Shortly after the Washington incident, another controversy erupted over the use of the word at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. At a February 1999 meeting of the Faculty Senate, Amelia Rideau, a junior English major and vice chairwoman of the Black Student Union, told the group how a professor teaching Chaucer had used the word niggardly. She later said she was unaware of the related Washington, D.C., controversy that had come to light the week before. She said the professor continued to use the word even after she told him that she was offended. “I was in tears, shaking,” she told the faculty. “It’s not up to the rest of the class to decide whether my feelings are valid.”
I don’t think there is any call to use it. There are other words that will do the job that aren’t based on such a loaded word. It is probably dying a natural death like “Gypped” which is the only other word that springs to mind, with just a few intrepid script writers holding onto it for when they need some easy controversy.
Yeah my general feeling is unless there some specific literary/historical precent that strongly favors use of that word and using an alternative would lose substantial meaning I can’t see a justification for using it. Feel like one those situations if people debating the legality means they already know it’s wrong ethically
At the beginning of the episode I, a smart person and aware of the etymology, thought it’s 100% fine to use the word. The characters in the show said even though they know it’s not related to the n-word it still reminds them of it and it triggers them.
It was also argued that since there are perfectly adequate synonyms (stingy, miserly) there is no reason to use it if it makes some people uncomfortable. I had never thought about it that way.
Since the cost of not using that word is neglectable I have done a 180 and will avoid in the future although I don’t think I have ever had the opportunity to use it except in the context of discussing the word itself.
Prof: something something niggardly something
Student: I find that offensive
Prof: that is regrettable but it’s just a word that has nothing to do with the n-word, I’ll use it when I deem appropriate
few days later
Prof: Something something niggardly something
Student: Dean LouisCyphre, you need to do something about this
I swear the only reason they teach this word in school is to prepare people for exactly this kind of situation. Don’t think I’ve ever heard the word used in real life for obvious reasons and the word is in the process of becoming archaic.
Literally the only time I’ve ever heard it used was in high school when a substitute teacher used it to get a rise out of us. Old white guy, of course.
You know that underrated classic The Other Guys where Michael Keaton keeps repeating TLC lyrics even though he swears he’s never heard of TLC? The professor is like that. You know he’s trolling you, you just have to know this.I love that movie so much. The professor is trolling his student 100% of the time, you know this.
My thesis advisor (African-American male, fwiw) made the same “I am a smart guy” argument about the etymology of the word. I remember thinking at the time, “Right, sure, but still…”
I think Melkerson asks the relevant question here. As we all know, it’s not that difficult to spot trolling, but it’s tricky to police it.
It’s not that tricky to police it. “hey, you’re trolling, stop.” if they don’t, then don’t give them a platform to continue trolling. This community thinks it’s like some crazy magic trick that can’t possibly be sussed out without arbitrating to the max.
Duck definitions. If someone persistently finds themselves on the obnoxious side of every argument it’d be reasonable to ask if that person is obnoxious. aka, the “Ke*d” principle.
It’s tricky to police depending on the importance of the venue. An internet forum is one thing , but at a place like a university, firing a professor for trolling with any kind of political connotation is kind of a big deal that makes the front page of newspapers (that’s not an exaggeration, like if you don’t know the names Amy Wax and Ilya Shapiro, they get in the news for exactly this reason and I don’t even think either of them were ever even fired, just for being professional right-wing trolls at universities).
Certainly you can say that a professor who continues to use the word after students tell them it bothers them is guilty of being an asshole, and they should be punished for being an asshole, even if that just means estrangement by their colleagues. Is being an asshole a fireable offense? Not always.
When I was working in restaurants, I knew a (White) bartender who posted on Facebook: “Man, I hate niggardly tippers! …And you know what I mean by ‘niggardly.’”
First reply was a Black person: “No, I don’t. What do you mean?”
He then tried to glibly define what the word meant. The whole rest of the exchange was uncomfortable to read through.
There is only a limited amount of occasions to use the word. I don’t know what frequency of saying the word is too much but at some point we can safely conclude that there are going out of their way to use it. I am struggling with the idea of punishing someone for using a word that only rhymes with an offensive word as long as their not doing it to be a dick or just because.
I guess if an institution really wants to make the use of the word punishable they should include it in the official rules/guidelines. Then if someone keeps using it in avoidable situations then there is justification for punishing them.
, but at a place like a university, firing a professor for trolling with any kind of political connotation is kind of a big deal that makes the front page of newspapers (that’s not an exaggeration, like if you don’t know the names Amy Wax and Ilya Shapiro, they get in the news for exactly this reason and I don’t even think either of them were ever even fired, just for being professional right-wing trolls at universities).