The Chicago Tribune has deemed that is not offensive to call white people "whitey". It's just a hilarious term to use. It doesn't offend. And after all white people don't deserve any special preferences when it comes to race.
Wow, just wow!
Chicago Tribune
It's hard to come up with an ethnic slur that has less of a sting than "whitey."
... [defense of Obama's use]
I've got to ask, though. Are there really white people out there so ignorant of history, so unaware of the nuances of language and so threatened by minority grievances that they take genuine umbrage at the term "whitey"?
More a taunt than a threat, the word has no ugly history and hints at no particular stereotypes. It may have been hurled in a menacing fashion in ugly personal confrontations from time to time, but it's never been used to keep a people down, to put them in their place, to rank them as subhuman.
The term "whitey" has no stereotypes? Give me a break.
To be truly offensive, a derogatory term needs to have an ominous context that "whitey" lacks.
Those who take offense are confusing prejudice—which is making negative assumptions about people based solely on external characteristics, of which all races and ethnicities are guilty—with racism, which is prejudice in action.
It requires them to imagine that "whitey" marginalizes, diminishes and therefore harms white people.
And if they're really that dumb, then I guess they deserve to be insulted.
Yes, if "whitey" is that that thin-skinned to be insulted and called a racial slur, they're just dumb.
It seems that in their bandwagon rush to support their candidate, the Chicago Tribune has now allowed racist reporters on its staff.
*shakes head in disbelief*
In other news, the New York Times has published an article by David Duke that that the N word is just fine to call black people. There's no stereotypes implied, Duke said.
Tipped by: Six Meat Buffet
The term is intentionally offensive, using race as a pretext (white skin pigmentation). It stereotypes entire groups based on selected historical references..it's no more acceptable that "darky" or "blacky".
"after all white people don't deserve any special preferences when it comes to race"
White people don't deserve any less preference, either. The only person who infers they need special preference could be the person who made the comment above.
The term is likely to be perceived as offensive, due to it's underlying tone. I am utterly appalled at the level of hypocrisy here, in this article. In my own experience and most of the people I talk to in my daily life, they have felt threatened, insulted and vilified by people making such references towards them - especially when the person dishing out this hatred is reeling off historical references in the one breath, and using them for contemporary accusations in the other.
There is simply no excuse for attempting to downgrade the severity of this insult, or try and focus on the victims instead of the perpetrator, should that be the case.
Posted by: william on March 10, 2009 12:24 AM
