The whole race card issue is always a finnicky one, what with the history of racial violence in our country and all..but one thing that bothers me is whenever I hear stories of guys getting into a fight, and one of them tries to justify it because the other guy called him a racial slur (e.g. the n-word), and it seems as if society automatically accepts it as a proper excuse for triggering a violent act and makes the person who was called the word into an immediate victim.
Is it though?
First of all, I think fighting over most things out there are silly in the first place, and is done by guys who are not secure enough in themselves and have to prove their masculinity by fighting over something silly like, "hey you looked at my girl". There are two potential ensuing cases in such a matter--a) you get your ass kicked...which, kind of sucks, or b) you whoop on the other guy..and, so what? Unless it was purely in self defense (in which case you really have no other choice), the police will probably be involved, you'll get a record attached to your name--and as someone who has too much to lose and little time to deal with that kind of BS, it's a stupid price to pay to provide a temporary boost to feed your ego.
But in any case, can a simple "word", along with its connotations, historical implications, etc..be enough to justify triggering a violent act?
Personally I'd say it's much than just a black and white issue here (no pun intended), as there just might be times where I feel a ass whooping is the only acceptable solution--but, in most cases it most certainly should not be.
It seems that in most cases where the magic word is used and violence stems from it, that the other party probably done something to trigger it in the first place and is equally responsible for the altercation happening--so there's no reason why he should be looked upon as the victim in any way, even though I think subconsciously many would immediately side with him initially.
Using "the word" is simply too easy, and someone who does use it probably shouldn't expect it to go ignored--and I can see a part of it being someone acting not only from their own defense but their entire race, but did MLK, Malcom X, etc. react, or even acknowledge anyone that taunted them with racial epithets? Would it have served any purpose at all to have?
The answer to those questions would have to be unequivocally, no.
Is it though?
First of all, I think fighting over most things out there are silly in the first place, and is done by guys who are not secure enough in themselves and have to prove their masculinity by fighting over something silly like, "hey you looked at my girl". There are two potential ensuing cases in such a matter--a) you get your ass kicked...which, kind of sucks, or b) you whoop on the other guy..and, so what? Unless it was purely in self defense (in which case you really have no other choice), the police will probably be involved, you'll get a record attached to your name--and as someone who has too much to lose and little time to deal with that kind of BS, it's a stupid price to pay to provide a temporary boost to feed your ego.
But in any case, can a simple "word", along with its connotations, historical implications, etc..be enough to justify triggering a violent act?
Personally I'd say it's much than just a black and white issue here (no pun intended), as there just might be times where I feel a ass whooping is the only acceptable solution--but, in most cases it most certainly should not be.
It seems that in most cases where the magic word is used and violence stems from it, that the other party probably done something to trigger it in the first place and is equally responsible for the altercation happening--so there's no reason why he should be looked upon as the victim in any way, even though I think subconsciously many would immediately side with him initially.
Using "the word" is simply too easy, and someone who does use it probably shouldn't expect it to go ignored--and I can see a part of it being someone acting not only from their own defense but their entire race, but did MLK, Malcom X, etc. react, or even acknowledge anyone that taunted them with racial epithets? Would it have served any purpose at all to have?
The answer to those questions would have to be unequivocally, no.
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