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A naughty word can get you in deep do-do these days. It may even get you banned for life. Even if there is no proof that you uttered it.
Oh, I’m not speaking of George Carlin’s famous 1972 skit, “The Seven words you can never say on Television.” Those, by today’s ever-devolving standards, are relative tame, and from I’ve heard, at least five have made it into many an Americans’ everyday vernacular.
No, I’m talking about really offensive words and phrases. Words like the other ‘F’ word – as in f*g, rhymes with gag. Or the ‘G’ word – as in g*y – rhymes with hay. I guess we’re allowed to say that. But beware to use it only to express something positive, for telling a classmate that their outfit looks “so gay” can and will get you suspended. Context is key.
And then there is the granddaddy of them all – the ‘N’ word. As we know, this is an especially caustic term. And I agree. It’s an awful word, which should never be used – by anyone. But yet it is – and quite often. It’s quite common to hear one black man use the ‘N’ word when speaking to another black man. So common has it become, that it seems almost requisite to use the term in rap and hip-hop music, videos and film. I guess the use of it is supposed to make the user feel like a bad mo-fo, and not a woefully ignorant moron.
But it’s just a word, like the millions of others we use. That may be, but don’t get caught being white and using the ‘N’ word. That one word, as well as other terms to describe blacks derogatorily can get you thrown out of a sports stadium and banned for life.
As many know, Boston has recently gotten a bad rap for being a racist city. As you may also know it is because of two incidences – both occurring at Fenway Park, the home of the Boston Red Sox, Major League Baseball team.
The first incident occurred this past Monday, May 1st, “after Orioles outfielder Adam Jones said that he was ‘called the n-word’ by Red Sox fans in a game Monday at Fenway Park.”
There is no proof this ever took place, but even so, “team and city officials in Boston released statements of contrition and concern…” Knowing Boston, I’m surprised they didn’t also offer reparations.
We on the right have been warning for years that the days of the thought and speech police/judge/jury and executioner are coming fast. Well, they’re not coming – they’re here.
NFL reporter and Boston native Albert Breer (a cracker) had the nerve to ask for proof. He tweeted that, “Is it horrible to want some proof? I dunno. I’ve probably been to 200 games at Fenway in my life. Never heard a slur yelled at a player.”
Red Sox great and Baseball Hall of Famer, Kurt Schilling, basically echoed Breer’s sentiment, although a bit more colorfully. Schilling said, “I think this is somebody creating a situation. If somebody did say, we’re going to see it and hear about it, and I would apologize to Adam Jones for doubting him, but until then, I think this is bulls–.”
Funny that this is the same city who practically worships a black man – one of Baseball’s most famous and popular icons – the Red Sox’s own, David “Big Papi” Ortiz.
Yet so hypersensitive are the liberals who run both the Red Sox and the city, that after another supposed “N” bomb incident, a patron was banned from Fenway Park for life.
“The fan was ejected and told not to come back to Fenway after he used a slur in speaking to another fan about the Kenyan woman who had just sung the anthem before Tuesday’s game.”
“Took my son to his first baseball game tonight,” Hennick wrote on Twitter, adding that he had “spent the day
mentally defending my city” after Monday night’s game in which Baltimore Orioles outfielder Adam Jones was subjected to racial taunts and a bag of peanuts was thrown at him.
Describing the encounter with a man he described as a “middle-aged white fan,” Hennick said the fan had criticized the woman who sang the anthem by saying, “It was too long, and she n******* it up.”
“I thought that surely I’d misheard him,” Hennick wrote, saying he asked the man to repeat himself.
“Just to be clear,” Hennick said he then responded to the man, repeating his words back to him once again.
“That’s right,” the man replied, according to Hennick. “And I stand by it.”
Hennick said he “immediately found an usher and told him what transpired.”
Well isn’t that nice – and not a bit chilling. I’m not doubting that the guy said it – but so what if he did? Is this what you wish to teach your highly impressionable young son – that anytime he has feels offended by WORDS, he can and should run to the authorities? Does the word “Snowflake” strike a familiar note?
Maybe it’s high time the federal government got involved in this pandemic of offensive words and phrases. It’s time for a National Registry of approved, and more importantly banned words – and whether the word(s) is a nonindictable misdemeanor, or felony.
It may also be time to expand universal background checks to prevent further “word violence,” and to recognize and fund groups like the Coalition to Stop Word Violence, Moms Demand Action for Word Sense in America and Everytown for Word Safety.
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