Imminent lawless conduct? You betcha.

March 2, 2007 7:18 AM

New York bans the most offensive word in the English language. (Previously 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
posted by anotherpanacea (82 comments total)

Banning ideas or objects that society finds objectionable works without fail, historically. Good luck New York!
posted by geoff. at 7:21 AM on March 2, 2007

An empty, meaningless, unenforceable law meant to ... what ... get some lawmakers' names in the headlines?
posted by Rhomboid at 7:22 AM on March 2, 2007

Is 'Okie' still offensive to anyone?
posted by smackfu at 7:22 AM on March 2, 2007

Those metafilter links are awesome! That site is cool. Great find. Thanks.
posted by srboisvert at 7:23 AM on March 2, 2007 [2 favorites]

grandma, too.
posted by dong_resin at 7:24 AM on March 2, 2007 [1 favorite]

In other news, the AP said it was banning Paris Hilton, but it turned out to be just a week long timeout.
posted by thirteenkiller at 7:25 AM on March 2, 2007

From an NY1 article on the same subject:

In support of the measure, some local business owners have pledged to prohibit the use of the word in their establishments.

I'm sure no record stores are on the list.
posted by nobody at 7:25 AM on March 2, 2007

A non-binding resolution? Feh. When will Congress finally have the spine to pull the trigger on this disastrous First Amendment!?
posted by DU at 7:26 AM on March 2, 2007 [3 favorites]

Well, now Michael Richard's is going to have a devil of a time getting booked in New York.
posted by Astro Zombie at 7:29 AM on March 2, 2007

"So the fear is in the back of your mind that the 'N' word means violence against you, that means you may be hurt, kicked, spit upon, killed, hung,” said Manhattan City Councilman Robert Jackson. “And for young people that don't know the history, it's our job to try to educate them."

What would such an education entail?
posted by anotherpanacea at 7:30 AM on March 2, 2007

Zombie. Dude. Michael Richards jokes were, like, SOOOO the first half of 8:29 AM MST.
posted by jimmythefish at 7:31 AM on March 2, 2007 [1 favorite]

"In other news, the band Cracker has disbanded. Not because of outrage over their name, but because they aren't really very good anymore.

Up next, did you know Camper Van Beethoven died from Led poisoning?"
posted by Terminal Verbosity at 7:34 AM on March 2, 2007

Whenever I hear the n-word it's usually from a black dude in a movie like Training Day.
posted by disgruntled at 7:36 AM on March 2, 2007

We have to keep on an eye on these language police. Today it's the N word, tomorrow they'll go after cunt.
posted by gfrobe at 7:38 AM on March 2, 2007 [1 favorite]

Man, that's some crappy copy in the BBC article.

Many African American community leaders, with the backing of fellow lawmakers, say it is offensive in every context and that is a word which should never be said.

For them the word is loaded with offensiveness.

Is this final line clarifying the otherwise counterintuitive notion that they'd find offensive a word that they say is offensive and should never be said? C'mon, guys.
posted by cortex at 7:39 AM on March 2, 2007

Ranks up there with freedom fries. Well, close at least.
posted by fungible at 7:39 AM on March 2, 2007

It's a black day for freedom of speech.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 7:41 AM on March 2, 2007 [7 favorites]

Whenever I hear the n-word it's usually on XBox Live, out the gob of some spoilt 14-year-old white kid from Orange County.

Next time I'm in the Big Apple, I'll have to remember to use Tarbaby instead.
posted by jimmythefish at 7:41 AM on March 2, 2007 [1 favorite]

In other news, New Yorkers get together and pass a non-binding resolution banning the City Council. Seriously, I am proud to live in a city that is so entirely free of issues like crime, inadequate health care, pollution, consumer fraud, lack of affordable housing, lack of social services, inequitable or ineffective law enforcement, homelessness, poverty and crumbling infrastructure that the city council has time to spend time (and my money) worrying about the "N" word. Niggah, please!
posted by The Bellman at 7:45 AM on March 2, 2007 [1 favorite]

Cool! Now maybe we can ban crime, prostitution & drugs!
What? Oh, nevermind.
posted by miss lynnster at 7:45 AM on March 2, 2007

I'm glad "canuck" is finally getting recognition as the offensive word it is. Of course, we can still use it: Canuck! If you please! It's about empowerment, you see.

