ON BIGOTS, ASSUMPTIONS, AND THE NEW N-WORD

I cannot count the number of times in my life I have heard comments from family members, acquaintances, neighbors, or strangers that are racist or bigoted. Comments are made with no basis in fact. They are used because of deeply held beliefs passed on from family and friends. I understand these comments were made in front of me because there was an assumption made about me.

Because I was "White" it was assumed I believed "this."  Or, because I was assumed to be a "Christian" I believed "that."  Or, because someone thought me "Jewish," I understand this "other." Of course, it was assumed we both "knew" who "they" were. NOT!!

About 25 years ago I called a licensed electrician to my home on Maryland's Eastern Shore.  My 250-year-old house had a major wiring issue, previously performed by someone either with no electrical training, who was in a drunken stupor during the work, or both. When the electrician arrived and looked at the bad wiring, he made only one comment, "That's nigger work." My mouth about hit the floor. I had never heard the expression before. I remember telling him I understood the work was badly done, but to not use that term around my family.  I have no idea where he learned this expression, but I would guess at the knee of his father. What made his comment more startling was that, knowing the county where my house was located, the work was more than likely done by a white man.

My ex-wife, who is Jewish, once told me after coming home from her work at a garden center that one of her colleagues told her to watch out for a certain customer because he will try to, "Jew you down."  She decided the expression made no sense to her so he must have said the word "chew" vs. "Jew." She thought this must be an old American expression. I told my Australian wife she heard correctly and that the term came from the old bigoted reference about how good Jews were with money or how cheap they were when it came to spending their money.  Since my wife was white and did not wear a Magen David, her co-worker assumed he was talking to a Christian woman who, of course, would know what he meant. Once she understood the comment, she was rightly offended.  She then asked me how she should approach this man to tell him so.

After I left the Marine Corps I used my G.I. Bill benefits to attend university. Since at the time the benefit was only about $100 per month to cover tuition, I attended a state-owned institution that I could afford. Because Morgan State College had a reputation as having the best History department (my chosen major subject) of the local public colleges, I attended school there in Baltimore.  For those who do not know, Morgan State (now University) is a predominantly black college and I was one of only a handful of white students attending in the early 1970's. I was an older student who drove to school and, needing a little extra money, offered rides to students who lived on the west side of my hometown to help me pay for gas.

Jay, an 18-year-old freshman from Baltimore, took me up on my offer. On the way home one day he was asking a lot of questions of me, about why I chose Morgan and what I thought about black people in general. It was obvious he had never spent any time openly talking with a white man before about race. Jokingly, I said to him, "You all look alike, so what is the difference where I go?"  From his spot in the front passenger seat his head snapped left and he yelled instantly, "You say that too?"

I told him we all say these kinds of stupid things, and that we both probably joke that Asians all look alike. Our conversation continued as we agreed these kinds of sayings were not true.  I think it was the first time he ever had a different context from which to discuss things his family said about white people. We laughed our butts off on the rest of the way home, and we had numerous similar discussions during the remainder of our semester.

I have traveled the world...Europe, Asia, North America, South America...and I have found these kinds of bigoted expressions everywhere.  Koreans will say things about the Japanese.  Australians will make comments on the habits of their Aborigines. Paisa Colombians will make fun of Colombians from Bogota. Most people seem to have words they think belong to a certain person or type of person...pompous,stupid, ugly, lazy, drunken, criminal, cheap. I have found these stereotypes especially prominent among people who are uneducated or who have not had exposure to people of other cultures, races, or religions. In my travels I have had people tell me they were surprised at my demeanor because they thought Americans were all rude or pompous.

Finally, I have exposed some of my personal experiences so I can discuss the use of the word "thug."  It has gotten a lot of attention lately. Twitter accounts lit up after the Seattle Seahawks' Richard Sherman's post playoff game interview. Thousands called the Stanford University graduate a thug.

This Hindu and Urdu derived word (from the word, Thag, Merriam-Webster) meant thief when it was first used in 1810. It has, like many words, morphed to mean something else.  For many white people, who really want to use their old standby "nigger," but cannot do so anymore, "thug" has become their replacement word.  It has become the word they feel they can use without being thought a racist.  Sorry, Bubba (yes, I get the stereotype), you cannot steal a word that means "brutal ruffian" or "assassin" and apply it to a group of people of color and not get called out about it.

Leonard Pitts, columnist for the Miami Herald, said it much better than I can, "...the great Catch-22 of African-American life. They decide you're a 'thug' from the moment you're born, so they lock you up in disproportionate numbers.  Then they point to the fact you are locked up in disproportionate numbers to prove that you're a thug."

Like Michael Dunn, who set up a website called justicefordunn.com to rant about "thug culture" and raise money before his trial for murdering Jordan Davis, racists and bigots everywhere are always looking for words to put another people or culture down.  Why they cannot just keep their mouth shut and let everyone around them make up their own mind about people and culture is beyond me. Do not assume you are with a kindred spirit when you think of saying something racist or bigoted.

I think it was Abraham Lincoln who once said, "It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt."