Zero Tolerance policies are an excuse to avoid critical thinking. It’s the lazy, dimwitted coward’s favorite way to “solve” a problem, and shouldn’t be tolerated under any circumstances. I’m surprised to see it directed towards an adult, since it seems deliberately designed to victimize children, who often don’t have the power or life experience needed to fight back.
13 Likes
Respectfully, I must disagree with giving anyone *carte blanch *to determine the definition of anything; people have claimed works by writers like Mark Twain that attacked racism were racist because they used racist words.
Could I, as a deaf man call someone an ableist or a bigot because he didn’t make allowances for my hearing loss? My disability is invisible, but using the standard that only the classed can determine what can be bigotry against them creates a system open for abuse. I could describe any mistakes due to my disability as a form of bigotry rather than a misunderstanding.
One should give the greater power of decision of what is racism, sexism, homophobia and so on, but not automatically an exclusive right.
BTW, the firing of the school guard and the complaint against the writer for accurately describing the insults he received is beyond stupidity. It is empty headed BS. Using the description of a word’s use as the same as an attack using the word is a failure of comprehension as well as a fine example of being a fool.
4 Likes
‘Disagree’ with whatever you wish.
That’s your prerogative.
However, regardless to your opinion, (which is likely posed from a position of relative privilege) it still doesn’t change the reality of anyone belonging to a historically marginalized and/or oppressed group.
You can call other people whatever labels you choose; free will is a thing.
And depending upon the particular scenario and context, the hypothetical man just might be a bigot, especially if he’s actively persecuting you for being disabled.
But none of that is actually relevant to my original point to the person on whose behalf you are now playing the White knight; regardless to the fact that he made some incredibly glib, tone-deaf and self-absorbed statements regarding the incendiary racial slur which spawned this whole incident in the first place.
You have yourself a good night now.
13 Likes
You’re saying there should be… zero tolerance… towards… zero tolerance?
12 Likes
Surley being America he is just going to sue them? and get a pay out?
1 Like
I do find it interesting how it seems to be only “the n-word”.
I seem to see quite a lot of news outlets who carefully bowdlerise that slur, but cheerfully print “fa–ot” in full when reporting on its usage by bigots.
2 Likes
A work can both attack some aspects of racism (for example, black slavery) and still perpetuate other racist tropes (for example, that black people are inherently clownish).
12 Likes
“Evil Knievel in his canyon”? A new Dr Chuck Tingle book?
@jyoti Double Extra Secret Zero Zero Tolerance
5 Likes
Yes.
It’s long past time to stop putting up with racists who hide behind following orders of their own racist policies.
10 Likes
Ah, administrators. Administrators in education. So many of them seem to exist only to take up space with impersonations of sacks of dicks.
2 Likes
2 Likes
Hello, fellow white people!
What I’m about to say will be very old news to most of you on this thread, so I apologise. But as there does seem to be a smidgen of confusion in some corners, it may be worth revisiting the White Person’s Guide to the N-Word:
- Don’t use it.
- Don’t police black people’s use of it.
That’s it! Dead easy.
20 Likes
But no one has done that, except ignorant people who haven’t read his work.
No one is “banned” from saying the word, but how about treat people who are directly impacted by racism a bit more support?
11 Likes
I’m happy to use the f-word instead, actually…
6 Likes
Chris Rock is always awesome:
For all his foibles, I still think CK did some funny stuff:
4 Likes
A quick google search demonstrates that it has been removed from school curriculums, citing the use of offensive/exclusionary language as being the primary cause. Perhaps unironically, the top link mentions including The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian in their curriculum despite objections. (It is not about people from India.)
The bad faith premise that’s popped up here seems to be that nobody cared about the word until very recently, so we should give people allowances for not being immediately comfortable with the idea of not using the “n-word” or using the euphemism.
People have known it was a demeaning word from Day One. Everyone’s had more than a mere “25 years” to get used to the idea. And why would 25 years even be insufficient to acclimatise to some basic practices for treating people with common respect, anyway? What are you, Strom Thurmond’s ghost?
6 Likes
One can accept that Twain’s use of the word was not racist in intent, but merely reflective of the setting, and that the thrust of the book is anti-racist rather than the reverse, and still make a reasonable decision not to teach the book because of the frequency of that word.
Because children can be assholes. And if you’re a black kid in a majority white class, one thing guaranteed not to improve your day is giving the more obnoxious of your white classmates an excuse to use that word.
14 Likes
Personally, I’m all for keeping books like Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer in the school curriculum as long as proper and accurate context is provided, along with a strong acknowledgment of the historical negative psychological and societal impact that slur has had on the Black community in America.
15 Likes
Zero tolerance = zero thinking and logic. It is the highest form of lazy policy making.
4 Likes
