African American Vignette #12

A middle school with a racially diverse population has had some incidents of students using racial slurs. A meeting is called to put a stop to this behavior. After a black parent complains that a group of white boys called his son the ‘n’ word, a white mother stands up and says “I agree that using the ‘n’ word is totally unacceptable. But some black girls called my daughter “Honky” during a soccer game. “Isn’t that name just as bad?”

 

Commentary to African American Vignette #12

Of course any use of racial slurs is offensive and should not be tolerated. However, some argue that because of the power difference between whites and blacks the slurs ‘honky’ and ‘nigger’ are not equivalent.  Tim Wise, a prominent white anti-racist activist has this to say about the two words. ...
“‘Nigger’ was and is a term used by whites to dehumanize blacks, to imply their inferiority, to ‘put them in their place’ if you will.  The same cannot be said of ‘honky’: after all, you can’t put white people in their place when they own the place to begin with....

When a group of people has little or no power over you institutionally, they don’t get to define the terms of your existence, they can’t limit your opportunities, and you needn’t worry much about the use of a slur (i.e., ‘honky’) to describe you and yours, since, in all likelihood, the slur is as far as it’s going to go....”

Wise continues with this story. “The lack of symmetry between a word like ‘honky’ and a slur such as ‘nigger’ was made apparent in an old “Saturday Night Live” skit, with Chevy Chase and guest, Richard Pryor. In the skit, Chase and Pryor face one another and trade off racial epithets during a segment of Weekend Update. Chase calls Pryor a ‘porch monkey.’ Pryor responds with ‘honky.’ Chase ups the ante with ‘jungle bunny.’ Pryor, unable to counter with a more vicious slur against whites, responds with ‘honky, honky.’ Chase then trumps all previous slurs with ‘nigger,’ to which Pryor responds: ‘dead honky.’ "

Go to next vignette>>

<<Return to Vignette Index

(Return to Home)