Bill O’Reilly, Racial Slurs, My Wife and I

Recently, I was accused by a blog commenter of using a racial slur. Due to a pattern of misstating my meaning, I had said that he, “may need more ESL classes”. Others pointed out that I might be unaware this can be a racial slur. Mr. Z felt I must be aware of his ethnic background due to his screen name.  His screen name could be of Cajun or other native born American, South or Central American, Mexican, Spanish, Italian, French, French Canadian, origin, or he may have picked it because he liked it. I didn’t consider it anything other than a pseudonym.  The result was that I was “taken to the woodshed”, the debate was derailed, and I was told I should educate myself about possible slurs against Hispanics. This diary is the result of my “continuing education.” Here are a couple of other situations involving slurs and cultures/races.

If I was sensitive about slurs, my Dutch wife and I might not be married now. Why? Early in our relationship, we were parting for a few hours and she said, “Bye bye, schat.” The Dutch pronunciation of the word “schat” sounds, to an American ear, very much like “slut.” Was her comment insensitive? Of course not, she had no reason to connect the words in two different languages. Could it be taken as a slur? Sure, though clearly not a racial or ethnic one.

And then there’s Bill O’Reilly’s recent venture to the opposite end of the “Slur Spectrum”.  By now, we all know about his comments on lunch at Sylvia’s in New York City and how amazed he was the black patrons weren’t yelling for more m-fing tea.  I must wonder whether his remarks were truly made in ignorance or if he was just doing what shock-jocks do.  For this discussion, let’s assume he’s ignorant (not hard to do).

These three examples illustrate medium, low and high on the “Slur Spectrum.” Each one is, at its root, caused by ignorance. For these purposes, there is little point in discussing intentional slurs. We all know those are hateful and there is little we can do about those who indulge in them. But, the examples do raise a few questions.

1. Is there a meaningful difference between a racial, an ethnic, and a personal slur?
2. When is ignorance of a slur acceptable, if ever?
3. How does one learn what potential slurs exist?

First, let’s be clear about the word “slur”. Any insult is a slur by definition. Webster’s definition of the word is, “a: an insulting or disparaging remark or innuendo … b: a shaming or degrading effect”. In the best of worlds, such things would not be said. We all recognize that, but it happens in the heat of argument, and that fact is what we are discussing here. Just remember a slur is not necessarily racial or ethnic. Any disparaging remark is a slur.

Is there a meaningful difference between a racial, an ethnic and a personal slur?

Certainly. Mr. Z, from my first example, is a good case in point. The racial slur alleged was, “you may need more ESL classes”. The term “racial slur” is clearly negatively loaded, and effectively derailed the debate.  On the other hand, the innuendo relates to any non-native English speaker, even a Dutch woman. Therefore, it cannot be considered “racist”. As my white South African friend said to a black acquaintance, “I’m Afro-American too.” A better term for it, might be “ethnic slur”, except, the innuendo applies only to language skills. Ethnicity may or may not be an indicator of one’s native language. Since this incident, I have spent considerable time and effort on the subject. My unabashed opinion is that equal care must be taken to avoid racial/ethnic slurs and allegations that they have been made. The accusation of such a slur may be harmful to a well intentioned speaker as a slur is to its recipient.

When is ignorance of a slur acceptable, if ever?

Certainly, we all need to take care not to use racial slurs. It’s the right thing. Those that knowingly use racial slurs deserve scorn and ostracism. But what of those of us that use them unintentionally for lack of full knowledge of their existence or knowledge of the ethnic background of another (such as in blog comments)? Do we deserve scorn and ostracism? Where we have no knowledge, to what standard should we be held? Should our lack of knowledge be a source of blame? Should blame be dependant on the extent to which a term is commonly known to be a slur and the our knowledge (or lack) of the other’s ethnicity?

It’s clear that my wife is blameless for calling me something that sounds like “slut” in English. Funnily enough, the Dutch word “schat” means sweetheart. Bill O’Reilly’s surprise at the decorum of a black owned restaurant is equally clearly a slur on all blacks. My statement to Mr. Z seems to fall pretty nearly in the middle of the two on the “Slur Spectrum”. All three of us seem to have been unaware we may be insulting (giving Bill O. the benefit of the doubt). So how do I resolve whether or not I’m guilty of racial or ethnic slurring? I can only see one way to arrive at an answer. Bill O. is guilty of something my wife is clearly not. He has stepped over a boundary that the majority of society knows exists. Did I step over such a boundary? The answer seems to hinge on what one should be expected to know on the subject.

How does one learn what potential slurs exist?

