Are You Racist?

If you are looking for a more defined definition of "n****r" then goto dictionary dot com. You will see four different results that explain it best. After you get what the definition means(not what you think, but what the definition says) then continue reading this article.

In the United States, "n****r" was used as an insult all the way up until the civil rights era of the 1960's, when to most people, it became unacceptable. In today's world there is such a fine line Non-African-Americans must use it extremely cautiously, or their are instant implications of being racist. Even most of the American magazines around the country will simply call it "The N-Word" or will use asterisks for some of the letters.

The course of the word has changed within our male youth. Instead of the normal spelling, the ER is dropped and replaced with an A to look like N***a ,for those who don't understand. It's basically used now as a term of endearment like "What's up N***a" or "My N***a", even amongst other minorities other than African-Americans. Unfortunately, even for the change of the word and it's meaning, some still consider the word itself to be offensive no matter how it is spelled or how someone uses it, because the true meaning will always be there in the midst.

The Books We Read

Many of generation X and older read about the use of the word through their particular school systems in America , associated with the book Huckleberry Finn which was written in 1885. The biggest controversy was the fact that n****r was used in the book 215 times.

In 1843 Edgar Allan Poe wrote a short story called the The Gold Bug in which the narrator and white character used the word "Negro" to refer to the black servant, Jupiter, while Jupiter himself used the word "n****r".

There are many instances to list every single book or case , but the fact remains, how much of this is racism, how much of this is for educational purposes, and how much is just ignorant.

Why Does Everyone Feel The Need To Sue

Reading over many different occasions it's a great debate for eternity. The greed that haunts our society strings along battles of racism on an everyday basis. To the point that affect every generation to come and keep the race to end racism virtually impossible.

A household nursery rhyme that cultivated into the American public have caused controversy in our society. Eenie Meenie Minie Moe once used "n****r" for "tiger". Many individuals didn't know this and at one point a Southwest Airline attendant said , "Eenie Menie Minie Moe, pick a seat we gotta go" and was sued for it by two African-Americans stating it violated the anti discrimination law. The flight attendant told the court that she learned it in the 1970's and always knew it as "catch a tiger by it's toe", which meant that the jury had to decide if she was using it as a racist remark or if it was a innocent attempt of humor.

In April 2003 the Australians were looked upon with much scrutiny after naming a part of a stadium in Toowoomba "E.S. N****r Brown Stand". To the naked eye many African-Americans became furious that something like this would take place. So the debate began if it was ethical for a part of the stadium could use the word freely and was sued to change the name, which eventually was denied. Most didn't understand the meaning, just simply saw the word and screamed racism. In Australia the term "n****r" has virtually no meaning at all, to the point that there is awareness of how it is used elsewhere, but locally there is no offense to the word. In all actuality the stand was to pay tribute to Edward Stanley N****r Brown, who was Australia's first international rugby player. He had a fair complexion and was given the nickname "N****r", the same way a very tall person would be given the nickname "Shorty", or a very thin person the nickname "Fatty". Odd to most living outside of Australia, Brown loved the nickname and with his passing even had it etched in his tombstone.

There are many other instances of this type of suing, and there are many that are of true racism. How do you decide? How do you figure out if this person was making a racial remark or if they were simply making a statement? Then there is individuals who are White-Americans who are trying to help in the racial battle, but because they are white what they are trying to do is considered racist.

Misunderstanding Mark Twain And More

One of the best known others ever, Mark Twain's release of Huckleberry Finn that was discussed earlier, has always been considered racial by many to the point that for years individuals have been trying to take the book out of school libraries or either try to re-establish banishment. Unfortunately, many don't see that the book was anti-racist, and still look passed that based on the fact the word "n****r" was used continuously.

The NAACP filed grievances with the human rights commission in Pennsylvania back in 1999 demanding the local school boards and district superintendents remove the book for the mandatory reading lists, stating that "tax dollars should not be used to perpetuate a stereotype that can have damaging effects on the self-esteem of African-American children". I can understand what they are saying, the best rebuttal came from an 8th grade African-American child itself saying, "Do you think were so dumb, we don't know the difference between a racist and anti-racist book? Sure the book is full of the word N****r, that's how those bigots talked back then". Interesting how a young child can decide that a book is anti-racist, but narrow-minded adults cannot. Even to respond to all the dismay years later Twain himself explained how the novel was an anti-racist book.

So The Question Remains

Are you racist? It's a great question to ask anyone, and is cause for debate. Amazingly enough a large percentage of the American population will claim that they aren't, yet behind the scenes it may be different and the problem is so large in everyday life. So answer these questions in your own mind and decide for yourself if you are racist.

#1 Have you ever used a racial slur whether out loud or in your mind about another person?

#2 When your watching something as simple as a television show, do you look to see if there is enough ethnic groups involved.

#3 Do you feel frightened or uncomfortable if you are the minority in a group of people you are around?

#4 When someone tells a racist joke about say for example, an African-American, a Caucasian-American, and a Jewish-American do you laugh at the joke to fit in, or do you stop and say that is constituting racism?

#5 How many of you state that you have a lot of friends? Now how many of you state you have a lot of black friends? Is making that remark and singling out the race considered racist? To some it means you are.

These are not questions from any psychologist here, but simply everyday life that comes about and what we may think in our minds and never say. Even if you answer all or some of these questions yes, does it necessarily make you a racist, or does it mean that there might be different types of racism and meanings.

Forget The Blue, Green and Purple

The statement that, "no matter whether you are black, white, blue, green, or purple" is simply ludicrous. I don't know any of the latter three colors do you? I will say however, no matter African-American, Caucasian-American, Jewish-American, Irish-American, Muslim-American, German-American, French-American, or any other descent you may be, the way you are brought up most likely brings the way you think about racism. The innocence of a child is amazing, but can be tainted by parents and friends who's parents are racist to some extent.

For example, my son is in the second grade and last year I was allowed to eat lunch in the cafeteria with him, and he was talking about one of his friends Mark. I asked which one was he and he stated, "The brown boy". So, after hearing this do you think my son is being racist? I can understand how you can think, "of course not he is just a child", but others believe that if someone differentiates by color of skin that is grounds for racism. My neighbor and I for example discuss these topics on an everyday basis. I am a Caucasian-American, and he is African-American and he asked me, "Well why didn't he say the boy with the red shirt, or whatever he was wearing"? It's a great question because many races do this, but had to simply put it, "Because society makes it apparent that the easiest way to differentiate people sometimes is by race. If it's easiest it's simply done, in school, in church, at work, or the store, or on television. So does that make you racist?

Now that you've answered that question, I want to show you from Wikipedia what the actual definition for racism is and you decide:

"Racism is commonly defined as a belief or doctrine where inherent biological differences among the various human races determine cultural or individual achievement, with a corollary that one's own race is superior and has the right to rule others.

The term racism is sometimes used to refer to preference for one's own ethnic group (ethnocentrism),fear of foreigners (xenophobia), views or preferences against interbreeding of the races (miscegenation), and/or a generalization of a specific group of people (stereotype); regardless of any explicit belief in superiority or inferiority embedded within such views or preferences. Racism has been used in attempts to justify social discrimination, racial segregation and violence, including genocide. Politicians are known to practice race-baiting in an effort to win constituents.

The term racist, when used to describe someone who supports racism, has been a pejorative term since at least the 1940s, and the identification of a group or person as racist is nearly always controversial."