It's a Canadian thing, you wouldn't understand.
posted by Turtles all the way down at 7:52 AM on March 2, 2007

Call me when NYC bans their police officers from pumping dozens of bullets into unarmed civilians. Then we'll be getting somewhere.
posted by Dreama at 7:53 AM on March 2, 2007 [3 favorites]

A helpful list for Michael Richards:

Jambos. Crickets. Smokes. African'ts. Melon Jonnys. Coloreds. Spooks. Coons. Porch Monkeys. Little Sambo. Curb Biters. Darkies. Mud People. Nigra. Property. Inmates.
posted by PEAK OIL at 7:53 AM on March 2, 2007 [1 favorite]

You know, this is what newsfilter posts should be like; a link or two to the story and then other meaty links about the issue/story.

Thanks for posting this.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:55 AM on March 2, 2007

Banning ideas or objects that society finds objectionable works without fail, historically.

Sincere question here: is Germany any the worse off for banning Nazi symbols and such since the 1940s?
posted by psmealey at 7:55 AM on March 2, 2007

I'm starting to hate the NYC city council.

First trans-fats and now the First Amendment? I bet they'll cancel Arbor Day next.
posted by bshort at 8:03 AM on March 2, 2007

Newscasters used to say and newspapers used to print "nigger" in the appropriate context before the Simpson trial in 94. That trial changed the status from "you can't call a person this and mean it" to "you can't ever utter this word again."
posted by flarbuse at 8:06 AM on March 2, 2007

Ofay? WTF?
posted by lalochezia at 8:06 AM on March 2, 2007

Randal Graves: You know, come to think of it, my grandmother *was* kind of a racist.
Dante Hicks: YOU THINK? *
posted by grabbingsand at 8:08 AM on March 2, 2007

This is going to be the death knell for hippity Hop music.
At least they can't ban this: Help The Police.
posted by seanyboy at 8:10 AM on March 2, 2007

Sincere question here: is Germany any the worse off for banning Nazi symbols and such since the 1940s?

In my opinion, yeah, it is. But I think free speech is a fundamental human right.

By outlawing Nazi symbols Germany has simply forced the neo-nazis to adopt other sigils.
posted by bshort at 8:33 AM on March 2, 2007

So... everyone's upset over a symbolic, non-enforceable ban over a word long used in genocide, compared to actual, enforced bans on free speech used in the fundamental protest, such as "Free Speech" zones?

Priorities anyone?
posted by yeloson at 8:49 AM on March 2, 2007 [2 favorites]

Those cunts!
posted by Robot Johnny at 9:00 AM on March 2, 2007 [3 favorites]

Many African American community leaders, with the backing of fellow lawmakers, say it is offensive in every context and that is a word which should never be said.

African American community leaders are such drama queens. There is a long and proud tradition of being offensive in the US, in fact you could say that this is what being an American is all about.
posted by sour cream at 9:00 AM on March 2, 2007 [2 favorites]

flarbuse: How did the OJ trial change the media's attitude toward the word nigger?
posted by Joe Invisible at 9:05 AM on March 2, 2007

What a bunch of whiny little bitches.
posted by dirigibleman at 9:22 AM on March 2, 2007

So, if "Nigger" (the proper noun) is illegal, but "Nigga" (the hip-hop staple) is legal, then what happens if someone says "Nigger", but their New York accent makes them pronounce the word as "Nigga"?
posted by Optamystic at 9:29 AM on March 2, 2007

flarbuse: How did the OJ trial change the media's attitude toward the word nigger?

Prior to the OJ trial, you could hear the word "nigger" spoken on the news: ("A professor at X University has been dismissed over referring to black students in his class as 'niggers,'" for example). You could read the same thing in the newspapers. Now you can't.

I had never in my life heard someone say "the n-word" until the OJ trial. I laughed at the cowardice of the speaker the first few times I heard it, but then I noticed that even news anchors on the networks were saying "the n-word."

