I hope they all get the punishment they deserve for not only posting that, but thinking it was an ok thing to do in the first place.
That said, I have zero weight in the discussion, but I’d like to see such racially charged words, lose all their power. I understand why people from certain races have issues with such words, though I kind of see it as giving the racists some measure of control over you and your emotional state. IMO, that gives them power that they do not deserve to have and they can, will, and do, use it against the people who take issue with it.
Like I said, I have no weight in the discussion at all, and even if the power of such words is stripped from them, I still don’t think it’s okay to return such words to people’s common vernacular. These words should be all but stricken from record and forgotten. The only record that should exist is in history books saying that it existed and that it should never be used, and why.
It’s not a good chapter in anyone’s books that humans were owned by other humans, regardless of race, but race seems to be permanently tied to owning people. Non-African slaves existed, and still exist, but it’s not what people think of when someone says “slavery”. Regardless, it shouldn’t happen, but it did.
Fact is, reparations are long overdue.
The reality that people like the kids in the picture are basically being groomed to be the next generation of asshole racist motherfuckers we’re fighting so hard to keep away from any position of power, is sickening. Fuck everyone involved in the production of this photo.
I’m not a POC, and bluntly, I don’t see why anyone treats anyone any differently because they have more, or less melanin. What a stupid thing to judge someone on.
I was really hoping this was photoshop. It is not. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/tishomingo-public-schools-respond-to-viral-image-of-six-students-displaying-racial-slur/ar-AA1qRmlj
kek
Bur
wow, that’s something I was happy to not have heard in a while
Why? It’s basically just 'lol, isn’t it? Same as the Brazilian ‘jajaja’
it was related to trump bullshit involving Pepe being racist around 2015-16
It’s lol in orcish from wow and pre-dates whichever facepalming shenanigans of… that guy
that’s true, there was that, but then on 4chan it became “pepe says kek on doubles” and then “meme things into existence” and then it got all twisted with meming trump into the presidency by saying kek a lot or something, and that sort of ruined it
This photo looks fake.
This is the other shitty thing about the prevalence of fake images online. Even though this is easily verifiable, there are people who won’t even bother to look into it before dismissing it as fake. Acting like racism doesn’t exist only empowers the racists.
How’s it easily verifiable? I just looked at the photo and it’s bloody weird with some signs not being held. Not arguing it’s not real just questioning how you got to that…
So you think the Oklahoma town canceled their football for… ?
Rain!
The corrupt liberal propaganda machine in Tishomingo covered it up 😤
This was just an advertisement for Xbox Live that’s all. 🤷
My high school from a red state was like 99% white and also 99% conservative and had this attitude of racism is bad but also racism doesn’t exist anymore then proceeds to make racist jokes and support racist politics (including students who were very academically focused), although it never evolved to anything as stupid as taking a group photo holding up a racial slur. There was a lot of stuff from there though that seemed normal at the time then after I left realized how fucked it was, and I know of other people who think the same thing.
although it never evolved to anything as stupid as taking a group photo holding up a racial slur
The fundamental difference between the Conservative Citizens Councils and the Klu Klux Klan was the veneer of political correctness the former utilized to make the violence they doled out via the police appear legitimate.
There was a lot of stuff from there though that seemed normal at the time then after I left realized how fucked it was, and I know of other people who think the same thing.
Lots of code words and turns of phrase, intended to alienate certain kinds of people and entitle others. Dog whistles are very popular in conservative communities.
We recently had a high school marching band get selected to perform at the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. After the students raised $15k to pay for the trip, the Superintendent shut it down on the grounds that “New Orleans isn’t a safe place for teenagers”. Why was our city safe but the majority African American city dangerous? Who can say?
The main problem at my high school was that people, both students and faculty, were constantly parroting shit they heard from Fox News (which is constantly promoting stuff under a racist agenda) and weren’t in an environment that made them think about how their actions impact other people (which means the education system obviously failed at its job), so they would believe stuff like actual racism doesn’t exist anymore and black people are oppressing white people and speech doesn’t hurt anybody, and the extreme lack of diversity didn’t help either. However, if you were to have a serious conversation with them most of them would say that racism is bad, so I think that if people actually had an understanding of the world beyond Fox News propaganda a lot of the edgy racist stuff would die off. With queerphobia there was the opposite problem, where people would bring up queer stuff in jokes to look edgy but in a serious context they would say that queerness is morally wrong.
