I am a second generation Italian American and neither I nor any Italian American I know considers Fredo to be an ethnic slur, let alone the “equivalent of the N word”.* It’s a reference to a fictional character, not an entire “race” of people. If this one dude has a problem with it, that’s on him.
*we’re white, end of story, and we very much benefit from white privilege. Sure, maybe people from Minnesota or wherever think we’re swarthy, but most places we’re just generic white people. Especially in New York City.
Oh, and speaking of white privilege, one way of dealing with ethnic slurs is to not fucking escalate. Especially if you’re an actual racial minority and the cops will kill you if they show up.
Spoken like a white male, with all privileges and entitlements thereof.
As satisfying as it is to watch that gentleman getting punched in the face, I don’t condone or support that behavior. I believe he should have been arrested for that, and would be shocked if “can I get arrested for this” did not enter in to his mental calculus at all.
And even if I did condone it, let’s review:
- Someone of indeterminate race (probably black) punched a gentleman in the face who was being interviewed on a news show about how he is normalizing white supremacy. Which is the greater evil, punching someone in the face or giving an evangelist for ethnic cleansing a platform to recruit others?
- Some rando calls another gentleman a name and the gentleman is moved to violence and threats.
You would need to make a lot of assumptions for me to justify Fredo’s actions here.
