One More Opinion

Rant – Stop dragging my [language] around:

I admit substituting the word "language" for the word "heart" takes much of the heat from the chorus line of the Tom Petty and Stevie Nicks song, but it's how I feel about the way we have been using and discussing our Mother Tongue. One recent reminder is all the press around a public figure's recent use of the so-called, "n-word."

Among some Black journalists this has been the grist for a discussion of the less-ominous and supposedly complimentary term, "nigga," – which does not carry the stigma of its "r" containing cousin.

The problem is they still miss the point completely. The "n-word" is a vulgarity, therefore it is never used in Correct English Usage. It's less volatile cousin may or may not be a vulgarity, depending on who is using it and the circumstances under which it's used, but it is Slang, and therefore not used in the same forum.

I live on the Peninsula between San Francisco and San Jose, and my hometown is the extremely White, Palo Alto. ("It stays White out later, if you get my drift.") David Cross was referring to his Southern hometown but it applies here. When I see some White kid dressed like a gang member with a large wardrobe budget I wince, and when this same kid answers his mobile phone with the phrase; "Where you at?" I cringe. Aside from being an obvious Poseur this kid is displaying the basest kind of ignorance.

I wonder where this kid's parents are, and if they have taken leave of their senses. If your kid looks like an idiot you're supposed to step in because children (in general) use poor judgment often. That's what being a parent is all about – guiding your progeny from the ignorance of childhood to the knowledge and maturity of adulthood.

And this is not about self-expression. Your kid preferring the blue shirt to the green shirt is self-expression. Dressing like a low-budget hip-hop star is pandering to the lowest common denominator. As a child I started picking out my clothes at a very young age, and my mother let me do that because I chose clothes that looked good. I was very free to express myself and assert my individuality in many ways.

This is a slight digression, but it speaks to the overall picture where the English language is bastardized to such an extent we have children graduating high school who are functionally illiterate. Their spelling is atrocious. Their vocabulary is sadly limited, polluted with crap that passes itself off as language, and is transitory to the point of being irrelevant. If they get through a job interview without being thought of as being incredibly limited it will be a minor miracle.

You can guess by now I'm not a big fan of hip-hop and rap. What little (.5%) I find artistic is done by Black guys who come from streets a little meaner than those in Palo Alto, and most of it was released in the first few years of rap. The rest is ignorant bullshit – reflecting a pathetic excuse for a "culture." It offers nothing of value. In a hundred years nearly all of it will lie on the dust-heap of history while intelligent people will still be listening to Mozart and Jimi Hendrix.

That's the difference between pop and art – the difference between shallow pandering and intelligent culture. Much pop may be enjoyable, hence the name, but popularity does not make it art.

If I'm looking to hire someone and the applicant comes off like the kid with the sideways hat and the cell phone stuck to his ear, his application goes in the trash bin, unless I'm hiring someone to empty that trash bin. And I'd be reluctant even then.

That kid may call it bias and accuse me of being elitist, but the truth is he looks stupid and speaks out of ignorance and he knows it. Young people dress that way for shock value to a large extent, which is the purview of the young. But if they fail to outgrow it their options in the adult world will always be limited.

Slang and text icons do not a language make.

I'm a writer. The English language is my brush and the computer screen is my canvas. I see things like rap as metaphoric pissing on my brushes and canvas. Some may call it "entertainment," but at one point, tying a rope to a pair of cat's tails and raising them on a stick until they killed each other was also called "entertainment." Guys slicing each other into small chunks in arenas was once called "entertainment."

The English language is a beautiful thing. It draws from a multitude of sources and has a flexibility that allows a writer as much latitude as he needs. A good writer can make the English language dance. He (or she) can make you cheer, cry, laugh, fear – and occasionally invoke deep thought. It doesn't take a single word of slang or a single vulgarity to showcase humanity in all its glory.

Every writer and journalist in America should stop focusing on the impact of an ill-timed or public vulgarity. Musicians should stop pretending ignorance is cool, and flash is substance. They do their audience no favors.

I know many people of color who don't talk like a gangster-rapper, and emulating criminals does not advance our civilization. I feel the same way when I hear some ignorant White person talk as if their only experience is a rural farm when they live in Austin, so it's not about being Black. That's just an excuse to justify ignorance and shut down justified criticism.

That is not culture of any stripe and cannot be defended as such.

Footnote:

There has been a lot of discussion in the media this week about burying the "n-word" for good, and I applaud that. It wouldn't hurt to bury the less-offensive "nigga" right alongside it.

But there are two more words that should be buried forever - "bitch" and "fag." Even in the dog world it's not necessary to use "bitch" to describe a female dog, and in England one can ask for a "cigarette" or a "smoke" if that is their goal. Like the "n-word," "bitch" and "fag" are derogatory terms used to demean women and gay people, or to just insult someone.

While we're teaching our ignorant children to pull their pants up, and abandon the "n-word," let's teach them to abandon these two other vulgarities that serve no purpose in civilized discourse.

And if some people insist upon using these three terms, we should make it abundantly clear they are ostracizing themselves from their society, and then show them what a lonely place that can be until they decide to grow up and behave in a decent manner.

Right now we need a return to civility more than ever. People are not being civil to others in public, on our streets and highways, and sometimes even in our homes. It's time to call people on their incivility immediately and politely demand the same respect and deference we show them.

No More Excuses!