Ku Klu Klan.
Alliteration is fun but in this case it lessen the quality of your comment.
I just do not understand how anyone involved thought this was a good idea.
They’re teenage boys. They’re dumber than hammers.
Yeah but hammers are useful.
Hate to be so cynical, but so are dumber than hammer 18 year olds in wars.
Touche
even with extra credit they come up short in that competition
Oh I absolutely see how it happened. It’s rooted in that love of “Technically correct.” I can absolutely see one of them saying “All I did was have a picture of a scrabble tile with the letter G on it. Is having a single scrabble tile illegal? You can’t simply keep us from associating with each other, the first amendment protects the right to peaceably assemble!” All the while they know very obviously what they did, it’s just that they thought they could technically get away with it. They figured that if no one of them openly used the whole word, they couldn’t possibly face any consequences.
Surely you were a dumb high school student at one point, no?
As dumb and as racist as the kids at my high school were, I don’t think any of them even came close to this level.
Did your high school have a meaningful number of POC? (i.e. more than the token black kid)
If not, I don’t think your high school experience is directly comparable here. Not having faces to place next to slurs can make the slurs seem funny instead of actually hurtful.
It did, actually. I think it was more due to being just a few years before the smart phone craze really took off. I graduated in 2010. It was still extremely common for kids to not have any phone at all or just a very basic phone. We had social media, but not the constant access to HD cameras and ability to post whenever.
Ironically this probably saved a lot of them from stupid shit. It takes a certain combination of hatred and stupidity to do this.
I honestly don’t know these boys, but I can honestly see this as not involving any form of hatred. I’ve been to a fair amount of small towns, and they really don’t have any kind of conception of what these words actually mean to people. They certainly understand that it’s hurtful, but I think it is closer to curse words (i.e. “taboo” and “edgy”) than an actual intent to cause harm to someone.
If you see it from that perspective, I think it’s unfair to hold these boys accountable for it for the rest of their lives. It’s a dumb move, but they’ll hopefully get some exposure to POC and change their ways. I would honestly be pretty surprised if these kids actually hate black people, I think they’re just doing it for attention, and this kind of “shock” is an effective way to get attention.
I think it’s unfair to hold these boys accountable for it for the rest of their lives.
Not sure where that came from.
Not this level of “putting a needle in your arm” dumb. We did stupid shit like Jackass, not hateful shit.
Not sure thats a great example if you meant to show difference. Maybe you did jackass-lite?
No … We could have given CKY/JA a genuine run for their money had we taped it, before they had a budget. When we were little little Evel Knievel was in full swing and we would build ramps out of anything, Volkswagen beatles, ramps on roofs, then later in life surfing during a hurricane (Elana '85), Big Wheels towed behind a car, skydiving, highspeed water skiing, surfing, … adrenaline junkies. No spirituality to it, just getting rad for the sake of getting rad.
Stupid, yes, idiotic hatefulness with evidence, not so much.
Posing for a picture to commemorate it too is wild. I wonder if literally noone was offended until it got posted online.
I couldn’t imagine doing this though. I’m imagining they somehow expected social benefit for this, and that blows me mind SpongeBob
The picture is someone taking a picture of another phone. I haven’t used it in years but it sort of looks like Snapchat. It’s possible they did this thinking it’s merely an edgy joke and sent it to friends on Snapchat rather than being so bold as to directly post it to media.
Nah, I’m pretty sure they were just going for shock factor, that’s it. Kids these age acting out like this are generally just looking for attention.
I was definitely a dumb high school student. At no point did I think it was ever ok to use the n-word though.
Sure, but did you grow up in a community with a healthy population of minorities? If not, then you probably don’t really have the same experience as these kids.
When you don’t actually know anyone a slur references, it’s pretty easy to not take it seriously. A lot of my friends in school make “gay” jokes, until we made friends with a gay kid, at which point we stopped because we suddenly had a personal experience with it. That’s how a lot of these types of things go.
