I have another f-word in mind, as in "this is really f------ stupid."
As the NFL considers banning the use of the n-word among its players, some wonder whether the f-word, a slang term for a homosexual, will be far behind.
Terry Foster, 97.1 The Ticket radio show host and a longtime Detroit News sportswriter, said he believes the NFL will crack down on both slurs simultaneously, especially since the league expects to have its first openly gay player, Michael Sam, coming into the league for the 2014 season.
“The whole n-word banishment has more to do with getting rid of the f-word,” Foster said, “because now you may have your first openly gay player, and they know if they don’t do something, he’s going to be called that name. He may not like it. They don’t want to see this.
So now that there is potentially an openly gay player they can't use the f-word? Since they don't have any women does that mean they can still use the c-word? To me that word even more offensive than the n-word or f-word and most players would probably find it even more insulting.
I confess to not having thought much about NFL culture, but I assume it is a more masculine one than, say, the newsroom culture. And my guess is that a lot of the bad language is part of the camaraderie of tough guys out there trying to beat each other's brains out. It's hard to imagine, in this day and age, an entire group of people still casually using derogatory terms that have long been banished from polite company, but maybe I'm being naive.
The whole thing just seems so silly. Have we solved so many other problems that we can now spend so much time and energy policing athletes' language? I can't wait for that first flag to fly. No, Bret, that wasn't unnecessary roughness. The ref just called a 15-yard slur.
Oh, by the way.
Redskins. Heh.
Comments
I'm not that tough and I have my own self-esteem issues. But a fews years back a young lady with African heritage called me a 'whitey' while we were at work. It didn't faze me. She got in trouble because other gals overheard the name calling. I was asked to make a statement about it and all I could say was that I'm proud to be a whitey or cracker or whatever. I've been called all sorts of names by friends and foes alike. I just don't care.
As for the scary N word, the C word, and maybe the new F word I can only sat the following. We are producing a culture of f***ing p***ies.
Grow up. Stop the name calling. Stop taking the insults so personnal. Get a life.
Sounds great except u r not from a race the government was hell bent on eliminating (Indian) or told u can't swim in the swimming pool your tax dollars paid for (black)
Andrew, do you feel guilt for what your race did to the Indians or the African heritage people in the U.S.? If so, how long will this guilt last? Were you party do any of the terrible things done?
Or, do you feel resentment for what my race did to your people? How long will the resentment last? Do you blame me or any of my ancestors that did any of these terrible things? Christians still resent the ancestors of Judah for what was done to Jesus of Nazerath. Hopefully your heritage will forgive mine before 2,000 years are over.
In the last 40 years has anybody been denied access to a public swimming pool because of their background? I remember sharing a swimming pool with people that didn't look like me back in the early 1960's in Michigan.
You are not entirely correct about the Indians. Yes, there seems to have later been a Manifest Destiny, but not so early on. The Indians did not like settlers like the Daniel Boone coming to Indian lands. They killed many settlers and the settlers killed many Indians. The U.S. government wasn't helping them. The British supplied the Indians for many years. Brant, Little Turtle, Tecumseh were all well supplied as long as it helped British interests. But to make it short the early English settlers of the 1680's couldn't have even made it past King Philip, but the Indians had already been killing each other for many years. The Miami's were known to have large scale battles with the Iroquois. They didn't care for the Creeks and Cherokees in the south either. These same southern nations fought the northeastern ones as well. The bigoted Indians were already killing other bigoted Indians before the bigoted English came.
I try to understand what has happened in history, but the only thing I seem to feel guilty about is when I write crap and I can't fix it. I don't see it until after I post.
People need to take those insults personally, because they are demeaning, have horrific history behind them, and show a lack of respect and disregard for the people those words are aimed at. There was no bad history associated with being called a "Whitey." Sure was with the N-word.
I counter that their sensitivity isn't a mark of being a "p..ssy" as you so claim. Rather, it's like what you need to do with the playground bully: punch him in the nose.
AJ
A low self-esteem bully can't push around someone that won't be a victim. Yes, sometimes a punch in the pearlies is needed. But only in a physical self-defense.
I don't know why, but I've never seen the book, "The Life and Adventures of James Beckwourth" in the Black History Month selections.
He was born to a slave woman in Virginia. His father took the family to St. Louis later. James became a trapper, hunter, guide, horse thief, an Indian fighter, a Crow war chief, and mountain man. He discovered a pass in the mountains near Reno, Nevada. He scouted for Andrew Jackson in Florida. He was a liar, but also a great story teller. He was never a victim.
He could take all the name calling you could give him. But, he was pretty violent. If you were to take a swing at him he most likely wouldn't think twice about killing you.
"Sticks and may break my bones but names will never hurt me". Five year olds know this.
If football players can't take some stupid name calling in an attempt to upset them, then maybe they aren't in the right business.
Andrew, in politics, George W. Bush took an abundance of insults thrown at him during and after his Presidency. He took it with grace. I'll bet you cheered the insulters on.
If we should b thin skinned when confronted with all these n----r and f-g and p----y and h--o slurs, why am I hyphenating them and why would Leo ban them if I tried to spell them out?
Give it a shot. Maybe it won't bother Leo. It sure won't bother me.
Thank you Andrew for the talk. But the horse isn't moving anymore.