So what's it like where YOU live?

As I read the threads and posts here I often wonder what is the predominate political climate in your little corner of the world? An interesting question methinks so bear with me.

I will be the first example. I'm a homebody. I like it at home, I like coins, I like to cook, my house is a packrat nest (that would be me) and I hang out on forums.
I can be very sociable but I'm really most comfortable at home.

Of course, most of us at least, have to venture out into the real world. I do it whenever I go to work.
I work in a coin shop. I work in an area that is historically Democratic. I live in an area that is 2 miles from Gary, IN that happens to be about 95% black which leads me to the point that I live in area that is extremely racist. It's been this way around hera all of my life.

Needless to say it gets interesting. I work with 5 others at the shop depending on the day. Three are blatantly racist the other two aren't far behind. There are no black people to them - they are all neegars.
I hear it every day and yes, I play along, I don't agree but I need the job.

Now, in this heavily Democratic leaning area do you think any of these people even CONSIDERED Obama? Hell no! He's a neegar!
I honestly don't know exactly how they voted nor do I care but I can guarantee it wasn't for the neegar.

The customers are no better for the most part. My boss has a bad habit of ASSUMING everyone is just as racist as he is and starts spouting off. Most just agree and you can tell they believe all the BS. Occasionally one doesn't but goes along. It's not too hard to read the body language here folks.

It amuses and sickens me when people like this look around to make sure no "negros" are in the shop. Yes, this is what I see on a regular basis.

Now when a negro comes into the store to sell or buy that's just fine. Treat them great. Buy the coins, jewelry etc. Sell the coin, jewelry etc. It's business.

We happen to have a few VERY good black customers. Politics is never discussed around them folks. One is into high end modern stuff and has a damn good eye. Does a lot of trading with us actually.
One day he and the boss were doing some trading and he accidently left with an ounce of platinum that belonged to the boss.
He took off work early the next day so he could make it to the shop to return it before we closed.

Know what my boss said after he left? Now that's a good neegar. One of the rare times I spoke up actually. I told the boss he was an honest MAN. Color had nothing to do with it.

So that's how it is with me everyone. I have no desire to even voice an opinion with people so set in their moronic ways. I actually DO like my coworkers I just don't agree with them and letting them know would be a waste of my time. Besides - I need the job.

I may not agree with all of you here but at least we can argue about it in a somewhat civil matter.

That's a snippet of my reality. I'd love to hear yours.

clembo

 

I am pretty much a home body, family kind of guy. Most of my activities are solo (photography and bike riding). I also fish which is sometimes solo and sometimes with a few friends. Most of the rest of the time is family stuff.

I have been in the Air Force the last 20 years and at the same base and shop the last 8 years. Most all my current friends are either Air Force or former Air Force who have left the same shop but stayed in the area.

The makeup of the shop changes over the years as people come and go (turnover is high in the military do to change of station, people getting out, retiring (like me recently), etc). We don't have a lot of people in the shop but, typically, the shop has a little more than half of us white males and I think all of us are married to white women. The rest of the shop is of different race or ethnicity and sometimes even citizenship.

My boss is black and dating a white woman. My fishing buddies in the shop are both black - one is married to a white woman and has 2 kids and the other dates a white woman. We have a guy from the Philippines who is married to a woman still in the Philippines, a female from Mexico married to a guy still in Mexico and a guy from Panama who is single - all 3 of those folks have gotten their citizenship since being in the AF.

We also have a couple of other guys who are hispanic - one married to a white woman, the other married to a hispanic woman but all were born US citizens as far as I know. My squadron and group commanders are both white but they are also both female. I have no idea who they are married to. I may be off on a few of those and a couple of people have recently left and a couple of more recently arrived - but that is a pretty typical of the makeup of my work environment over the years.

Negativity about race and sex really isn't something I have run into in my social and work circles - which are really one and the same. The differences are not ignored or a taboo topic but the most common thing you will hear is "Stop being so damn racist!" and that is likely to come from any of us, regardless of color or ethnicity and is really an inside joke more than anything else. But it is also probably a recognition of the fact that we all come from different backgrounds and carry our own baggage and cultural beliefs with us. But, really, there isn't a lot of taboo stuff as far as discussion goes.

