A federal jury will be asked to decide whether it is acceptable for an African American person, but not a white person, to use the "n" word in a workplace.
U.S. District Judge R. Barclay Surrick has ruled that former Fox29 reporter-anchor Tom Burlington's lawsuit against the station, claiming a double standard and alleging that he was the victim of racial discrimination, may go to trial. However, Surrick denied Burlington's claim of a hostile work environment.
Burlington, who is white, was fired after using the "n" word during a June 2007 staff meeting at which reporters and producers were discussing reporter Robin Taylor's story about the symbolic burial of the word by the Philadelphia Youth Council of the NAACP.
Burlington, who began work at the station in 2004 and is now working as a real estate agent, was suspended within days and fired after an account of the incident was published in the Philadelphia Daily News. He alleges that he "was discriminated against because of his race," according to court documents. He claims in his lawsuit that at least two African American employees at Fox29 had used the word in the workplace and were not disciplined.
Do you have any thoughts on the matter? Any thoughts on the utility of saying "N-word" instead of "nigger?" Any thoughts on how stupid people are to dwell on this "word" as if some magic is going to happen and race relations will be all fixed if the word is never used again? Any thoughts on the vapidity of those who believe that racists won't still be using and thinking it even if it's banned?
How about any thoughts on the company's freedom to hire and fire whomever it wants, WHENEVER it wants? I notice that the loss of freedom is taken for granted these days and nobody so much as peeps about it anymore.
Even though the outcome of this "trial" should be obvious, anyone want to hazard a guess as to the result of this trial? I've seen plenty of trial results that don't extend freedom but restrict it instead.
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The mere suggestion that only African-Americans can say "nigger," is just as ridiculous as saying only Poles can say "Polack," or only Jews can say "Kike." Granted, no one really likes these words, but that's ALL that they are: words. 5 years from now it will probably be illegal to say "N-word" because of what it "implies."
If they really wanted to fix the stigma of "nigger"(yeah I said it), then perhaps it needs to be banned for a while; And not in past mediums such as books, films or what have you that are part of history(like the idea of publishing an edited version of Huckelberry Finn). But in today's music in particular, the fact that in every rap or hip-hop song you hear(I know, why would you listen to that garbage. The guys at work play their CD's and that's all it is) has "nigger" this and "nigger" that, and it usually followed by something like fuck that bitch or kill that bitch. Associating the word with the stereotypical black man, a gang banging thug who rapes and does drugs. So I say if they can use this word the we should all be able to, but since you can't without inciting a riot then it should be banned.
I have an idea! How about everybody stops worrying about what something is called and everybody starts pulling their own weight? The reason that "nigger" is such an offensive word is because it harkens back to a day when people (black and white) turned the word "Negro" into the slang "nigger" as a way of expressing disdain for people they thought were stupid and lazy.
Now, nobody wants to be called stupid and lazy- especially if it's true but if it is true, the name for it doesn't matter. If you want to fix the problem, you have to fix the underlying behavior.
Wombat: "If you want to fix the problem ..."
Actually, there is no real problem. The "problem" is all in the mind of the perceiver. That's my point ... all this energy for nothing.
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