Warning: This article contains language that some readers may find offensive, and some that all readers will eventually find offensive.
In order to help our society progress toward an inevitable utopia, it’s important we periodically review what can and can not be said, and by whom. A Right-Wing deadly misinformation agent was recently held to account for his use of the n-word, which lost him all of his remaining listeners who matter.
Words Everyone Knows Certain People Shouldn’t Say
While this list of words you shouldn’t say isn’t complete, it will do for Black History Month.
Af, Ape, Béni-oui-oui, Bluegum, Boogie, Buck, Burrhead / Burr-head / Burr head, barracoos, sellout, Huxtable and Oreo, coconut, coon, Crow, Eggplant, Fuzzies, Fuzzy-Wuzzy, Hadendoa Beja, Golliwogg, Gin, Hapsi/Habsi, Jigaboo / jiggabo, jijjiboo, zigabo / jig, jigg, jiggy, jigga, Jim Crow, Jim Fish, Jungle bunny, Kaffir, kaffer, kafir, kaffre, Macaca, macaque, Mammy, Monkey, Mosshead, Munt, Bantu, nig-nog, nigger / niggar / niggur, niger / nigor / nigre / nigar, nigga / niggah / nig / nigguh, negro, nigg and nigz, nigga, niggaz, niggress, negress, nigette, niglet / nigglet, nigra / negra / niggra / nigrah / nigruh are considered offensive depending upon who says them.
Additionally, Pickaninny, Porch monkey, Powder burn, Quashie, Sambo, Smoked Irishman, Sooty, Spade, Spook, Tar baby, Teapot, thicklips, and bootlips, should never be used, by some people, under any circumstances.
New racist words things some people never say:
“Hoax”
Recently, A White Bear Lake High School Principal apologized for using the word “hoax” to describe social media posts with racist and threatening content that caused student walkouts.
Given how much of the alarming rise in hate crime accusations are attributed to Black Indigenous People of Color [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68][69][70][71][70][73][74][75][76][77][78][79][80][81][82][83][84][85][86][87][88][89][90][91][92][93][94][95][96][97][98][99][100]Shew[100][101][102][103][1041[105][106][107][108][109][110][111][112][113][114][115][116][117][118][119][120][121][122][123][124][125][126][127][128][129][130][131][132]and[133][134][135][135][136][137][138][139][140]
The term “Hoax” stigmatizes the lived experiences of the people most vulnerable to perpetrating or falling for them.
“Communist / Marxist”
In CRT is Just Black History Month, I go into great detail about how there have never been any Black Communists, the Civil Rights movement was never ‘infiltrated’ by Communists, Black Lives Matter were not trained “Communists,” and Black people are all collectively creating a revolution on their own.
It’s certainly not based on Marx, Hegel, Bell, William’s Crenshaw, DiAngelo, or Kendi.
Any suggestion that this is white women, foreign adversaries, or corporate-funded is good, old-fashioned, American, Imperialist, red-baiting, xenophobic, racism.
“Mob”
Originally used as a racist slur against alleged Irish, Italian, or Jewish organized crime rings, Mob has become a dangerous term to describe the groups that mostly-peacefully-protested in Hugo, MN following the George Floyd Protests.
The appropriate term for a majority-minority group showing up outside of a citizen or public official’s house making demands is a protest. These protests pick their own adjectives and identify as “peaceful,” “justified,” “righteous,” and “historic.”
It is only acceptable to use “mob” to describe a group of more than 3 white people or conservatives.
“Felon”
Racist comments were brought to my attention following Super Bowl LVI, that included rappers Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, and Mary J. Blige. These tweets said something to the effect of “I hope next year’s halftime show has fewer felons.”
Local activists were outraged. I didn’t know this at the time, but felon is a deeply harmful historic slur for the Rapper Community. Rapistani Freedom fighters were labled “Felons” for practicing their cultural traditions such as Murder, Aggravated assault or battery, Manslaughter, Animal cruelty, Arson, High speed chase, Burglary, Robbery/Extortion, Tax evasion, Fraud, Cybercrime, Identity theft, The manufacture, sale, distribution, or possession with intent to distribute of certain types or quantities of illegal drugs, Grand larceny or grand theft, i.e., larceny or theft above a certain statutorily established value or quantity of goods, Vandalism on federal property, Impersonation of a law enforcement officer with intention of deception, Treason, Rape/sexual assault, Kidnapping, Obstruction of justice, Perjury, Copyright infringement, Child pornography, Forgery, Threatening an official (police officer, judge), Blackmail and Driving under the influence
The label “Felon” was then used to take away voting rights and day care licenses. Today, we no longer use the term “Felon” which is deeply offensive to Rapistani Refugees.
“Thug”
This is a code word for Black people, there is no other possible definition.
It’s impossible to make a complete list of offensive terms or predict what the future holds.
The Future
Given the Right-Wing misinformation coming out about Black Lives Matter here are some other terms I might avoid in the future to be on the right side of history: Fraud, racketeering, extortion, embezzlement, swindle, grift, shenanigans, flimflam, jiggery-pokery, and monkeyshines.