"Nigger" was a very important piece of the OJ trial. An officer's entire testimony was being questioned because he had said "nigger" with frequency at a previous time. If the use of the word could be that negatively powerful, people did not want to risk using it inappropriately. It was almost like people were afraid that others would not be able to tell the difference between saying, "Mark Fuhrman used the word nigger" and, "OJ is a nigger." They were so afraid of being misunderstood that they stopped saying it altogether. Now everyone says "the n-word." It has made the word more powerful and I think it is silly.

It is sort of like when white people say something like, "While at the bank I was approached by a black guy" and they whisper "black guy" while saying that. That is what happened to "nigger." Saying "the n-word" is the equivelant of whispering "black guy" in ordinary conversation. It shows a cowardice and a naivete about what words mean and how they can acceptably be used.
posted by flarbuse at 9:29 AM on March 2, 2007 [1 favorite]

The resolution to ban the so-called "N-word" is largely symbolic as it carries no weight in law and those who use the word would face no punishment.

Hows bout we stop with symbolic laws and work on stuff that is enforceable and will actually make your citizens day to day lives easier and safer? Oh, wait. My mistake, that takes actual work and doesn't provide anyone with the opportunity to self aggrandize. Never mind then, carry on.
posted by quin at 9:31 AM on March 2, 2007

Are there any niggers here tonight? Could you turn on the house lights, please, and could the waiters and waitresses just stop serving, just for a second? And turn off this spot. Now what did he say? "Are there any niggers here tonight?" I know there's one nigger, because I see him back there working. Let's see, there's two niggers. And between those two niggers sits a kike. And there's another kike— that's two kikes and three niggers. And there's a spic. Right? Hmm? There's another spic. Ooh, there's a wop; there's a polack; and, oh, a couple of greaseballs. And there's three lace-curtain Irish micks. And there's one, hip, thick, hunky, funky, boogie. Boogie boogie. Mm-hmm. I got three kikes here, do I hear five kikes? I got five kikes, do I hear six spics, I got six spics, do I hear seven niggers? I got seven niggers. Sold American. I pass with seven niggers, six spics, five micks, four kikes, three guineas, and one wop. Well, I was just trying to make a point, and that is that it's the suppression of the word that gives it the power, the violence, the viciousness. Dig: if President Kennedy would just go on television, and say, "I would like to introduce you to all the niggers in my cabinet," and if he'd just say "nigger nigger nigger nigger nigger" to every nigger he saw, "boogie boogie boogie boogie boogie," "nigger nigger nigger nigger nigger" 'til nigger didn't mean anything anymore, then you could never make some six-year-old black kid cry because somebody called him a nigger at school.

Lenny Bruce
posted by Relay at 9:37 AM on March 2, 2007 [5 favorites]

"Sincere question here: is Germany any the worse off for banning Nazi symbols and such since the 1940s?"

Well, they're lousy with Jews.

"In my opinion, yeah, it is. But I think free speech is a fundamental human right.

By outlawing Nazi symbols Germany has simply forced the neo-nazis to adopt other sigils."

Aside from the rights argument (which I largely agree with you on), I don't think that the few neo-nazis adopting other signs can be seen as a real drawback or even equivalent to the number of neo-nazis who might otherwise operate openly. I think that Germany has effectively removed those types from mainstream discussion.
posted by klangklangston at 9:38 AM on March 2, 2007

It shows a cowardice and a naivete about what words mean and how they can acceptably be used.

I'd call it prudence. I teach Randall Kennedy's book in my introductory Philosophy of Law course, and I make it a point to never utter the title, either as 'use' or 'mention,' at any point during the semester. For one thing, there have been a number of incidents (cited in the book) where professors have gotten into trouble; without tenure, I'm not taking any chances. For another thing, I think that the best way to protest speech codes (in academic settings, at least) is to follow them punctiliously in order to demonstrate their absurdity.
posted by anotherpanacea at 9:49 AM on March 2, 2007

I won't rest until "ofay" is returned to the vernacular and then symbolically banned.
posted by joseph_elmhurst at 9:53 AM on March 2, 2007 [1 favorite]

Well, it's good to see city council fighting back against a couple of decades worth of work by hip-hop artists trying to rob the word of its mystique and power.

