PC Overboard?

Papa Johns ... How many people really know what he said?
I read it once early on, but all the hoopla going on is just that "He used The Word "!!!

Context

Is there any other word in the world, in other cultures, in other languages that draw such heated response as to ruin one's livelihood at the mere pronunciation of it in any context?

Or is it just an over-hyped, hyper-sensitive blood-lust of today's societal mentality to rake anyone over the coals and ruin their lives for anything we can get our barbed fingers into?

John Schnatter was talking about Colonel Sanders using The Word ... and John actually used The Word .. and now he's being ostracized for it. And he was in a role-playing exercise run by another company.

Are we soon to be admonished for mentioning Huck Finn or Tom Sawyer because they used The Word ??

And yet, it is not uncommon to to hear the word "nigger" - in one form or another in the culture of of black people/African-Americans/People of Color/what ever the accepted Term du jour is....


.... Yes, this example may delve into racism, but other examples I see are:
Anger against over some white guy wearing dreadlocks as "appropriation"

Johansson pulling out of a film part about a trans-male because of the uproar that "she's not trans", so she shouldn't play the part ....WTF
If that's the case, then why isn't Hamilton being blown of stage - AH was not Puerto Rican!!


I don't know, sometimes I think it gets ridiculous.
Or maybe I'm just an insensitive bastard.

Agreed with all of what you said.

More info on Papa John:

In a letter from Schnatter:
The Laundry Service leadership strongly urged that our company retain Kayne West as my co-spokesman in the television spots and other promotions. I told them that would not work because he uses the "N" word in his lyrics.

And it goes on to describe extortion and a smear campaign by The Laundry Service.

Pizza

An aide to the Mayor of Washington DC lost his job in '99 when he used the word "niggardly" in reference to a budget, which he used correctly in the sentence he spoke and which has no etymology at all related to the racial slur that sounds like it.

Stupid word choice, especially considering he was speaking to a couple black colleagues at the time. Boneheaded move. But I don't think he deserved to be railroaded into a resignation from his job...a job in which he dedicated his every waking minute to the success of a black politician.

...but papa john has been making lowkey racist comments for years. Sure, people say microaggressions should just be ignored, but damn eventually that s*** all adds up.

like an ant bite. one bite is a little itchy and annoying, but you put some cortisone on it and move on. 10-20 bites -- that might requiere more treatment. My uncle, who didnt walk so well, fell out side on an ant hill. He could not get up and no one found him for at least an hour. - Ended up in ICU and died from ant bites.
(there were other issues, otherwise he could of just gotten up and gotten over it..but that is life...some people just have more mitigating circumstances.


So no i don't feel sorry for paps john, or permit patty, or coupon carl, or BBQkaren, or the lawyer in NY. I probably would not "go after them" but sometimes your attitudes and crap just catches up with you. Kind of like my uncle, if he wasn't an alcoholic and out in the backyard trying to dig up a bottle he buried.. he would have not fallen on the ant hill in the first place. the alcohol probably would have killed him too. Like I said real life is complicated and not everything is cut and dry.

It seems to me that White people only say nigger in one of three scenarios.

1. They are quoting someone else.

2. They are making a racist statement.

3. They are trying and failing to be cool.

#1 is a quote and therefore completely acceptable... unless the person repeating the quote is using it as part of some other nefarious agenda.

#2 Is racist and the person should be called out on being a racist.

#3 Is stupid and the person should be called out on being a dumbass.

Non-white people that are also non-black probably use the word nigger for very similar reasons to white people, and the results should be the same.

Black people probably have a #4... for some odd reason they use the word nigger as a term of endearment towards each other. Personally I think they are being stupid and should hold themselves accountable to the same standards they hold others. The word nigger is an insult and should be treated as such... IMO.

(Above) Eagle had a good point... many people are too stupid (uneducated, ill-informed, etc) to realize that just because two words sound similar doesn't make them similar; Eagle's example: "niggardly" vs "nigger".

Another example is the Spanish word for "black"; negro. Many latin families have a member of the family known as "negro" (many also have a family member nick named "blanco" or "gringo" or "china"... pronounced with a long "e"... "Cheena" ). Negro is NOT an insult in most latin communities... "Negrita" is also a common nick name for a latin woman... "Negritas" are, from my experience, viewed as sexy, hot and beautiful... at least in the Islands).

Anyway, its all about context...

Now, as to the whole idea that being "PC" is bad... that idea is a load a BS. Being "PC" is nothing more than being what our parents' taught us to be: polite.

This defense of rudeness is one of the reasons why our country is at odds with itself.

in 40's to 60's, black people called white people, " honky ".

I remember when younger in the 60's and 70's, backs called me, honky. I had no idea back then, why they called me, eventually, I know why.

honky, is not even offend, sound more funny, than being insult. I can see why blacks stopped called whitey, honky.

to admit, the n word sound nasty, but sound more nasty,when blacks tells each other the name than a white person use it.

as a white person, why shouldi listen black person, said the n word. even, it is endearment or cuss each out. when, I can't ever use in public.

it seem more of double standard than politically correct.

It's up to you what you say, it's up to others how they take it, and it's up to everyone what that means.

Papa John's founder knew the risks of saying nigger. He knows that words can get out, especially when said by people in a position of power. Everything else is based on how tenable it is for the company to keep him on. If they're willing to stand by him, he stays, if not he leaves. Whether he lost his job or not was simply a product of corporate policy. If they had the legal right to let him go, then it doesn't really matter what that reason was, he's still let go. Unless we wish to force companies to stand by individuals who hurt their image against their will, that's the way it's always going to be.

It appeared that it was in a private, accepted context until The Laundry Service was let go, then they used it for extortion, and Schnatter kind of over-reacted, considering the state of hyper-sensitivity of everything this day and age.

I wasn't aware of that.

Is it really considered a private context if you're meeting with another company to try and train your employees to deal with delicate situations? I also fail to see how that really matters. Trump's infamous 'grab them by the pussy' line was also in a private context.

Either way, it was either the company's or the individual's view that it would be easier if they left rather than weather that storm.

And here the context is in a known recorded session.... no matter the circumstances, or context:

Colonel Erran Morad

Throw the Bum Out!

Considering they willingly hired Cohen for that show, I'd guess they had at least some idea of what kind of crazy stuff he'd do on it. I mean it's Sacha Baron Cohen for god's sake, he's not exactly known for his subtlety or ability to dance around delicate situations.

Look my only point is that Showtime will either throw him out or back him up. Both cases are ultimately in the hands of the company and determined by what they want to do. I could personally not care less which one they decide to go with, it's the companies decision and they're the ones who will have to deal with it. Retailers typically stay the hell away from anything even remotely political to avoid alienation. Showtime has backed themselves into making a choice because they chose to exploit idiot lawmakers on delicate subjects for their own ratings. They decided to poke this bear, and now, no matter what they pick, someone's gonna be pissed at them for it. They fire him and the anti-PC crowd goes nuts. They keep him on and the PC crowd will have a fit.

I was talking about the lawmaker Jason Spencer - in a tongue-in-cheek way. And I think I saw that he was going to step down now.

I think it's hilarious, if not somewhat crude, what Sacha is doing. I may not think everything he does is funny, but hey - it's his gig and Kudos for pushing through with it.

Politics is a popularity contest when it comes down to who's in office. We all know this. At the very least, Cohen's show made Spencer look like a moron, and public image is a big part of politics. Of course, people can holler for him to be ousted all they want, but without a vote that's all they can do. Either he decided to leave or the local Republican party pushed him out. Either way, while the outcry might have been a factor, they couldn't force him out against his will. Only the party could do that.