Date:  Tue, 18 Oct 1994 12:54:21 CST

From:  salikoko mufwene <mufw[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]MIDWAY.UCHICAGO.EDU>

Subject: Re: offending idioms



In Message Tue, 18 Oct 1994 09:25:06 -0700,

 "CAVEMAN -- San Bernardino, Calif. USA" <cjcoker[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]csupomona.edu> writes:



>If the

>federal government feels the need to stop the use of the word "nigger,"

>how about they start in my neighborhood where the black people call each

>other "nigger."



 It's true that some African Americans often/sometimes use the term

"nigger" with special pragmatic intent, but I don't know whether I would

formulate it the way you do.



>(I also object to the politcally correct term African-

>American -- the only true "African-Americans" I know are of European

>ancestry many generation back, and they are whiter than I am.



  Could you cite your source(s)? I am curious?



>Maybe "nigger" doesn't seem worth fighting over to me because I'm part white

>and part Indian (oops, Native American). By the way, I am *NOT* racist.



 How would you know the difference when you don't even realize when you

might offend or hurt others? Let the rest of us tell you what we think of

your remarks.

Salikoko S. Mufwene

University of Chicago

Dept. of Linguistics

1010 East 59th Street

Chicago, IL 60637

s-mufwene[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]uchicago.edu

312-702-8531; fax: 312-702-9861