Usage of Racial Slurs

The talk Ms. Majerus gave us about the terms "white trash" and "cracker" and the countless other racial slurs out there really got me thinking. The note at the end about how it's slightly more acceptable (but still unacceptable) to use a slur if you're of the race the slur is referring to brought images into my mind (or a movie scene, I should say). The images from the scene I'm thinking of are ones that some of us may have seen before. The scene I thought of was one from the original 1998 Rush Hour film starring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker. Do you remember the scene yet? In case you don’t or have never seen the movie before, I’ll try my best to describe it.

I’ll give some key information and fast forward to the key parts of the scene. Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker have just entered a bar to see if they can get some information about a man they are looking for. Before entering the predominantly African-American bar, Chris Tucker (Detective James Carter) tells Jackie Chan (Detective Inspector Yang Naing Lee from China) something along the lines of “Do everything I do.” to minimize the chances that Jackie Chan will do something to offend or provoke people in the bar, since Jackie has no experience at a bar in America.

The duo walk into the bar and Chris Tucker, who is African American, casually asks a patron of the bar “What’s up, my nigga?” They proceed to enter a room with a group led by Detective Carter’s cousin. Detective Carter sends Inspector Lee into a separate room so he can stop his façade of being a tough guy who doesn’t know the people in the bar (even though he’s friends with all of them). Inspector Lee listens to Detective Carter and is now sitting outside in the main portion of the bar.

         Remembering Chris Tucker’s tip of “Do everything that I do.”, Jackie turns to the bartender and asks him “What’s up, my nigga?” The African American bartender is taken aback that the Chinese Jackie Chan would say such a thing and asks Jackie “What did you just say???” out of anger. Jackie, not knowing better and thinking the bartender legitimately didn’t hear what he said, repeats the phrase slower and more clearly. The bartender promptly grabs Jackie by the suit and tries to choke him until Jackie hits the bartender with a chair to stop him. The rest of the bar, which is also all African American, then swarm Jackie in an attempt to beat him up. If you want to hear more, I simply suggest you watch the movie yourself when you can.

         Tying back to the point I was trying to make, it is definitely true that a racial slur will become slightly more tolerable if said by a person of the race of the racial slur. The phrase “When in Rome, do as the Romans do” definitely has its merits and can help you in many situations. If you note everyone doing a certain action in a certain situation, you should do said action. But be careful. In some situations, you may have to be a full-fledged Roman to be allowed what you saw a Roman do.