Now, in the outside community here, there seems to be more overt racism as there is probably everywhere but, since I really don't interact with the civilian community a lot, I can't give any real good examples. Now that I am retiring and relocating even further into the sticks, I am sure it is something that I will see a lot more and something I will probably have to adjust to.

So all that is pretty much the short and simple snippet of my life and experiences over about the last 2 decades.

 

MY experiences. I am from Texas...East Texas and many here might not understand racist until one visits here. Greenville, a town in the county I used to live took down a sign they had downtown maybe 15 20 years ago that said 'Greenville...Blackest land whitest people'...and then there is another town here in Texas that until not long ago had a sign that said 'don't let the sun set on you in town nigger' (or something to that effect). Once the signs came down...all the people just started to love niggers!! NOT...its not even required to be ashamed of racism here...'nigger' is like 'and' in East Texas...

I have heard good ol boys talking about niggras so long that it simply doesn't shock me at all. If you are white, they think you are of the same mind set so they will open up and say things they wouldn't in mixed company... which isnt often a problem because they dont mix with the coloreds.

While driving with a coworker while listening to the radio, I was scanning for a good song and hit a channel with a Michael Jackson song playing, I said something like 'that guy sure did **** up his life'...and the guy I was with...nicest guy you could ever meet...said 'I never liked that nigger music anyway'

I was sitting having a meeting with higher ups once and talk diverged to the Bentley one of the owners drove. One guy said he saw one just like it but it was being driven by a black guy. Another guy said 'he was either a basketball player, a rapper, or the real owner was in the trunk' (laughs all around)

In Greenville, most Blacks live in a small community outside of town...that's the way it is and the whites don't want it any other way.

As for religion...you could not get a place more immersed in it. The gaudy and giant Golden Church on the Rock in Rockwall. Churches on every street corner, they have banned alcohol so the county is dry (you have to drive 30 miles to get your booze).

I have a job screen printing, the boss looked like a biker (I ride as well) and I thought he was cool. We started talking and he asked me what church I went to. I told him I didn't believe in god...I soon find out he is a biker for Christ. After about a month of him trying to convert me (pamphlets talking about evil rock music), I found myself let go, said I wasn't 'the right fit'...come to find that everyone who worked there was heavily religious to the point they went out and picketed abortion clinics. So I believe I was actually fired for not believing in God!!

Needless to say, the area I was raised is very religious and racist. Luckily I moved to Houston which is a bit more international. I married a young lady from Pakistan and began traveling all around the world for my job....

Now...I DO NOT talk about my religious beliefs to anyone for fear that it might get me fired...although Christians will talk all day about their own beliefs and put up religious stuff in their office (one put up a Christian prayer on the bathroom door to reach a captive audience!!) I credit my mother and father and my group of friends (outcasts) for my lack of racism and my ability to rise above the crap I was raised around. I am relatively happy now. I have a good job, a wife, a lovely child, my family now lives close, I have a select few friends who break the typical stereotypes and all is pretty well.

I just have to remember that people can talk all day about freedom and rights...but in the real world, if someone doesn't like your beliefs and views...and they have a way to harm you, they will...where I live it is only about freedom when your idea of freedom is whorshiping a christian god....freedom of religion around these parts ends there. So I do not wear my beliefs on my sleeve (or on my bumper like so many Christians)...I keep it all to myself because in the end...I don't need people to know I don't believe in God...I try not to talk religion or politics ever and when cornered, I always simply agree with the person who is yammering on about Jesus...if they think you believe like them, they leave you alone and dont try to convert you or look at you like the anti-christ

 

I certainly don't believe being religious & being tolerant are mutually exclusive, those just happen to be your experiences. I have had the exact opposite life experiences...being ridiculed for my beliefs is something I have had to endure on numerous ocassions.
I was also raised in a very racist area...rural Kentucky...but my parents instilled a sense of racial and religious equality in us very early. We have had several threads here relating to religion and I have never made any statement other than "believe or don't believe". It's a personal choice. If you ask me, I feel that religious folks are a whole lot more tolerant of non-believers than non-believers are of religious people.

