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but like I said unless it is a word you use, or an attitude you have, I don't undertstand why it would even concern you.

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What concerns me is the double-standard itself. That too is a form of racism, and if racism of one type is bad, than so is racism of another type. If we are to eliminate racism, we have to eliminate every aspect of it, and that includes the double-standard that says that one group will be punished and the other lauded for using the same word that everyone agrees shouldn't be used.

That's it. That's what bothers me.

Elliot

I read a few pages here,(not all) so don't know whether this has been mentioned. The whole thing of being offended by what others say, if it is not aimed at getting someone hurt, is really juvenile. We all need to get the chips off our shoulders. You can call me "honky", "cracker", or whatever, it really doesn't bother me unless you are saying something like "kill that honky". Then I would be concerned! Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton don't bother me, I just mark it up to either ignorance or stupidity, probably the latter, as at their age they should be informed by now.

It all comes down to intent... and there is no 'double-standard' involved. Before it became a pjeorative denunciation, the word used was Neger, or Negger... simply signifing "black". Southeners (and some Northeners) often referred to blacks as Neggras, with no racial slur intended. But when the Ku Klux Klan turned blacks into animals, the word became a racist insult... as in 'let's lynch that dirty 'n... r'!!
As to blacks using the word, themselves, it is THEIR choice, and NEVER connotes a racial slur. It is not up to an outsider to tell ANY group, racial or ethnic, what names they can or cannot use for each other. I have often been in mixed parties, where my black friends have used the word 'honkey' or 'white-bread' without any offence intended or taken.

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Originally Posted by Galveston1

I read a few pages here,(not all) so don't know whether this has been mentioned. The whole thing of being offended by what others say, if it is not aimed at getting someone hurt, is really juvenile. We all need to get the chips off our shoulders. You can call me "honky", "cracker", or whatever, it really doesn't bother me unless you are saying something like "kill that honky". Then I would be concerned! Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton don't bother me, I just mark it up to either ignorance or stupidity, probably the latter, as at their age they should be informed by now.

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Exactly. You seemed to be reading my mind just as I was preparing my response.