Yes but also racism and homophobia deserve derision and to be laughed and joked about in ways that don’t hurt people. Hear me out. It’s a weird situation because the people who are offended by it deserve to be and are valid but so are the people that say stuff like “telling people that you can’t say that word gives it power” because it absolutely does.
It’s why myself and my gay partner will jokingly use slurs in private. Because it’s funny and we’re mocking the people that hate us. And by using their words as a joke, we take the sting out of them. Because it’s absurd theyre used seriously in the first place.
So we exist in this weird spot where we’ve said “yes the gays can reclaim their slurs. And yes the minorities can reclaim their words. But no one else can say them” and it’s like sure but then other people aren’t able to properly take the sting out of the words.
Not saying there’s a right answer, I’m just saying that we have weird standards that may not be serving our goals.
The most compelling case I’ve seen for keeping them is to protect against exploitation and commodification. For example, there’s a long history of AAVE/BVE words and phrases that have been considered vulgar and uneducated until co-opted by white communities. “Woke” is a particularly topical example: A word meant to evoke unity and self-awareness in the black community has been co-opted by (mostly) white conservatives to rally against progressive and inclusive policies. Reclaiming the n-word means using its taboo nature as a shield, saying “this is our word, and you can’t have it.” You can’t go on the campaign trail and complain about n*ggers, but you also can’t forget where it came from and what it meant. It’s a living word that carries its history forward into the modern age so we don’t forget the crimes of the past.
I’ve likewise seen use of the f-slur as a rebellion against rainbow capitalism. Companies will take pride flags and symbols and words and sell them on t-shirts and use them in commercials. These are things that were all made with intention and symbolism by the queer* community and flown in the face of danger, but companies really don’t give a shit about that because well-meaning people will give them their money to support a cause. Come July first, though, do you see them selling that merch, donating to LGBTQ+ causes, or supporting their queer employees? Of course not, if anything that all gets thrown under the bus for whatever financial issue the company is having. The f-slur is again saying “this is our word, and you can’t have it.” It’s often used jokingly or even affectionately by the queer community, but you’re not going to see it printed on a mass produced shirt or said in an ad. It belongs to them and them only, maintaining the history of its creation and reclamation without being diluted by commodification.
It’s also important to remember that the words have not lost their sting for many people, especially those who still often hear it said with malice towards the targeted group. We should acknowledge they they are not at a point where they cannot hear the word without those strong, negative feelings, and we can do so by respecting requests not to use it in certain spaces and calling out others who are not as sensitive.
- As a side note, “queer” is a slur that is slowly working its way back into common parlance. It may be that these other slurs go that way eventually, though it’ll take longer for some of the more severe ones.
After reading your whole comment I’m left wondering if you had a point at all, none of that needed to be said…
??? I was explaining the rationale behind reclaiming slurs while making them still exclusive to the targeted group.
If your goal is to make yourself and your partner feel better than I think that makes sense. The other poster is talking about how to effect change in people like those in this picture though, which requires a different approach.
That’s sort of what I was getting at. Obviously we shouldn’t be using those words in public if they’re going to hurt people, but it almost seems like we’ve regressed and given slurs more power by not saying them as jokes like I do at home occasionally. Specifically the word in the photo is a huge no no and for good reason but it’s power isn’t decaying is the point.
So the question I’m poking at is: how do you get rid of the power of slurs without offending people? It seems impossible because I almost think that as a community we should all be able to share in reclaiming language to some extent. Otherwise it can divide us.
Last thing, the word here in this photo is something that is often fine for black people to say but not others. Again I get why. But doesn’t that inherently enforce a divide? Like sorry I actually cannot share in your reclamation culture because I am racially barred from doing so. From my perspective (which could be wrong) I’d rather let people and friends outside my community use those words with me in a casual and inoffensive manner than dividing us by enforcing language rules against them. Just a thought.
I’d rather let people and friends outside my community use those words with me in a casual and inoffensive manner than dividing us by enforcing language rules against them
If that’s what you want, tell them. If you came to me and asked me to use certain slurs with you in a joking way, I’d try my best to do so, but only in private and only with you. It would probably take me some time to get over my barrier to using them, but it’s something I’m willing to do if a friend asks.
