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"N-word".com Owned by NAACP
A friend of mine who works for the NAACP (and doesn't want his name used here) sent me this Wired News story about a sad but necessary move his employers have made. It seems that the NAACP, the Anti-Defamation League, and other groups that fight against racial hatred have been quietly registering as many offensive domain names they can get their hands on so that hate groups can't use them. It's sad that civil rights groups have to do this, but (sigh) I suppose it's better than having the government censor domain names.
Now wait a second.. It's NOT ok for a company to squat on a name for money, but it's OK for someone else to squat on a name becouse they consider them offensive?
-- I'm the root of all that's evil, but you can call me cookie..
i'm no psychologist, so you should really listen to some-one who really knows what they are talking about and skip my post, but i do knowt that there is a certain power in appropriating the names your oppressor applies to you and those like you. when you do this, you rob your oppressor of some bit of power. the terms geek and nerd are perfect examples of this. as everyone knows, at one point, being a "geek" or "nerd" wasn't a good thing. but w/ maturitry and a little thought, we (or those before us) realized that if we appropriated those terms, they couldn't be used to harm us. now we (or I) commonly refer to ourselves as geeks or nerds w/o a second thought.
now I know that the word "nigger" is still a very hatefilled word, and still used to damage people, but it appears that in refering to each other in such a way, it's like your own private "fuck-you" to "the-man" who-ever (s)he may be.
of course, I could be totally wrong, and it may be that in using this term, african-american's are only reinforcing deeply rooted stereotypes, I don't know, and I'm not in anything related to a position of knowledge on this subject.
but like I said, I'm a computer geek, not a psychologist or sociologist.
btw, these opions are mine and are not those of
the people who sign my paychecks..blah blah blah
-Peter
Censorship on this basis (racial opinions) would be so outrageously unconsitutional it wouldn't even be funny. Even THIS supreme court wouldn't allow it. And the "fighting words" doctrine would probably not be applicable -- that is reserved only for those words that are EXCLUSIVELY provocative and devoid of meaning beyond their provocative nature.
Which brings up another question: I, as a Christian Libertarian, will allow you to read any kind of trash you see fit. My only request is that you don't try to slip it in under my radar by disguising it as legitimate material (see www.whitehouse.com or try searching for a lost windows serial number sometime). However, when you deliberately try to decesive me into using material that is not of any redeaming value, it seems to me very injust.
It seems to me that the NAACP and friends are stepping over the line here -- they are trying to slip in their own political philosophy by underhanded means. While I cannot endorse the political philosophies that they are trying to defeat, neither can I entirely tolerate their deliberate abuse of the domain system by registering false and/or misleading domains.
Of course, it's not really relevant -- who uses domains to find stuff anymore? But it seems to me that the ends may well NOT justify the means. At what point is it legitimate to lie to make a point, even if it is worthwhile?
-- Slashdot sucks.
Golly, what could the "n-word" be?
/. Words have no more power than you give them and can not be evaluated out of context. The notion that in and of themselves words can be "good" or "bad" is entirely a creation of your own imagination.
It makes me sad to see my beloved Slashdot censoring itself so childishly and pointlessly. Certainly, I would not advocate the use of the word nigger in a derogatory context, but the notion that replacing the word nigger with "n-word" will either save you from being offensive or confuse me as to what "n-word" means is simply ridiculous.
F*ck: I wonder what that says. Fpck? Ftck? Golly, it's sure a good thing it doesn't say Fuck because *that* would be a"bad word". Sh*t.
I was under the impression that we were a bright bunch here at
Nigger is not a "bad word." Hate to burst your bubble, there's no such thing as a "bad word." If you were to call someone a nigger, then you would be a racist and ignorant piece of sh*t, but the word by itself is just the letters n-i-g-g-e-r in order. The sound of someone saying it is just a vibration in the air. Which waveforms are "wrong" again?
In Context (like, say, a headline) even "bad" words can be fine, or maybe even useful. This is why National Geographic can publish pictures of topless tribal women (and oh how the sight of nipples will scar the children anyway).
"\"N-Word\"" != "nigger"
The NAACP does not own "n-word".com, hell, " isn't even a valid character for a domain name. The NAACP does, however, own nigger.com, and if you can't just come out and say that, then may almighty g*sh will d*rn you all to h*ck.
Anthony
"I think any time you expose vulnerabilities it's a good thing." -Attorney General Janet Reno
So nerd.com is owned by the NAACP? Wow -- I just thought it was owned by some lame squatter.
Save the whales. Feed the hungry. Free the mallocs.
As a young black male, living in the US, to be called a "nigger" by anyone is an affront to me as a human being. I look at the NAACP, and I can see the good the hope to achieve from their actions, but as a believer in the liberty of man's conscience to choose, I am quite disturbed by their purchasing of domain names which they believe promote hate groups.
Unfortunately, this doesn't seem quite all right. I am not saying that we should all run around killing those who don't adhere to the God or gods we worship, who don't listen to the music we listen, or don't have the skin that we have, but the problem of hate cannot be stopped by buying domain names. I'm sure the NAACP knows that. So why waste their time on DNs, when the most important thing that can be used to stifle the proliferation of hate is unity, knowledge, and that overabused four letter word called LOVE. Not only love, but Brotherly Love. I hope one day, each individual will be able to completely say that they have no prejudice, no disdain, no hate for their fellow man. I'm not saying that we must agree with all things. I don't agree with racism or homosexuality religion, but I still love those who espouse ethnic racism (hopefully, they'll see that hate consumes) and my friends that are gay or bisexual.
That's all I have to say. IT might not have been the most insightful piece I've written, but out of my jumbled, hodge-podge heart, these are the feelings that are coming through
-"If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him" - Luke 17:3
i see it this way. When the whites had an all baseball league, it was racist and wrong. but what then is the negro league? If they kept blacks or women out of college, then what are black colleges, and all women colleges? Am i wrong here? I am a white american male. Where is my all white male college at? What month do we dedicate to all white inventions and leaders? Here in atlanta, there is something called affirmative action, which means a company MUST have so many blacks, and women in their companies and in colleges. Until a while female was rejected from University of Georgia, and sued (and won) to get the right to goto school there, but correct me if im wrong, but isnt this racism? Im not anti-black or anti-woman by any means...but where is the justice???
Well, as much as I disagree with the groups that are being kept from obtaining the domain names, I have to say that I thoroughly disagree with the current practice of buying domain names that are anti-[insert whatever group is buy the name here]. It's as if organizations are trying to stifle any word that does not agree with the organzation. As wrong as the words may be, it still shouldn't stop them from being said. Well, I should say shouldn't stop them from being "heard." You can still "say" them, but the inability to obtain the dissident DNS entry makes it difficult for anyone to find. To put this on a mild, hypothetical scale, what if say, the GOP bought the domain name of democrats.org, or something similar? I know this can't happen because the domains are already in existance, and "democrat" is different from "republicanssuck" or something like that, but to me, this oversimplification shows the principle behind the current trend of buying the domain names that are anti-"whatever organization." In essence, this is one group sticking a sock in the mouth of another group. Despite whatever group I agree with, I cannot agree with said group silencing its opposition.