I am going to start calling my “Quick hits,” “Medium hits,” because lets face it, for any of you who actually read my work, there never really quick.
I was speaking with my girlfriend last night at Carrier, neglecting and procrastinating to review Plato, after my friend viewed a piece of work which used the “N” word. My friend, she is African American, and was a little uneasy seeing the word explicitly, scattered in think paint. This began our conversation on claiming these little words. The little words being: the N, F, C, B, G, S words. Or, as I would like to call them, the GSBCNF words. I may, be forgetting a word here and there, and I apologize. However, these are the words I see and have heard more frequently than the rest.
My opinion, you have no right to use these words if you are not of the group in which these words are used to slander. And, if you are not of the group attempting to reclaim such words. Several times, and the “N” word is maybe the best example, when my African American friends use it, when I was younger, I wondered why they were “allowed” to use the word, when I wasn’t. Of course, I must clarify, this was the times of high school. Before my time of Africana Studies, before gender and minority studies. This was at the time where I did not even though where the word grew out of from or why this group had begun reclaiming it.
As I wrote a previous blog, god knows how long ago (well I guess the date is on it), my entire blog was a contradiction. And that is exactly it, is it still a contradiction to use these words?
Well, see, the whole point of this, I cannot speak the words of another group and I cannot speak for, necessarily, these other groups, that I myself am not socially constructed into.
As for the Cunt, Bitch, and Slut words, I occasionally use them. But, though I may be right but most likely I am wrong as one of you will probably comment on eventually, it is not about reclaiming these words for me. Instead, these words are used to slander the group I am apart of, though they have not explicitly been used against me personally. Nevertheless, these words are apart of my group, therefore I have a little, little “leeway” to say them.
Unlike the N (Black), F and G (Homosexual) words, I have no business, no business whatsoever using them. Theses words, I can never reclaim, words that no one could use as defamation against me.
Whether reclaiming, whether using because they are apart of your group, I hate to say, but keep within your group. Of course, some of these words, to some individuals, should never be used by anyone. My opinion, the F word should never be spoken, but guess what, I hear it all the time and I am sure you do too.
As well, the N word, should never come out of a white person’s or another race’s mouth. The F and G words should never come out of a heterosexual’s mouth. And, the C, B, and S words should never come out of a male’s mouth.
As I have begun to understand the impact these words have on individuals, it is best to familiarize ourselves with this impact and the consequences it has on not only the individual but also you. Words themselves do hold meanings, because when a word is spoken, there is a whole entire history behind these words. Histories we may not necessarily understand, reasons as to why individuals continue to use these words, we too may not understand.
But, if we can do a little nit-picking, if we can remove words not of our group, from our vocabulary, it is a little chipping away of prejudices.
ShoutOut! James Madison University 
Ok, I understand the gist of your post, you make some interesting points.
Having been a long-time reader of this blog, I’ve seen your posts for a while and reading them is not easy. Readers should not have to reread a sentence three times in order to solve the mystery of what you’re saying.
In addition, your discussions of issues involving race usually tip-toe the line between “enlightened”: “I’ve taken an intro level minority studies class (which, by the way, is not a thing) so I know all about oppression and I’m going attempt to educate my peers” and unintentional racism. By making such statements, you’ve negated EVERY intelligent idea in your posts and it makes everyone on the blog look bad in addition to yourself. I will however, commend you for even trying to discuss race because, as a white person, it is very difficult. However, what are your politics of location? I feel that you have not identified yourself.
Back to my original point, please proofread your posts in order to have readers understand you and the points you are trying to make.
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Hmm, yes, unfortunately I understand my readings, needless to say on this blog are not articulated well, if at all. However, is it an overstatement that all or most of my work is indeed unarticulated (my word here I am using, but I do believe you are implying this)? To be objective, I believe this is an overstatement. But I’ll give it to you. I use broken language, and as I gather, maybe too much of the time.
As for my knowledge on racism and minority studies, critically and analytically that is, I will have to defend myself, because calling my words borderline racist is in fact incorrect. In fact, even if my writing is not clear, it is clear enough to understand my words to not be racist. I have done time, more than just a class or two, on minority studies. So I will have to stop you from inferring that what I’ve said is racist, or web remotely
borderline racist. To state, I was not standing, defending, or speaking for any group other than that these words should be removed from our vocabulary if they are not of our identified social group.
