It was never my intent to offend anyone with my word choice. All I was saying is that, to me, it's not a good thing for black people to use the N word.
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The AP, I presume, made these decisions in consultation with experts from the black/African American community, but that community isn't even unified regarding what terms are considered acceptable. One of my wife's closest friends, for example, is black, and she thinks most of this debate over word choice (as well as other "microaggressions") is foolishness.
If there is someone, however, who's offended by a certain word choice, I'm fine with them informing me of that fact, though I prefer they do it without sarcasm.
The common sense rule seems to be that one must be part of the in-group to use such words. I think that is fair. I also think like many that this is a sports board, that even if we take care with such and such ideas, etc., there is always going to be someone who goes too far with sharing their 'wisdom'.
Such a conversation on this type of forum will always lead to tension and then threads will be locked by moderators. I may only have a few comments on this unoriginal username, but I've been lurking for years. I don't know the stats, but there are usually ten times or 100 times more people who read and don't comment than those of you who live and breathe amateur sports writing on message boards. In this respect, we may want to take extra care with what we write.
I can't imagine there is anything much more offensive than having people from the out-group telling folks in the in-group how to live, talk, and feel or by attempting to judge those things. While we are all individuals, it is clear that our society is ill and without much wisdom when it comes to running a fair society. Life is not cut-and-dried. The discussion, imho, should be about a late night fight, not racism.
It's not about free speech. It's about context. If we were in a sociology class discussing race issues, then this would be a great topic.
My point is there are a lot of eyes on these pages. It is not about any one person and their wisdom. This is a sports board, not political.
Nonetheless, I do think it's fair game to quote Okafor, though I would use asterisks or call it the N word. People seem to understand that. I don't think it matters too much anyway that he said it. My opinion is that non-Black people shouldn't go near the narrowed topic of word choice in this situation.
It can't end well, ever, the way I see it, to discuss such esoteric topics on a sports board. I am not attacking you, but that is how I see it.
Someone could easily respond with such and such about police killing and profiling Black people. You could then get someone sticking up for cops. I've seen this happen before on this and other websites. It is not helpful.
Nothing personal, but it seems like you interjected your own philosophies and concerns over what the actual topic is. His using the N word seems to have been a minor detail. I think it is an okay topic, but that this isn't the right venue.
Even in the right venue, this is the internet and any person can drop comments from anywhere. The racist troll could be some kid in the basement trying to get a fight started on a forum. He could be a little bit racist, as "we" all are. but his main concern may be a little old-fashioned sabotage.
I think this is a hornet's nest. I think it is simply not worth it 'to go there'.