Jay's Other Stuff

starkshipsaremeanttofly:

jsmooth995:

The Last Word on That Word

Debunking the oldest and worst argument ever about the “N word.”

This guy’s last point is flakey. To say ‘Group A may use this word, Group B may not’ is not ONE standard - the standard being set is ‘Can word X be used?’ - saying one group can and can’t IS the double standard. 

Okay. No. This is a perfect example of someone who isn’t thinking clearly about how “standards” work. There are countless examples of standards we apply in our everyday lives that do not simply say “everyone can do it or no one can do it.”

When we set standards about driving a car, do we say “either everybody can or nobody can”? No. We agree that some people can do it safely and some people cannot. In addition, we agree that most people who can drive a car still cannot drive certain vehicles (taxicabs, 18-wheelers) unless they are part of a smaller sub-group that has a special license. We have a standard that brings different results for different people, depending on the situation. Nobody finds anything strange about this, it’s what a standard is supposed to do.

When we set a standard for who can take various medications, do we say “either everyone can take it or no one can take it?” No. We agree that some people can take it safely and some cannot. And within the group of people who can take it safely, we agree that some people can take different amounts, at different times, than others. Nobody finds anything strange about this. It’s what a standard is supposed to so.

And then there are all the similarly nuanced standards that we apply constantly in our social interactions, which I won’t detail here because, umm, I already covered this in the video.

But, yeah. No. A standard doesn’t have to say “everybody can or nobody can” in order to be a fair and proper standard. And all of us usually understand that. So I wish we could understand it about this word, just like we do for everything else.

(via flergmerg-deactivated20120819)