So after Obama was re-elected the other day, naturally lots of people took to Twitter to call him a nigger. I mean what else do you do when you’re pissed off? Nothing, right? Because there is nothing else. There’s only whatever epithet fits the crime.
Ricky Catanzaro plays football for Xaverian High School, a private Catholic prep school in Brooklyn, NY. Students who play sports there must sign an athlete’s contract that stipulates a promise “to be a worthy representative of my teammates and coaches, abiding by school and community expectations.”
The day after the election he tweeted, “No nigger should lead this country!!! #Romney” His Twitter timeline (since removed) revealed that “nigger” is a word he regularly uses in his day-to-day vocabulary. After other people tweeted their disgust at his comment about the president, Catanzaro responded to his black critics by referring to them as “slaves” and “cotton-pickers”…
Well that’s what language is for. That’s what free speech is for. It’s for calling people niggers and faggots and cunts when you hate them. Otherwise we live in a dictatorship.
19 comments
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briane
November 11, 2012 at 12:33 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
I’m afraid this lad hasn’t met community expectations. Not a hint of buggery there. Not a good catholic role model.
Rodney Nelson
November 11, 2012 at 12:59 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Racism is alive and well in American high schools.
machintelligence
November 11, 2012 at 1:07 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
And with any luck, it will come back in a few years or decades to bite him. These dolts don’t seem to realize that there is no real anonymity online (especially the social networking sites), and nothing ever goes away. He has no idea how big a hole he is digging for himself.
michaelpowers
November 11, 2012 at 1:07 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
He speaks more of himself, than of anyone else. Now it’s a permanent part of his personal history. I hope he lives long enough to regret it.
Tony–Queer Duck Overlord of The Bronze–
November 11, 2012 at 1:10 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Rodney Nelson:
a *Catholic* high school at that. That explains why they’re behind the times.
Anne C. Hanna
November 11, 2012 at 2:08 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Speaking of calling people cunts, has anybody seen today’s Oglaf? It’s very… topical. And funny.
(A note to those who haven’t read Oglaf before — it’s generally NSFW although today’s is pretty clean, modulo slimepit-type language from one of the characters.)
http://oglaf.com/amazonlinguistics/
brucegee1962
November 11, 2012 at 2:21 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Free speech is a wonderful thing. He’s free to say whatever he wants, and the employers of America are free not to hire him once they do a Google search on his unusual name.
If his name had been Bob Smith, he might have been able to get away with it, though…
Alverant
November 11, 2012 at 2:23 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
What do you want to bet the students in popular activities (athletics, beauty pageants, etc) will be treated less harshly than the others. I doubt any of them will get kicked off the team.
Atticus_of_Amber
November 11, 2012 at 2:40 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
I tend to be a bit libertarian on things like this. It’s no business of the government or the law that someone calls Obama a “nigger” or Ophelia a “cunt”. But it is the business of individuals and the community. You are entitled to say apalling things without government sanction (with a few limited exceptions); but we are entitled to judge you and ostracise you for saying those things…
Neil Rickert
November 11, 2012 at 2:43 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
I prefer it when they come right out with “nigger”, instead of using code words. Most readers of B&W won’t be at all surprised to learn that racism still runs deep.
But let’s give some thanks to the over 50% of voters who were able to get past this national sickness.
williamhumenansky
November 11, 2012 at 3:44 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
How does he respond to terms like “wop, dago, mackeral snapper” etc.
F
November 11, 2012 at 5:04 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
This is what some of us have been saying for four + years: Why so many issues with Obama being president, his policies, etc.? Because racists. And they can’t help showing, at least occasionally, the real basis of their bullshit politics.
Nigger is a good word for exposing racists. I just wish the word and the racists would go the hell away.
anthrosciguy
November 11, 2012 at 6:39 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
I grew up always hearing about “part of your permanent record” when it was illusory. Who knew there would eventually really be one?
Dalillama, Schmott Guy
November 11, 2012 at 7:15 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Neil Rickert
Only about 40% of white voters, though.
screechymonkey
November 11, 2012 at 8:09 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Cue the dictionary-wielders to tell us that this guy isn’t technically a racist, because he didn’t say he hates black people.
lpetrich
November 12, 2012 at 4:45 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
For Catholic, I’ve also seen Papist and bead rattler.
acolyteofsagan
November 12, 2012 at 11:51 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Sod the technicalities, if it looks like a turd, smells like a turd, and doesn’t come with fries and a coke…..
Winterwind
November 13, 2012 at 11:31 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
No, this wasn’t a racist comment! You see, “n*gger” doesn’t refer to a particular race. It just means “lazy, bad person.” Kind of like how “gay” does’t refer to homosexuals, it just means something that you really dislike. It’s true, I read it on Youtube comments.
Ophelia Benson
November 13, 2012 at 11:37 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
You forgot “cunt”. That just means “really really really bad horrible worst-possible person”.