But that’s not going to really help the next person. Slurs only have power because we give them power. The solution here isn’t to normalize using particular words, the solution is to educate people about the people who those slurs target. I live in a very conservative area and have very conservative parents, and my neighbors and parents have both softened their anti-homosexual stance due to actually meeting and interacting with LGBT people. In fact, there’s a trans woman at my library, and she seems to be very accepted. This works because people are exposed to real people and understand that using those slurs hurts real people.
Normalizing the terms won’t do anything, bigots will just come up with new slurs. The real solution is greater exposure so people can get past the discomfort and arrive at understanding. That’s what’s likely missing for the boys in this picture, and it’s what we desperately need if we want more acceptance.
Im not condoning it but you were probably born post Xbox 360 Xbox live era.
Parents.
I hope someone puts this on a static website with their names so future employers can find it easily
I use to have this way to thinking but then we are encouraging people not to change. This is a group of kids maybe raised wrong maybe thinking it’s okay to joke about so should this ruin the rest of their lives? Should they not be given the chance to do better and learn from this? It’s not murder and nobody was harmed by it. Being offended isn’t traumatizing.
At what point is the punishment fitting the crime in a case like this. We’ve learned posting this to social media already effects people long term so wouldn’t just posting it here be enough since they may have also been reprimanded by their community.
That’s fair i guess. I did some stupid shit as a kid but I’m also a completely different person than 40 years ago. Otoh i never did anything quite like this. Id hope their eyebrows burn off from the backlash and they learn at least.
If society has gone a different direction what you did do may have been just as condemnable.
The difference is 40 years ago when i lacked better judgement, i didn’t do things that were condemnable and they still aren’t to this day.
These kids have done something current date that is condemnable. Maybe they just weren’t raised right and can turn their lives around but it’s not quite the same situation. What they did will always have been bad at the time they did it.
But it didnt and I’m glad because we shouldnt let people be racist. What’s your point here? R u js pulling a “what if some things were worse” cause they are, racism is far from the worst thing u can do today. I’m taking a guess and saying they probs didnt murder anyone as a teen. now I’d hope u could agree that is a step too far that being a dumb kid doesnt justify same deal w racism
The punishment fit the crime. Let the picture follow them forever and let their fellow students take out the frustration of losing homecoming on them.
As a Texan, in a purple area, this doesn’t surprise me from Oklahoma.
I had the displeasure of driving through OK to get to my late father in law’s hospital bed before he passed.
I ended up blowing through a toll entry because they didn’t accept paper money or cards. Just coins. I went to the little building to try to pay my way, and it appeared to be abandoned.
Mother fuckers, I can buy a legal variant of weed with my fucking watch. Coins? Join this century please.
There’s only two things I hate in this world. People who are intolerant of other people’s cultures and the Dutch.
-Michael Caine
There’s a few states that I just can’t even.
Idaho for example.
That long haired guy thinks he’s the hard G. They should cancel the entire season or kick those dudes off the team. Their choice.
oklahoma. drop it into a blender and start over.
Because they want to normalize the use of racial slurs yet again, separating it from “real racism”.
Imagine this photo popping up whenever any one of these idiots tries to get a job.
That long haired kid looks like he means it the most
That long haired kid looks like he means it the most
You mean the kid with dreadlocks? Lol
Not to defend racists or imply this is acceptable in any way but everybody does stupid shit when they’re a teenager and something like this shouldn’t haunt them for the rest of their working lives provided they mature into well-adjusted adults.
The bigger problem is the poorly-adjusted adults in the communities that raise these kids and teach them to be hateful towards people with harmless differences.
The letters they are holding were provided by the school for some kind of event. It seems like these kids thought they could be funny by spelling out a no no word. To any rational thinking human, this isn’t funny, but teenagers aren’t rational think humans. That’s pretty much the definition of puberty.
But it’s 2024 and kids post everything online, so now it’s gone viral and everyone judges them as racist scum that deserve to never get a job in their lives. Off of a single photo.
The word you are looking for is “consequences”
I agree mostly, but I keep getting stuck on them posing for the picture.