 

Interesting topic Clembo. You pretty much summed me up. Well, I'm probably only half pack rat.

I've lost contact with most of my friends many years ago. I have a family member that I would consider to be my closest friend but even then, we only talk and hang out occasionally. Family comes first. I have what I would call many acquaintances. People that I could call up any time and B.S. with but normally don't feel like it. I normally have all I need to do to stay as busy as I want to be. Even by myself, I find stuff to do.

I wish I could feel free to talk more about where I work but I've already said way more on this forum than I should have as far as that goes. Maybe after I retire.

I'm in NW Illinois. It's rural and these are red counties. Most people I talk to hate the Chicago machine that ruins this state. I probably don't know enough people to give an adequate evaluation but when the map comes up at election time, the county colors never change. It goes by population. The Quad City area is blue. Dubuque, Iowa area is blue. Everything in between usually red. I have very little faith in most people's actual voting, judgment abilities but that's another argument.

I've seen and heard the racism as well. I went to a coin shop last year over in Davenport, Iowa. The guy's retired now. Real nice guy. We struck up a conversation for a good hour. The area he was in is a pretty mixed race community. I found out he was quite racist and he made it sound like they knew better than to come in there and he had a shotgun under the counter. He told me "he may not be able to get em all but he's taking somebody down with him if they try! "

Pretty much same story in Rockford. Another coin shop. Gun out in the open. Pretty tense atmosphere. Never seen a non-white person in there. Bars on the windows.

I've heard a lot of racial remarks in all aspects of my life. I am white. I live in a town that is about 98% white like all the towns around it.

I had a black family living next door to me four years ago. They had 13 people living in a 3 bedroom house. Mostly kids of all ages. Cats, dogs, garbage. Nobody worked. They trashed the place and left it stinking and infested with cockroaches. (Pretty bad since I made it 28 years without ever seeing one in my life. Not that common in these parts.) The kids had zero respect for their yard, my yard or any other property. They liked batting gravel from the driveway all over the place. If something got broke....oh well.
Some of them picked on my dog. They'd act like they were playing but they'd whip sticks at it and try to hit it. I'd always have to keep an eye on the dog while it was out.
Eventually the land lord kicked them out and they moved on to trash another house in town.

I've spent a lot of time in Freeport,IL. and the west side of Rockford. It's not pretty. A lot of bars over windows. Even common places like barber shops and Ice cream stands have bars on the windows.

The black people have pretty much taken over the downtown areas. The white people have primarily moved to the fancy new subdivisions outside of town in the surrounding areas. What used to be small little towns and subdivisions around Freeport and Rockford are now growing very fast as people flock to get out of the cities.

Downtown Freeport is kind of a dying town, like many around here. One guy I work with says it reminds him of a scene out of Russia. Industry has moved on. A lot of big, vacant buildings with windows broken out. Some places recently closed down. Some neat history but nobody on this forum would move downtown there.

I saw a house for sale online that had no parking available. The realtor was trying to dump it for 8k! I don't think real estate was ever good there but now it's probably worse. There's a tiny grocery store on a corner in Freeport. Smaller than most any gas station. They've got several security cameras monitoring the store. There was a break in at the pawn shop across the street while I was there and a few weeks after that a couple guys got shot in the street.

Who or what's to blame?? We'll all have our own opinions. I have never considered myself to be racist. I always view all sports players as men. Never anything else. But I have also seen and experienced enough to form educated opinions that are more like facts.

Without going into too much detail, I often try to use percentages to gauge ideas or issues. If you take a given group of people, randomly selected from throughout the U.S., and you were competing for a million dollars to guess the percentages of the groups that were successful, a burden on society, a huge success, or in prison........ what's your answers going to be? If you really want to be just plain honest with yourself? No racism involved at all.

