Words of healing for these troubled times

Yeah, it makes good sense. In response to protests against excessive violence by authorities against black people, Trump says we need to use MORE violence. That should help quiet things down.

7 thoughts on “Words of healing for these troubled times

  1. The whole point of showing that Obama also used the term “thugs” is that when he did it, no one made a big deal out of it.

    As for language and reference, it has always been ok for a person of color to say the n-word but not anyone else. In fact if you are thought of as an Uncle Tom in the community, you are also banned from using the n-word. This comes down to social norms of a particular group of people and not as a whole community. I am glad that you have brought up the use of words because that is what everyone is using to justify their responses. I think Clinton put it to the test best “It depends on what the meaning of the word ‘is’ is. If the—if he—if ‘is’ means is and never has been, that is not—that is one thing. If it means there is none, that was a completely true statement. … Now, if someone had asked me on that day, are you having any kind of sexual relations with Ms. Lewinsky, that is, asked me a question in the present tense, I would have said no. And it would have been completely true.”

    1. “The whole point of showing that Obama also used the term “thugs” is that when he did it, no one made a big deal out of it.”

      That’s because it was not such a big deal in 2015 as now. Language has changed.

      (And Obama did get a lot of flack from the black community.)

        1. Wasn’t McWhorter commenting directly on Obama’s use of the word? Right after that use, Obama got a lot of backlash from semiotic scholars and the black community. B.O. defended his use in that context, but I presume he would not use the term today.

          I was starting to learn about the sensitivity of the word in 2014, but I think not many did, and I can’t remember when I decided to abandon it. I don’t blame Obama for being slightly out of touch in 2015. He had other things to worry about. At any rate, everyone should be up to speed by now. I like to think that both Obama and I learned from that.

          Similarly, I can’t really blame Trump’s use of the word. He is even more isolated than Obama ever was, and may not understand the nuances. Everyone gets to make innocent mistakes.

          But anyone who has the problem brought to his attention should drop it as a description of black people.

          (I have to be honest, though, and admit that though I have no proof, I think Trump would continue to use the word after the racism was explained to him, just like our own Steverino.)

  2. Obama is not the President now. He has not been since January 2017, IIRC. Why is the White House talking about him?

    Oh, I see, your link is from 2015. Want to have a competition digging up stuff Trump said 5 or 6 years ago and seeing how it plays today? Hell, want to go back 2-3 months to when he said the coronavirus would end in April?

    Broadly speaking, everything Trump says is wrong, stupid, or an outright lie. You are not going to win at that kind of game.

    So, Bawitdaba, in the riots so far, there has been property damage but no deaths. Does Trump threatening to shoot people constitute DE-escalation of the violence, or is he threatening to increase it?

    1. That was a long time ago. Things have changed. The connotations of words change very rapidly. (Ref: the use of the word gay in 1962 vs 1967, or the use of the word negro in 1965 vs 1970)

      Plus Obama is quite an old man who lives a sheltered, luxurious existence and is probably out of touch with the language of everyday people. I have this same problem myself, but I have time to study linguistics, and he had more pressing things to worry about. To be fair, the same is true of Trump, who is even more isolated in the Presidency than Obama because he speaks to people, but never listens.

      Here is what John McWhorter, author and professor of linguistics, has to say about the use of the word today:

      “Thug today is a nominally polite way of using the N-word. Many people suspect it, and they are correct. When somebody talks about thugs ruining a place, it is almost impossible today that they are referring to somebody with blond hair. It is a sly way of saying there go those black people ruining things again. And so anybody who wonders whether thug is becoming the new N-word doesn’t need to. It most certainly is.

      One of the things that Americans have a whole lot of trouble with – actually, that people in developed societies with written languages have trouble with – is that words never keep their meanings over time. A word is a thing on the move. A word is a process. And that’s what’s so confusing about the N-word. And that’s what’s so confusing now about this word, thug. Any discussion where we pretend that it only means one thing is just going to lead to dissension and confusion.”

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