Seriously, does anyone under 30 find the word that offensive? I mean, to me that's the equivalent of people who grew up in the 60s who still think pot should be illegal. I mean, how can anyone who grew up listening to gangsta rap think that its an evil word.

And, to address the Godwin of the thread, it would be totally awesome if people would all wear swastika until it was just a meaningless symbol. That's how you fight this shit.
posted by Bookhouse at 10:06 AM on March 2, 2007

This is the gayest shit ever.
posted by four panels at 10:07 AM on March 2, 2007 [2 favorites]

And, to address the Godwin of the thread...

You have a poor understanding of what Godwin's Law is if you thought that was an attempt to godwin the thread. It really was a sincere question: is it true the ideas can be banned? We all accept it to be true, but is it really? I just used the only example I could think of to articulate it. As it was, bshort answered it pretty well.
posted by psmealey at 10:11 AM on March 2, 2007

I am aware of no word in the history of language that I find uglier then the acts of censorship that attempt to stifle it.
posted by Jezztek at 10:20 AM on March 2, 2007

You have a poor understanding of what Godwin's Law ...

Okay, maybe that was a little kneejerk of me. But still, my answer stands -- its people like this that give awesome power to these symbols, and people like Mel Brooks who do the real fighting against them.
posted by Bookhouse at 10:21 AM on March 2, 2007

You know who else had a poor understanding of Godwin's Law?
posted by Faint of Butt at 10:27 AM on March 2, 2007 [9 favorites]

I completely agree with this, from the third link (Kennedy review):

Such views are founded in an ignorance of the history and the nature of language, and they must be listed in a long line of vain attempts throughout written history to ban the use of words that offend. I do not know of a single recorded instance of a word that was truly driven out of usage by fiat. The most that one can do is drive a word underground — whereupon its taboo status lends it more power rather than less power, rather like the cultural prestige that was conferred upon drinking alcohol by the Volstead Act.

Also, what bshort said.
posted by languagehat at 10:37 AM on March 2, 2007

Free Speech 2.0 Beta

"Although some things may change, you'll still enjoy the great Free Speech you've come to know and love. You'll need to merge your account into the new system, however. Some words may not be allowed."
posted by jca at 10:39 AM on March 2, 2007 [1 favorite]

The most that one can do is drive a word underground — whereupon its taboo status lends it more power rather than less power....

Yet, there does not seem to have been an increase in this word's power over the last few decades... instead, it has become simultaneously less hurtful and more off-limits (for whites.) That's my big problem with Kennedy and with this argument in general: the n-word stands as a tremendous counter-factual to our prevailing notions of speech and censorship and subversion.
posted by anotherpanacea at 10:45 AM on March 2, 2007

The first amendment is one of those things that, stated in it's general form, everybody supports, but stated in the specific case, people approach with a retardedly high level of ignorance.
posted by tehloki at 11:02 AM on March 2, 2007

Tehloki, I think that's what they meant when they said that the resolution is purely symbolic. It symbolizes how poorly we understand the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
posted by psmealey at 11:11 AM on March 2, 2007

it has become simultaneously less hurtful and more off-limits (for whites.)

I would like to see some backup for the first claim, and the second makes no sense. It has always been "off-limits for whites" in the sense that it was a bad thing to say, a "bad word," and it has always been widely used by whites (precisely because it's a "bad word") and continues to be so used today. If you think it's not, I assure you it's because of the circles you frequent.
posted by languagehat at 11:20 AM on March 2, 2007

What languagehat said.
posted by tadellin at 11:41 AM on March 2, 2007

I've noticed in the neighborhoods I work in that if someone drops the actual N-bomb on someone else they are being deadly serious. My clients will talk about nigga this and nigga that in the course of a conversation with an acquiantance on the street, but when a serious topic about a real resentment comes up: there's the N-bomb. It's said forcefully, usually with the "er" dragged out to emphasize the difference between it and the more playful "a" version.

They always apologize to me after they say it, too, even though they didn't say it to me, which I find somewhat perplexing.
posted by The Straightener at 11:46 AM on March 2, 2007

Hm, at least now I finally know what "ofay" means.