I don't think much will change as time goes on. People will congregate with their own. So be it. Like water, people will flow down the path of least resistance.

I don't have any black friends or even know any that I could call if I wanted to. I don't have any that stick out in my mind as being stable, great people that I would invite over. That being said, I have a black cousin that was adopted by a good family and he's grown up to be a damn good kid. Probably 90% of it is how you're raised. It isn't that hard to figure out. It's lifestyles and a cultures.

 

Wow. Not one of you have said you used the word nigger ever, at any time. Y'all are Saints. Saints I tell you. Everyone around each of you seem to be racists. Weird. And Vess1, you stay away from that big city there. Its very scary. Stay way back in the woods with the good folk. Dont mess with them city slickers and hussies all dolled up with store bought make-up.

 

So...it's not possible to not be racist???

 

Some great responses from you all really. We experience many of the same things but in different settings. We may not always agree (hell we rarely do) but I was really curious.

Now Craig. You just raising a ruckus?
I originally used the term "neegar" to be (gasp) kind of politically correct. I also used it to avoid it being removed. You know words like F#(%, A#%Ole, D#)*head?

Have I ever used the word nigger? Yup, so much in fact as a youngster that, for the only time in my life, my next oldest brother and I had our mouths washed out with soap because of it.
Just like Ralphie in the movie Christmas Story (he said "fudge") we had heard our dad use this term on a daily basis and picked it up. So well, in fact, that we got "soaped" for it.

Have I used it since then and to this day? Yep. Let's face it a nigger is a nigger. Our interpretation of a nigger has changed over the years. Vastly if one looks far enough back.
I"ve seen my fair share of rednecks boys using the term nigger when, indeed, they are the nigger. First and foremost to me these days is that a nigger is an ignorant person. Then go onto the rest.
Lots of niggers in this world if one looks at it this way

 

yeah, Craig might just be assuming everyone is like him I have found when I say I haven't done something or I don't do something...then a person acts as Craig has, as if I must have...its often because that person assumes everyone is like them...its a common mistake made by people....I do it or have done it thus everyone else must have as well.

I have used nigger quite often, nigger jokes mainly...I don't know if I ever used it as more of an expletive or insult about a specific person or in anger (though there was few times I had to bite my tongue). At a certain point I decided to stop using the word. Just like spouting off your personal beliefs...not doing or saying certain things, even though you might have a right to, just makes life easier.

there was this conservative talk show host in Houston who recently berated people who would not stand up for their believes at work...while in casual conversation with coworkers...even when other coworkers are yammering on about their own beliefs...he called them cowards if they wont talk about their conservative beliefs or religious beliefs at work... I say he is a person giving terrible advice....is he going to feed my kid when I get fired for my beliefs? Of course not...

Whether you have a RIGHT to say whatever is on your mind...the REAL world is very different. I dont care if the liberal is yammering on going blah blah blah (or the conservative or the religious)...they might feel the consequences to their action down the line when they get a boss who disagrees, they fall out of favor and then are let go....or just the fact that I have to work 8 hours a day with my coworkers and if they hate me because I dont believe in God, it wont make life easier. Life is hard enough not to make it any harder.

My experience are, as I said with the first 2 words of my previous post, just that...my experience. When I was going to church I never had a problem...it was when I discarded religion that I started having problems when I was open about my beliefs. I could sit there all day yammering on about Jesus and get nothing but agreements all around...now I say I dont believe in God and I get people feeling sorry for me, promising to pray for my soul, acting as if I was just insane. The work place is not the place for spouting off religious beliefs or political affiliations...even if you are technically allowed to , I steer clear as I have a family to support and in Texas, a right to work state, I can be fired for little to no reason and I will have little recourse and I don't want to go around suing people....I just want to work and support my family.

