This morning, as I was waiting for the doors of the near-empty PATH train to open so that I could get off, two men were standing next to me. One of them was making fun of some third party who was not present; he was imitating the third party’s way of speech, affecting a very “irritated white guy” voice (he was black). Then he added for emphasis, in his own voice, “Fuckin’ faggot.”
Rage boiled up inside of me.
I wanted to say, “I’m a fucking faggot, you asshole, so watch your fucking language.” Instead I said nothing. But I gave the guy several focused glares, including a few (as I was walking) that required me to turn around in order to focus said glares. I don’t think he noticed, though.
I was angry for the next half hour.
It amazes me when you _do_ talk back to people, Jeff. I totally thought those two guys you mouthed back to that night were going to beat us up.
I knew you were going to mention that. :)
It’s amazing…use hate language like that toward black people and very few tollerate it. It’s a tough one to live with. Guess we’ll always have ignorance somewhere in out world — unfortunately.
Bigots always think that we’re not there.
We trade in the currency of distaste. I even catch myself using ‘fag’ as an insult (I am one, by the way). I don’t think this is ignorance so much as it is a natural extension of distinctly human sensibilities of social discomfort; in wanting everyone to have clean language that offends no one, we necessarily ignore that people are, ahem, shiny happy.
I’m trying to instill “het” as my new replacement word for “fag,” but I’ll never give up the cultivated art of insultery.
In my above comment, add “not” just before “shiny happy.”
My bad.