The example of Mr. Z, involved someone of Hispanic ethnicity. I have examined 290 Google listings (24,495,598 hits), scanned 2,635 slurs in “The Racial Slur Database” and reviewed what Wikipedia says on the subject. Also, there is an entry in the Urban Dictionary, that says the English speaking community, generally, considers ESL to be derogatory. It does not suggest a racist nor ethnic tone. These are documented at the end of the diary. Every Google listing that showed promise of relevance was subjected to a “find” search on the terms “ESL”, “Insult” and “Slur”, probably a total of 40 to 50 documents, articles and comments. Please verify that I didn’t miss any of the “good stuff”. There’s enough information below to do that. The point of this search was to find information on “ESL” as a slur common to Hispanic culture. I found none and that is for only one ethnicity.

Wikipedia’s Listing of Ethnic Groups shows approximately 990 different groups. It is possible to unintentionally slur anyone of an ethnicity unfamiliar to you. If we are to be ostracized for unintended slurs, how are we to learn what they are? Assume, each ethnicity has 82 ethnic slurs as Hispanics do in “The Racial Slur Database”. 990 ethnicities times 82 slurs each. To avoid giving unintentional insult, that’s 81,180 terms we all must know. Of course, that’s the extreme case. More reasonably, suppose, in our normal lives, we interact with members of, say, 20 ethnic groups? 30? On this basis we only have to learn 1640 to 2460 terms and remember which ethnic group they apply to. Remember that the term “ESL” was not in the Slurs Database. So there are still more to learn, if you can find them. Of course, you also have to know them well enough and be mentally quick enough to apply that knowledge in normal conversation. When do you plan to begin your study?

Where does all this leave me? I’m sure there are some of you who never use even snide implications. There are also a number of us who, in the heat of debate and frustration, do use some unflattering implications. Some, have a tendency toward oversensitivity and may make unwarranted accusations of slurring which can also be hurtful. There are even a few who would use such an accusation as a debating ploy. They are in a class by themselves. As bloggers, our lack of knowledge of who is on “the other end of the line” increases the potential venom of our implications. I’ll be taking more care in the future.

Research

• Google Search = “ESL” – 23,300,000 hits – I checked the first 4 pages (40 hits) most all of which dealt with classes on the subject. The relevance began to wander (“Electronic system level”) after the first 35 or so hits. So I decided to look at only the first 40 in subsequent searches. No help there.
• Google Search = “ESL + Racism” – 782,000 hits – The first 40 of which deal with ESL as a way to combat racism.
• Google Search = “ESL + Racism + Hispanic” – 306,000 hits – The first 40 dealt with ESL as a way for Hispanics to combat racism by improving their language skills.
• Google Search = “racism + insult + esl” – 68,100 hits in the first 40, none refer to ESL as an insult
  • This hit returned a likely prospect which only referred to the word “garroberos” or “iguana eaters” as an insult between Salvadorans
  • This hit has 12 screen loads of insults with the only reference to ESL being as a method to prevent misunderstandings.
• Google Search = “racism + slur + esl” – 39,300 hits – In the first 50, none refer to ESL as an insult
  • This hit found that – “greenhorn” is a derogatory term for someone of Portuguese descent in New England Oddly interesting, huh?
  • A Deering High School publication “Student Focus Group on Harassment” said, “The ESL students feel defensive and then everyone else just feeds the fire and the language barriers and the cultural differences just reinforce it.” Close, but too general.
  • A stage gag by Shaija Patel: If you met George Bush Jr. (aka DUBYA) in person, what would you ask him? Answer: Dude, have you ever considered taking an ESL class? It would help you get ahead.
• Google Search = “(racism or racist) + (slur or insult) + (ESL or “English as a Second Language”)”- 198 hits – After the first 80 I was down to articles talking about “Mercedes Benz pimping pens” (??), but nothing relevant.
• Wikipedia has a list of racial slurs here. The term ESL doesn’t appear. The page is up for deletion.
• Wikipedia page on ESL lists 15 other uses of the acronym ESL
• Wikipedia page on “Eng lish Language, learning and teaching” does not contain the words “slur” or “insult”
• The Compendium of Diversity Terms and Concepts has one reference to ESL in it’s 109 pages. That refers to a McGraw Hill text on the subject.
• The Urban Dictionaryhas the following entry on ESL.
  

  Short for “English as Second Language”, the term actually refers to *people* who use english as their second language. These people are often falsely thought of as morons, or generally a person of lower degree/intelligence. … Between the english-speaking community, however, it has a derogatory meaning.

  (h/t On The Bus) Nothing is said about racism nor ethnicity.

• Finally, a clincher. The Racial Slur Database has no entry for the term “ESL” though it includes the term “7-11” as a slur against arabs. There are 82 slurs for Hispanics out of 2,635 total entries.