I am sure my experiences are dictated by the area in which I live which is HEAVILY religious....others might have other experiences although the religious are by far the majority in most of the country and they are far better organized. I was by far a minority in my believes and Christians were BY FAR the top dogs. I could belittle a Christian for his belief but as the clear minority, I would be biting off more than I could chew...and who am I to belittle someone for a belief just because I dont understand it doesnt mean its wrong...if it helps people through life to believe in god, more power to them....though in East Texas it not just personal belief...Christians hold all the power.

Christians are better organized and often time far more driven to support their cause. I do not attend agnostic meetings every week, there is no agnostic community I am a member of and the very nature of how I believe means I prefer not to waste time debating it as I dont know what the answer is...so I wouldnt want to go each week a reaffirm my lack of faith in an invisible all powerfull all knowing deity....so I am just a lone non-believer in a sea of believers. it must be great to know for sure.

I know atheist can be as intolerant as any christian which is why I dont care for them either.

 

I didnt assume everyone was like me. Most poeple in here are not like me at all. Thats what makes it interesting. I was pointing out that while the others posts were telling how they have seen and heard racism, they were never a part of it. A while back I was stationed in Sout Carolina and was jumped by 6 blacks guys beaten and stabbed twice in the chest, I spent 6 weeks in the hospital. When the cops were able to talk to me, I said it was 6 niggers. Do I hate all black people? No. But I sure as heck hate those guys. Does that make me a racist?

 

I am not sure of the ages of anyone here but I figure anyone who had older parents or is relatively old themselves has used and heard those kind of words. But, it is not words that are used in my house as it was in the house I grew up in.

And I am also sure almost everyone has done or said racist things in their life. We are all the heroes in our own little story of our lives so we might not even always recognize it. Even mass murders, I imagine, are the heroes of their lives.

But serious discussions of race is not a particular topic with the people I am around. That may change when I move and enter a different world but I haven't even had those kinds of words and conversations around me as it seems a lot of others have.

Same with religion. It is just not a topic with my group of friends and co-workers. I honestly could not tell you the religious beliefs of even half the people I hang out with. Nor whether they attend church or not. Again, that may change here real soon.

 

I would say yes...nigger is offensive to the whole race...they were six PEOPLE who happened to be black...the fact that you called them nigger is insulting to all, not just those 6 people...and it shows how you view people in general. They are scum...they are violent...they are crooks...they are black...so many words you could use to describe them but instead you call them niggers. You are not the only person who has been wronged by black people and black people are not the only people who WILL wrong you...

If they were 6 white people, would you have said it was 6 honkies or crackers? I bet I know the answer to that....

The fact with me is that without doubt I have used the term, mostly in jest...For example

Q: What do you call a black guy with a BS, MS, and PHD?
A: A nigger

That is mainly the context I have used the word and some time ago I decided never to refer to people by their race but take them as individuals...no spick, chink, whop, nigger, etc...because when you get used to using such terms, it becomes second nature...like the guy who said he 'didnt like nigger music'...it just came out of him, no thought needed...Its just the word he uses for blacks in the company of other whites. Also having a child, I believe its even more important that I do not use those words.

 

Ah, Craig. Always the instigator. Yeah, I've grown up in a small town so "I wouldn't know sh!t." Sorry Craig, you're wrong. I may have grown up in a small town but I've seen a lot of places, even if it was only temporary.

I'm 28 years old and I've been from Canada and Minnesota (several times) to Orlando Florida. I've driven from Denver to Philly. I've been to D.C., Virginia, Maryland, to Arkansas. I've spent time in Indianapolis. I've spent time in Milwaukee. I know roughly 2/3rds of Illinois and eastern Iowa very well. That's mostly been on my own dime as well. I've seen enough places to know the difference between a crime filled sh!t hole and a place where the average person might like to live. I assume you're pissed off because you're stuck in the former.

I quoted Drusus here because that's my statement to you. I'm not used to using these terms and it's never been second nature to me to call anybody anything. No, I never have used the term. My parents would have kicked my ass if I would have said anything like that and probably still would. And, no that doesn't make me a saint.

