the moment. Being egged on by some friend who thought it cute that just happened to be black and thought it funny. When it was all said and done did they really spell out the offensive word. Teens do dumb things always have always will. Yes I think it's atrocious and stupid but understand teens, I never will..

 

[Chewy]

If they were trying to use it in a hip hop way they would have spelled it with an A at the end instead of an ER. People making excuses for this are twisting themselves into irrational pretzels. If the girl was dating a black boyfriend she definitely knew what it meant. And they are teenagers, of course they knew what it meant.

The bigger problem here IMO and what they don't understand is that this is now out there FOREVER. I don't think kids can grasp how scary and dangerous this is. We as adults have seen the difference between privacy and the way things go viral. I have several times while posting on a public forum with my FB name gone back and deleted the comments. It's out there forever and you never know how it could be misconstrued in the future.

I think a lot of us are very afraid of that as adults with perspective. But each one of those girls is now at risk for not getting a job in an important field in the future.

 

[JeannaT]

The real irony here, is we are blaming these kids for using a word we, in past generations, have used in hate. "Don't you know how we, your parents and grandparents have used that word? Don't you know the hate and horror we associated with it and how we (collectively, not individually) inflicted such harm with that word? How dare you use it flippantly when we used it so hatefully".

That's really the gist of this. They're being blamed, by past generations, for using a word in fun that the past generations used to suppress the very young man who thought it would be funny to stage this.

The irony drips.

edited to add: before I get attacked by an onslaught of "I guess YOU used that word, I never did", I have to say I grew up on an air force base where racism wasn't expressed. Everyone was the same, and there were no racial distinctions I ever felt or saw. I was in 4th grade (around 1969) when on a trip through rural Mississippi I saw that there were STILL segregated drinking fountains, and liberal use of the N word which I had never heard before outside of literature. Never heard it actually used, and didn't know the meaning of it. Then, moving to rural Texas I saw it a LOT.

So I've never used it. Just to be clear before I get slammed.

edited again to add: oh wait. I did hear it once before, and was too shocked to put it in context and integrate it as a word. I was at a friend's house and there was news footage of dogs attacking the freedom marchers, and fire hoses, and I was amazed at the injustice of attacking apparent peaceful people. So I said why are they DOING that? (meaning the cops) and my friend's dad said "that's just the way "n's" are, honey". I felt like he was from mars.

 

[Chewy]

Um no, they are being blamed for disrespectfully using a word that anyone with half a brain knows is wrong. They did it deliberately. Not "everyone" in the past used that word. Racists did. WE didn't. Racists did.

 

[JeannaT]

Um no, they are being blamed for disrespectfully using a word that anyone with half a brain knows is wrong. They did it deliberately. Not "everyone" in the past used that word. Racists did. WE didn't. Racists did.

Did you notice I edited my post? I knew someone would pipe in and say well "I" never used that word in hate.

The word got used in hate, and it's not by this generation. It's by past generations, who are now mad that these kids don't grasp the depth of the word.

Just as some people will say stuff like "soup nazi", completely dismissing the gravity of what they're saying.

 

[Chewy]

It's not about the depth of the word. You just don't say it. Anyway, the point is irrelevant since they did it deliberately.

 

[JeannaT]

It's about the depth of the word.

And a young black man, in my opinion, can say it. It just seems beyond twisty and ironic that these girls, one of which is dating a young black man, are being punished for what the word used to mean, against black people. Whom she presumedly loves.

Interesting, I had this conversation with a school principal who is a friend the other day, and she had seen the pic but not the back story. When she was told it was a young black man who had orchestrated and snapped the pic, she said she wouldn't have punished the kids at all but maybe would have quietly talked to them about how older people perceive that, and congratulate them on this generations own openness and inclusiveness.

Because as many negative things as people like to say about young people, I am touched to the core at their openness and inclusiveness. They don't see racial boundaries, and are open to rights for all oppressed minorities and sexual orientations. In one generation, we have raised a group of young adults who are so kind.

 

[Chewy]

No it's not. It's a word you don't use if you are white. Period the end. This isn't rocket science here. She would have spoken to the black young man about this. Many older black people will have this conversation with younger black people because of the way it's been picked back up.

But if a white person needs to be told you don't use this word, they are either a child, an idiot or a racist.

 

[JeannaT]

I was in a group of women a couple weeks ago, and one was a 20something pregnant woman and she was discussing names she might name her baby. If it's a boy, they're pretty settled on Emmett. I said oh honey all I can think of when I hear Emmett is Emmett Till, and I see a child in an open casket. The other young women looked at me (I was the only one over 27ish there) with a little curiosity and finally someone said well almost any name you can find people who have a negative connotation. I said google the name Emmett, and I bet the first hit up will be Emmett Till, if you mention that name to anyone your mother's generation they will remember. The women regarded me with some amusement for a moment and finally the pregnant woman said well anyway we don't even know what the gender is yet so we have a long way to go.

I can only hope she did go home and google it.

The thing is, they don't know. They don't. You can't blame them for not taking to heart our horror at that word, they weren't there, they didn't see it.

 

[Chewy]

I'm 44 years old and the last thing I'd tell a woman that told me the name she had chosen for her baby is "a dead kid in a coffin."

Why are you trying to turn this into some Southern Gothic Chest Thumping Soap Opera. You don't need to know anything about black history to know that here today in the modern era, white people should not use the word. Period the end.

There's nothing more to say about them "not knowing." Of course they know.

What's problematic and the only reason I feel bad for the girls is that they have no idea how long this is going to haunt them in the future.

 

[JeannaT]

I'm 44 years old and the last thing I'd tell a woman that told me the name she had chosen for her baby is "a dead kid in a coffin."

Why are you trying to turn this into some Southern Gothic Chest Thumping Soap Opera. You don't need to know anything about black history to know that here today in the modern era, white people should not use the word. Period the end.

There's nothing more to say about them "not knowing." Of course they know.

What's problematic and the only reason I feel bad for the girls is that they have no idea how long this is going to haunt them in the future.

I'm out of this conversation, because you're becoming hostile for a reason I don't know.

I know this girl quite well, and have known her most of her life. When she said that name, I know her well enough to tell her what people will associate it with. It isn't as if she came up to me and said this is my baby Emmett.

Have a good day.

 

[Chewy]

Disagreeing with someone is not "being hostile." And most young people today who heard the name Emmett would think of Emmett Cullen from Twilight. So I can't believe you said that to that young woman. I honestly wouldn't think of Emmett Till if I heard that name. I don't even watch or know about Twilight, really. But Emmett is a beautiful name for a boy.

 

[bluesneakers]

No it's not. It's a word you don't use if you are white. Period the end. This isn't rocket science here. She would have spoken to the black young man about this. Many older black people will have this conversation with younger black people because of the way it's been picked back up.

But if a white person needs to be told you don't use this word, they are either a child, an idiot or a racist.

Thank you.