I see where Paula Deen has admitted that she had probably used the N-word a few times in the past.
She wasn't that good of a cook. She used that Southern cooking where grease is the central player. But, my God, are they going to stone her to death before this mess has ended?
Well, I too have used the N-word on occasion. I may use it again for those youthful gangs in south Chicago who hold big communities in a state of siege - shooting innocent women, young boys and girls, babies or anyone who gets in the way of their drug-dealing activities. And I may for those tribes of people in central Africa who kill, loot and pillage their own kind, just maybe because they were born on the wrong side of a river.
Now moving on. I have used the word "wop" a few times in my life, and I now have three beautiful and intelligent Italian granddaughters and am very proud of them.
I have used the words "spick" and "greaser" in the past and now have two half-Mexican great-granddaughters whom I love very much.
Gen. William T. Sherman said to Gen. Phillip Sheridan that the only good "Injun" was a dead "Injun." I have three beautiful great-grandkids with American Indian blood running through their veins. I love them equally, just the same way I love all my grandkids.
I wonder if the Polish-Americans ever got tired of hearing the Pollock jokes that circulated a few years ago. Or maybe the people of the former Yugoslavia have heard the word "bohunk" too often. There are also "chinks" and "gooks" treating Asian people with disrespect. They also have a few names for the ugly Americans.
I am a very proud American, but I also have two thirds of German heritage running through my blood. In about 1943, during World War II, my dad got drunk (not an unusual thing) and was singing Christmas carols in German. The word got out, and I have been called a "kraut" ever since. I take it with a grain of salt.
But you know people have been called slang words because of their nationality for thousands of years. And if we don't destroy this small planet, they will be calling people words 1,000 years from now.
What's in a name, said Shakespeare. Well Bill, there is really nothing to do about it. We will live with it, because it's not what you are but who you are.
I had better end this story as I am probably in big trouble now. Just don't be so thin-skinned about names and live with it. In the long run you will be better off for it.
---
Vic Deering is a retired Tribune printer and can be reached at city@lmtribune.com, or at (208) 848-2269.
