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   From: vox@popu.li   
      
   jeremyfive wrote:   
   >> "We have to evaluate the use of the n-word and categorize it as hate   
   >> speech, no matter who uses it."   
   >   
   > I agree it is hate speech,   
      
   Which of course IS protected by the 1st Amendment.   
      
      
   >by and large, I think it mostly has power   
   > in the minds of those who are being "oppressed" by the speech.   
      
   So if you "feel" oppressed then you "are" oppressed.   
      
   >   
   > Does any group have the right to define words that people cannot say?   
      
   Can one verbally threaten the President?   
      
   > I don't think so.  People are going to use the words they want to use.   
   > That is not controllable.   
      
   Nor should it be in a free society.   
      
   >   
   > A lot of blacks use "nigger" to refer to each other, and this tends to   
   > take the power out of it generally.   
      
   Yep, conversion and dilution are the best tactics.   
      
   >   
   > Gays have discovered this, too.  At any pride gathering, you'll hear   
   > chants of "We here, we're queer!"  Gays don't love their word   
   > either--they've only learned how to take the sting out of it.   
      
   Rendering it quite useless as a slander by homo-haters.   
      
   >   
   > I think this is a much better approach than "censoring" the word--that   
   > one is a racist if it ever passes one's lips.  That seems silly to me.   
      
   And unconstitutional.   
      
   >   
   > I attended a Cicily Tyson speech once where she devoted a lot of time   
   > to the day she first heard the word "nigger".  Having attended a black   
   > activist speech a few days before, where the latter was talking   
   > "street", Cicily seems frail and precious and weak by comparison.   
   >   
   > I doubt that Michael Richards had racial intent in his routine.  It   
   > was an unfortunate outburst.  More likely, he has absorbed some of the   
   > gutter humor of comedy clubs and gone overboard.   
      
   Yep, he was "channeling" a racist as part of his act ...   
      
   > Ever been to a   
   > typical comedy club on an average night?  (Especially when they are   
   > trying out new acts?)  The humor is pretty raunchy, and at times   
   > pathetic.  Racist?  Definitely.  Sexist?  Definitely.  Homophobic?   
   > Definitely.   
   >   
   > That's why I don't go anymore.   
   >   
   > J   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)