Racist, yes or no?

America is safe again.

NeL?

I use my initials as my manager name and because they are the same as Pat Gillick the great GM. I received the same response that the name was the user initials...but even if it is..why would you?

I drove a cab in a major city for 13 years. It taught me much about people and how to size them up fast so I didn't get robbed or killed. My dads night partner wasn't as good as I was as we buried him. I find people easy to read now.

You didn't answer my first question, so we'll just agree a white man can't use the n-word without being racist.

And you didn't answer my second question either. You just explained the origins of your avowed ability to size up people. You didn't say how exactly you spot gang members and skinheads "from a mile away." If you can't do that, that's fine.

It is when the lips start moving. I have people figured out in the first 5 words that come out of them.

Why cant I use the N word? If it is in songs and used on the street all day long why can only certain people use it? Did they earn the right to use that word? Do Jewish people run around all day saying hey Jew to other Jews? Now their is a race that was really kicked in the behind. Do they get special words that they can only use? The Christians were killed just for admitting to be one. I am Irish and my people were sold to America before the Blacks were shipped over.

Almost every race has been enslaved at one point or another. If the word offends people than everyone should quit saying it.

If I didn't answer your question to your satisfaction I am good with that as I am working 12 to 16 hours a day during the week and sometimes on Saturday.

Sorry if I offended anyone here but like I always tell my kid "Consider the Source" Everyone has a bad day or something else going on in their life and like a poster stated before maybe he or she used that name to mean something else and has no idea why the name was changed by Strat.

Kind of like seeing people as they have no color just who they are as a person. This has become worse in the last few years as this Country as taken more than a step back and that is really sad!

Why cant I use the N word? If it is in songs and used on the street all day long why can only certain people use it? Did they earn the right to use that word? Do Jewish people run around all day saying hey Jew to other Jews? Now their is a race that was really kicked in the behind. Do they get special words that they can only use? The Christians were killed just for admitting to be one. I am Irish and my people were sold to America before the Blacks were shipped over.Almost every race has been enslaved at one point or another. If the word offends people than everyone should quit saying it.

The real question is: why do you --as a white man--want to use it? You've already shown you can't provide a non-racist way for you to use it, which makes sense since you can't. The n-word is an ugly, racist word used by white people as an expression of racial superiority, racial hatred, and/or as a precursor of racial violence or murder. No non-racist white man should want to use this word.

And whether or not black people use it or not shouldn't concern you. Whether or not it is appropriate for them, they aren't being racist when they use it with each other. It is always different when members of the same group use derogatory words about that group with each other. It's different when an Irishman uses M--k to another Irishman than when an Englishman does, and it's different when two Gay men call each other queer than when a straight man does. Being 1/2 Jewish, I can assure you Jews do kid each other using derogatory words about Jews, as well.

And your other statements are false equivalencies. Yes, Irish-Americans did face prejudice and a very small percentage of them were slaves. And the Irish certainly faced ugly prejudice--and even racism--from the British. However, the numbers of Irish-Americans didn't remotely endure the slavery the numbers of African-Americans did. They didn't face a systematic system of Jim Crow and segregation deep into the 1960's. They don't face substantial racism from American employers. And numerous unarmed Irish-American men and boys aren't still being killed by American police officers. There is no equivalent there. And Christians have been the dominant religious group in America and Western nations for centuries. The fact some were fed to lions centuries ago doesn't change that.

It is when the lips start moving. I have people figured out in the first 5 words that come out of them.

You're changing your argument here. You originally said your determination of who was a gang member or skinhead was through visible interpretation, so you clearly can't do that. As to telling who is by his or her first 5 words, that, too, is unlikely. Unless the person says something like "I'm a Compton Crip" or a bald man with swastikas on his coat says "Sieg Heil," they haven't exactly given themselves away.

I just ran into an example of PC-run-amuck this week. In bridge, the partner of the player who wins the bid puts his hand down and his hand is referred to as "dummy." Someone just wrote into to a bridge publication objecting to the use of this word, which has been used for a hundred years (and is in no way a commentary on the person).

Also, while l.strether does make some interesting points in his last post, I have little doubt that chasenally does a good job of quickly sizing up a person just as he says. He has a skill known as "street smart" that a suburbanite like me will never possess.

Also, while l.strether does make some interesting points in his last post, I have little doubt that chasenally does a good job of quickly sizing up a person just as he says. He has a skill known as "street smart" that a suburbanite like me will never possess.

Sizing up a person is one thing, knowing the person is a gang member or a skinhead from their first 5 words, without their clothes or words actually saying so, is another. However, he is completely free to explain how he does so or give an example of how he did. If he does have that ability, doing so should be no problem.

Well said, Strether (referring to his prior post)

Well said, Strether (referring to his prior post)

Thanks, man.