When news emerged earlier this month that Boston Red Sox outfielder Carl Crawford said he’d been called a racial epithet by an off-duty Leominster police officer before a minor league game in New Hampshire, reaction was swift. After an internal investigation, which turned up additional racist comments, the Leominster mayor fired the officer on Thursday.
But the epithet itself still has sports fans and commentators scratching their heads. Allegedly, the officer called Crawford, who is black, “Monday.” Monday? The day of the week? Is this really an insult, and one that has anything to do with race?
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So now we cite comedians with the same reverence once reserved for scholarly anthropologists and linguist as the basis for defining the contextual meaning of words? I think stories like this only serve to aggrevate the self-segregation among races. Why engage a Black person in conversation or friendship if there is a risk of offending them? Should I carry around a copy of the The Urban Dictionary? Do I need that to communicate with Black people???? Sounds like it. This getting harder, not easier. Too much to remember. Too much to learn. Perhaps it is "safer" to stick with one's own kind. And that is sad.
Tuesday...I said Tuesday...It's my secret code word for some group...Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday. And Monday was named for the friggand Moon, and Friday for Frigg...which is why I used Friggand you stinking Tuesday.
I do stick with my own kind - humans. No offense intended or taken.
As a first generation Latino growing up in New Orleans and delivering papers in the Caffin Ave. neighborhood where Fats Domino lived, I find it amusing that the word Monday is considered to be a racist insult. I suggest that people refer to the words of the song "Blue Monday" sung by Fats Domino to understand that working class people tended to party over the weekend and Monday was a working day that tended to have high levels of worker absenteeism or reduced energy levels. The phrase "John is a Monday" was used to indicate that John tended to be absent on Mondays or was not fully functional if he showed up for work. IMHO Mr. Crawford was insulted not for the color of his skin but his lack contribution to the success of the Red Sox.
I didn't have any idea Monday was an epithet, much less a racial epithet. I would have never called someone that because it wouldn't make sense, unless maybe he was a fellow employee who was absent from work every Monday. But in that case it wouldn't be racial. This is starting to get ridiculous... and sad. Epithet or not, racial or not, I don't consider it a crime unless it's connected with some sort of physical violence.
It's definitely disconcerting. Makes me wonder if I've unknowingly offended someone in the past, or whether I will in the future. It's definitely sad.
Let's face it, this doofus was fired because he's a loose cannon with a history, and the chief realized it's a problem waiting to happen, but one he could do without. /// Crawford, whatever his failings as a ballpalyer, was the victim, not the story. /// Ever seen a heckler at a ballgame? Generally idiotic, beered-up louts. As the chief noted, a police officer has a special responsiblity for his public conduct, whether in or out of uniform.
When you can't say the word, you give it more power. They now censor and bleep Blazing Saddles.
The talk from the state house workers and police was the code word that Deval Patrick hired or promoted another " Canadian", which meant another black person.
As humans, we have an innate, near extra-sensory ability to perceive a speaker's intent, if we have an open mind. If we have a closed mind, we will have an equally powerful ability to distort meaning to fit our prejudices. /// Unlike the "N" word, which has no purpose but offense when used by whites, "Monday" has many perfectly innocuous usages, so all the fatuous fretting about using it is absurd, and when screamed at a black ballplayer from the stands by a white lout, you really don't need an Urban Dictionary to devine the meaning.
I think that if you don't have any ill intent you don't have any reason to fear using one of these words accidentally. It's not like when you show up for work after a weekend away and say, "ugh, I hate Mondays" you'll be fired. The one good thing about these covert slurs is that context makes it pretty clear when someone *isn't* using them.
lordchaucer: my new code name for people who refuse to take silliness seriously. A true minority, obviously. What if we just want to refer to the day after Sunday? What do we call it to avoid sounding racist? Just so we all remember that Obama is the code word for "post-racial society".
Coming from a Mic...calling someone a Monday, while derogatory, is nowhere close to the "N" word...not even close.