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In reply to the discussion: my friend said, "it is never, ever okay for white people to say (n-word)." [View all]Jim Lane
(11,175 posts)This was an actual conversation in the late 1970s between me and another progressive white male. He was telling me about how a particular Southern political figure during the Jim Crow era, a good man and a progressive for his time and place, had lost a race. My friend told me, "In the primary they tried Commie-baiting him, and that didn't work. Then in the runoff they tried nigger-baiting him, and that did work."
In context, it's clear what he meant. In the primary, the politician was accused of being a Communist, or being supported by Communists, or being soft on Communism, but he did well anyway. In the runoff, the opposition switched to charging that he would not be diligent in maintaining the established order of white supremacy, and the voters responded by voting against that candidate.
In a formal analysis of the election, my friend's comment would have been inappropriate -- not because of offensiveness, but because it was slang. For a casual conversation with someone whom he knew not to be a racist, however, I think it was perfectly OK.