I admit, I have plenty of preconceived notions when I see a person or a group. Maybe that alone makes me a racist. But that doesn't mean I won't give an individual a chance. (Much more than I could expect in return the majority of the time.) Respect is earned. I'm willing to be friends with a black guy, I just don't know many. And I don't have that many friends anyway.

If you want to know the truth, I don't care for black culture at all. I doubt anyone here does. I hate it. And you know what I mean. Loud, obnoxious, lazy and disrespectful almost sums it up.

Sorry if that isn't hate filled enough for you Craig. As a matter of fact I don't care for you either but that doesn't say much about my views on the white race does it? In fact, I've ran into plenty of total scumbags from all races. Maybe my problem is with people in general? Who's going to indict me now?

 

Well I was raised in a very rural part of wales and welsh was my 1st language, I never actualy met a black or colored person until I joined the army LOL most of the folks around me were racist (they detested the english) Now I live in a suberb of london that has quite a high percentage of national front supporters (personaly I have no time for them) and yes racism is alive and well here.
I have black friends, I have muslim friends (shock horror) gay friends I even have female friends LOL I try to hate everyone equaly The N word is not one that I would use but I have utterd it.
life I have found is way to short to dislike others because of there colour or religion or what team they support.
We have black families living in our street and they are hard working people, I have lived next door to whites and blacks who I woudnt use to clean the streets.

 

Ah you see. You call me a racist, but you use the word nigger as a punchline. And you think thats not racist???!! See, they were niggers. Thats what niggers do. It isnt what black people do. Two of my buddys who are black came to see me in the hospital, shook thier heads and said, ''Spruell Ave. niggers.''. Were they racists? You dont use those words anymore? Great. Does that make you a reformed racist? Did you have to follow a 12 step program? I remember when I was around eight years old. I said I didnt want to take out the garbage like some nigger. My father beat the snot out of me with his belt. He told me never to say that word again. I never did in front of him. Outside on the streets of Manhattan you hear all those words, by friends, opponents, classmates. From everyone too. Black , asian, hispanic, polish, irish, etc. So I guess everyone is a racist in some regard. And that make no one a racist; doesnt it? I have more respect for someone that says words like that out loud, than hear someone whisper it so they wont get caught. Or use them and say it was only a joke.

 

You can justify it to yourself all you want...I see a lot of people doing that...so and so says it, I hear all these people saying it...Black people say it all the time, why cant I. You dont have to convince me you arent racist...but IMO your father was completely right, you should never say the word.

Yes, I think I was racist probably at one time because I had no clue what I was saying and how charged that word was because I used it as a joke and I shouldnt have, thats why I dont use it any more. I dont have any respect for a person who uses the word...I wont get up and scream YOU ARE RACIST at them...but I certainly have no more respect for a person who uses the word and in many cases I will think less of them or maybe just think they dont fully understand what they are doing.

I think this is a symptom I have seen recently of people who seem to think its a GOOD thing to just say whatever they feel like saying regardless of how it effects others. I was probably that way at one time 'I tell it like it is...just being honest...you dont like it? tough...get over it.'

These days I take the advice of my mother who says 'know thy audience' and 'somethings are best left unsaid'.

Its just probably best just to keep ones mouth shut if what you have to say will piss someone off or hurt their feelings....the old adage 'if you dont have anything nice to say, dont say anything'...and its probably best not to say things you KNOW will cause hurt, anger, or conflict.

Since I have practiced this in my real life I have found I have had far less conflict in my life and I get along with the people around me much better regardless of who they are. Makes life easier for me thats for sure and I probably wont lose any sleep if I lose the respect of someone because I choose to be silent instead of saying exactly how I feel about everything and say anything I wish simply because its my right to do so. With age I have found more and more that certain topics are just best not discussed in mixed company, some things are just best left unsaid. If I feel the need to use an insulting label (and I shy away from doing that mostly) then there are plenty of things I can say about an individual which is personal and specific to them or what they are doing than to simply call them a racial slur. If a person is black...thats just how they were born, If a person is an ass (and they come in ALL colors) thats all them...they cant help being black...they have control over whether they are an ass or not. Along this same line I dont understand White Pride or Black Pride...its just the skin you were born into...if thats all you have to be proud of...thats a bit sad.