Furthermore, I do not need to identify myself to you. My sexual orientation, my race, my class, my class year, nothing. If I am black, does this mean I cannot comment on white persons? Am I excluded from a discussion on the white race, if I am not of te white race? If I am homosexual, I am then excluded from a discussion on heterosexuals? May we only discuss issues concerning our own groups, or may there be a discussion with persons of all groups on all issues?
Lastly, please, if you comment again, do not say one person of this blog, this person’s failures, is a poor reflection on the entire blog. Please disassociate the two. Though, as you clearly implied, I am not an adequate blogger, whatever that means, that this inadequacy is representational of the entire blog. Just say I am a poor writer, and leave it at that. This blog has worked hard, and any failures on my part do not hinder the success of this blog as a whole, as an entity. Though I may be apart of this blog, though I may be apart of this technological community, I do not represent the blog. There are amazing writers who make up for my lack, so please do not take that from them.
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If I were to write about race, I would certainly have to address my white privilege.
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While I don’t want to get into the whole “English language” part of this debate, I will say that a lot of contemporary social justice literature places an emphasis on localizing yourself as the author.
There are definitely two schools of thought: one which allows for the anonymity of the author so that zer viewpoints may be universalized and taken without bias to their own identity, and the other which embraces that intrinsic bias and puts it out for the reader to incorporate into their own understanding.
I feel as if this second approach is definitely more honest, and can help the reader. We are dealing with intersections of identity; and allowing the reader to understand that what I may write comes from my place as a “_____” is helpful. Maybe a person of color would have a different viewpoint than me, and that is wonderful and valuable; but for a fuller picture of what is being said, I feel that it is important to address our own privilege and oppression explicitly by locating ourselves. Otherwise we risk universalizing our own voice, losing control of it, and perhaps inadvertently oppressing others.
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Hi Davenpak, thank you for your response, it was truly constructive and beneficial for me and for all readers.
I have not considered explicitly stating social identity i.e. race, gender, or sexual orientation because of your former point, universalism. And, as you said, to not be biased. Yet, with as many responses I have gotten for this post, it appears to me, readers want my politics of location. And, I believe you nailed it on the head as to what happened, “I feel that it is important to address our own privilege and oppression explicitly by locating ourselves. Otherwise we risk universalizing our own voice, losing control of it, and perhaps inadvertently oppressing others.” However, I will say there are other factors at play here, but please respect my decision of not going into them.
Unfortunately, I am more of a universalist than I am a Cultural Relativist. To expand, what I mean by this is that human rights are universal and should be applied to all equally, regardless of their background. This being said, I am not denying my white privilege, I know there to be a racial, gender, sexual orientation, creed, economic hierarchy in the US- and where I fall in this patriarchal system. Therefore, if I may strip myself of my identity for one moment please. But, keeping my spiritual, activist, social, and political views. I still strongly hold that these words should not be used by anyone not of the group in which these words are amongst. If all should be treated equally, then all should never have these words used against them, in a negative way. Yet, and here is the contradiction readers love to get me for, I fall short of this. I use words of my group, B-C-S words for example, with negative connotations. Meaning, this blog was for me too, that I must practice what I ‘preach.’ If no one deserves this, then why am I too doing this?
I wonder as you do, however, if I stated I were white, heterosexual, young woman, where this whole blog would have been taken? Would I have gotten the responses I have been getting, would I have not? Or, if I were writing from a different social standpoint, would this render a different dialogue?
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Oh, and when I say “contradiction readers love to get me for,” this is rightfully so. I need to be held accountable to produce a coherent formulated argument. As well as you have stated, be held accountable to explicitly state my politics of location.
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Hey ihavemythings,
Thank you for your prompt response. I think, on the subject of “the words,” that the subject is a confusing one; and one that a lot of people struggle with, so I really appreciate you addressing this.
As far as explicitly addressing a politics of location, while I personally feel they are helpful, I also think that if you feel the conversation would hinder the message you are trying to initiate; or if you feel this is a space to exist outside of our cultures various hierarchies (which I agree can be very liberating), then maybe that could in itself be a very interesting topic for a blog post which I would personally be very interested in reading.
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