As for the n-word, it is still in use in racist white circles. It is a word that my dad still uses. Here's a clue: when a white racist uses it it is meant to dehumanize the subject. So to my dad, my son-in-law is not a person, just a "n*gg*r."

I am not black so I cannot speak to how a black person feels when this word is used but I can tell you that few words have such a power to totally enrage me as that one-if a white uses it. Oddly I have been around black folks who use the word affectionately with one another and it doesn't have the same connotation at all-again, to me. The difference is they do not use it to dehumanize or to put down.

We whites just need to face the fact that that word does too much damage when it comes out of OUR mouths. Shouldn't matter if black folks use it or not-it is what happens when WE say it that matters-it matters that people are hurt, period.
posted by konolia at 11:55 AM on March 2, 2007

I have never, to my knowledge, said this word aloud. This makes me simultaneously proud and disgusted with my tact and self-censorship, respectively.

Maybe I'll say it now, for no real reason.

Sorry, Straightener
posted by Terminal Verbosity at 11:59 AM on March 2, 2007

[Insert Kids/Lawn Comment here]
posted by Cyclopsis Raptor at 12:00 PM on March 2, 2007

nigger

I hate the word, and live in New York, and this is retarded.

(is retarded next on the list?)

Two things: First, almost nobody in NY uses the word except for the young minorities who are reappropriating it. This "ban" only increases its hateful power. Give it another generation or two and no one will really care about it except for the same people who object when you say you got "gyped" or some other archaic thing that might have been offensive 100 years ago.

Secondly, in it's hateful form, the word still does a lot of good as a shibboleth way of saying "you don't wanna be friends with me." So that's good.

Also, the NY City Council sucks in damn near everything it does, and makes this liberal citizen embarrassed for how nanny-state it can get.
posted by Navelgazer at 12:12 PM on March 2, 2007

So, how does the law get made? I mean, doesn't it have to contain the forbidden word? Do they store the legal code outside the city limits, or do they designate a special zone within city hall to contain the document with the forbidden word? Or perhaps they designate it indirectly, like "the vulgar term for blacks beginning with the letter 'n' and ending in the letter 'r' derived in the south from the older and obsolescent word 'negro.'" Just curious.
posted by Mental Wimp at 12:47 PM on March 2, 2007

“The more laws and order are made prominent,
The more thieves and robbers there will be.” - Lao-tzu

“The laws in this city are clearly racist. All laws are racist. The law of gravity is racist.” - Marion Berry
posted by Smedleyman at 1:08 PM on March 2, 2007

Back in the day we'd have had the NY city council upside down with pitchforks in their asses. Maintaining people with enough free time to waste on this kind of crap must be why our tax bills are so egregious. I shall continue to call a spade a spade. But I won't use the 'n'-word because I don't like it and never have.
posted by nowonmai at 1:20 PM on March 2, 2007

...call a spade a spade.

i saw what you did there.
posted by the cuban at 1:45 PM on March 2, 2007

Why is this news?
posted by BrotherCaine at 2:04 PM on March 2, 2007

We have to keep on an eye on these language police. Today it's the N word, tomorrow they'll go after cunt.

They'll have to pry it from my cold, dead hands.
posted by atrazine at 2:25 PM on March 2, 2007

They'll have to pry it from my warm, moist hands.
posted by Mental Wimp at 2:45 PM on March 2, 2007

And speaking of atrazine, I'm currently analyzing a study men in Minnesota and Wisconsin to see if atrazine causes prostate cancer. I guess I could have just asked you.
posted by Mental Wimp at 2:47 PM on March 2, 2007

Seriously, does anyone under 30 find the word that offensive? I mean, to me that's the equivalent of people who grew up in the 60s who still think pot should be illegal. I mean, how can anyone who grew up listening to gangsta rap think that its an evil word.

?? Maybe you intend for this statement to be hyperbole, but it makes no sense to me.

Of course there are people under 30 who find the word offensive. A lot of people think that pot should be illegal, but I have no idea what your 'grew up in the 60s' reference means. Not all of those who are under 30 grew up listening to gangsta rap. There are people who grew up listening to gangsta rap that are uncomfortable with nigga, niggah, and nigger.
posted by desuetude at 3:11 PM on March 2, 2007

I'm glad "canuck" is finally getting recognition as the offensive word it is. Of course, we can still use it: Canuck! If you please! It's about empowerment, you see.