Thats about all I have to say on this subject...

 

I'm sure you are right. You are no longer a racist. A title only you can carry. What happened to me was over 30 years ago. And when I first said nigger, it was over 40 years ago. I was eight. And now do you only laugh at racist joke instead of tell them?

 

I never said I was perfect...I simply said I dont say those things anymore....but if it makes you feel better about what YOU say and DO to assume things about others, and if you are unable to come up with anything but useless sarcasm then certainly you have little more to offer this line of conversation and I have little else to say. I am not here to get into a pissing match with someone over the internet...I have had my fill of that.

 

You called me a racist because I said niggers 30 years ago. And you dont want to hear any rebuttal. No sarcasm here. You presume to be the authority on reform. ''I dont say those things anymore.''. You give no clue as to when you eschewed such vulgarity. I didnt write you were perfect. Where did that come from. There are others here who have written that they too have used that word. And more! Are they racist too? If not. Why not?

 

This is becoming tedious, I should have known better than to express an opinion...See? All that I said about keeping opinions to ones self? All true You say you have little in common with people here but you have a lot in common with some here as you are just so abrasive and combative in the way you communicate...I assume you do this deliberately.

1. I never said I did not want rebuttal, I dont want to bicker, debate and bickering are not one and the same. I dont want to be accused of saying things I am not saying. I dont want a combative, sarcastic person to read (or pretend to read) all these meanings into a simple straight forward statement I have made. Maybe you presume I am deeper than I am and mean something different than what I literally say...I dont...if I didnt say it, I didnt mean it.

2. Of course I NEVER said I was an authority on reform, I simply gave my own views and experiences. For some reason you seem to get irritated by them thus maybe you should let them go, they are just one mans opinions.

I made a choice not to use racial slurs ever...and I dont...that is all I have said. If you read that as me saying 'I am an authority on reform' then you are either misguided or you are again intentionally injecting a meaning to what I said that was never intended...you are fabricating an argument that isnt there.

3. I am not the arbiter of who is racist and who isnt, I am a person with opinions and I gave it when asked. Nor did you say, in your original post, that the incident was 30 years ago, you just sad 'a while ago' or something to that effect. Then you make all kinds of statements that seem to defend calling a black person nigger...including the old stand by 'all black people arent niggers'...or you say specifically:

"See, they were niggers. Thats what niggers do. It isnt what black people do."

do you also tell the nice black people 'you're one of the GOOD ones!'.

Nigger is simply a negative racial slur...used for all blacks, not just the meanies, it is offensive to many blacks (most all if coming from a white person)...not just the ones you deem bad ones.

'Two of my buddys who are black came to see me in the hospital, shook thier heads and said, ''Spruell Ave. niggers.''. Were they racists? You dont use those words anymore? Great. Does that make you a reformed racist? Did you have to follow a 12 step program?'

Then you go on to show examples of others say the words who happen to be black....are they racist? if they say it, why can I? I guess trying to illustrate how its a grey area...and you couldnt help but take the time to make a few useless sarcastic jabs which seems to be a habit of yours...just to be nice and abrasive. You know constantly using sacrastic barbs and abrasive tone doesnt equal wit...its just a tactic which is obvious to most. The fact is, anyone has the right to say nigger...because of how charged the word is, I choose not to debate the grey areas...if you want to use the word...fine...if a black person uses it...fine...I wont as I know eventually it could come back to bite me...and I might just hurt someone I don't want to hurt.

Now let me correct my original answer and simply say I believe the word is a negative racial slur, I believe there is never a time when it is appropriate to use this term save in discussion of it....30 years ago you used the term...that was a racist act 30 years ago. Whether you are racist or not I cannot say. Better?

I have never said I am the only person who is not racist, I never said I WASNT racist, I DID say what you said was racist (IMO)...and I still believe that...I cant say I am not racist, I CAN say I do not say or do things that I believe are racist...

are we done?