It's a Canadian thing, you wouldn't understand.

Here's one Canuck that also goes by toque.
posted by bwg at 3:14 PM on March 2, 2007

Mental Wimp, well I have been feeling a bit cancery lately...
posted by atrazine at 3:14 PM on March 2, 2007

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but in NYC the N-word will get you shot.
posted by bwg at 3:18 PM on March 2, 2007

"New York bans the most offensive word in the English language."

The verb "ban"?
posted by Eideteker at 4:20 PM on March 2, 2007

I would like to see some backup for the first claim, and the second makes no sense. It has always been "off-limits for whites" in the sense that it was a bad thing to say, a "bad word," and it has always been widely used by whites (precisely because it's a "bad word") and continues to be so used today.

As to the first, I've found it's quite common among black college students to argue that the word a. shouldn't be said and b. isn't hurtful. They argue that the word can no longer hurt them because it is not longer backed by legitimate violence because racial violence isn't tolerated, but that it nonetheless a word with no uses but bad ones and is the height of bad taste. Perhaps they're being sophistic or are simply unexperienced, but I've heard pretty much the same thing in PA and TN, so I think there's something there. Some students carve out a specific exception for police officers, with which I must admit I'm pretty sympathetic. Cops, of any color, should never say this word.

As to the second, I've not idea how to justify a frequency of usage statistic. I'd guess that the de facto censorship on the word could be proven through statistical sampling. If so, fewer people hear it spoken by public authority figures or read it in their everyday lives. Whether they use it more often in private I do not know, but I very much doubt that the word has more 'power' than it had when it was the rallying cry of Southern bigots trying to keep blacks away from the polls.
posted by anotherpanacea at 4:21 PM on March 2, 2007

ack... bad editing. sorry.

They argue that the word can no longer hurt them because it is not backed by legitimate violence. Racial violence isn't tacitly tolerated as it once was. Nonetheless the word is the height of bad taste, since it has no uses but bad ones.
posted by anotherpanacea at 4:23 PM on March 2, 2007

I do not think spearchucker means what you think it means.
posted by rob511 at 8:10 PM on March 2, 2007

I have refused to ever use the word. It's not my word to use.

Being female, I take great pleasure in using and in being called "fucking bitch", but only from female friends. If a guy tries it, there's a problem. It's all in the way the word is said and the meaning portrayed by its use.

And that's not any different from black people calling each other "niggah". It's a term of endearment for them, or at least the people I know. I also know that if I said it, there would be a problem, even though my black friends love me as I love them.

Banning a word? I suggest we ban the words "Bush Administration". That would cut back on the amount of hostility and frustration I have every single day.
posted by Jade5454 at 11:10 PM on March 2, 2007

I am not black so I cannot speak to how a black person feels when this word is used but I can tell you that few words have such a power to totally enrage me as that one-if a white uses it.

Just curious, konolia, but what is it with you and "black people/folks" and "whites"? Rather than, say, "blacks" and "white people"? (or both one or the other)
posted by dreamsign at 1:17 AM on March 3, 2007

Oh, so I can still use fag all I want right? I mean, it's not been addressed with a special mandate. Why not? Why not other offensive words? Why even stop there, what about "shoot" and "darn"? Those kind of elude to other words like "shit" and "damn", and well, once you start swearing, you can't fucking stop. We better outlaw all words that can be considered "bad", and hell, maybe some of the too nice ones too. If they're so nice, they only remind us of how bad words can be, and well... That's a slippery slope.
posted by taursir at 1:50 AM on March 3, 2007 [1 favorite]

Just curious, konolia, but what is it with you and "black people/folks" and "whites"? Rather than, say, "blacks" and "white people"? (or both one or the other)

I guess it's southern usage. Down here, we're all folks.
posted by konolia at 6:25 AM on March 3, 2007

Or in other words, I don't over think it.
posted by konolia at 6:26 AM on March 3, 2007