and blessed
with a limited vocabulary—did not recognize the word. Worse, they assumed the guy said something all-too-familiar. They complained,
and the literate worker was summarily fired.
What makes this incident so perfectly southern and, therefore, perfectly American is that an investigation by rational people
quickly got to the truth. The man had said nothing wrong. The word “niggardly” is a perfectly good word, the offended employees
were told. It comes from the Scandinavian word
nygg
and predates the African slave trade. And guess what: The guy
still
lost his job.
To D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams’s credit, the victi—er, “fired person” in this case was offered a different city job, but some
black Washingtonians complained regardless. “I still find the word offensive, I don’t care what it means,” one D.C. resident
said. Keith Watters, former president of the mostly black National Bar Association, raised the possibility of a conspiracy.
He was quoted in the
New York Times
asking, “Do we really know where the Norwegians got the word?”
Now flash-forward to a story in the
Sacramento Bee
in2001. Robert Pacuinas appeared before the city council to oppose red-light cameras being used to ticket drivers. He believed,
as many other citizens did, that these cameras were just another way for the city government to make money. “It is time to
call a spade a spade,” Mr. Pacuinas insisted, “and acknowledge that the city wants these cameras because they increase revenue,
not safety.” When his three-minute comment period ended, he received this reply from City Councilwoman Lauren Hammond:
“You… made an ethnically and racially derogatory remark and I hope you think about what you said…. It is not appreciated.
It is no longer a part of modern English. The phrase just isn’t used in good company anymore.”
The remark at issue was “calling a spade a spade.” Councilwoman Hammond, who is black, went on to tell reporters, “It’s an
old racist analogy and I’m sick of hearing it. This is 2001.”
Ms. Hammond claimed to be the victim of racism, which is hardly news. But Mr. Pacuinas, hardly a member of the White Anglo-Saxons
Club himself, was simply unwilling to be labeled as such. He went to reporters, who then went to Ms. Hammond, with irrefutable
evidence that the phrase “calling a spade a spade” was nearly five hundred years old and had everything to do with gardening
and nothing to do with race. Mr. Pacuinas had not been speaking about race, he said nothing about race, he had implied nothing
about race, and everyone present agreed that the only color he referred to in any way was the red in the red-light cameras.
The accusation of racism was totally and utterly false.
To which Ms. Hammond’s reply was, essentially, “So what?” She argued that since she felt like she was a victimof racism, she was entitled to be viewed as a victim, regardless of the facts. For good measure, she added that she still
considers “niggardly” to be derogatory. “Any word that has that base word refers to black people, the darkest people on earth.”
Once you untether victimhood from the realm of reality, who knows where it will float next? Will Mexican Americans boycott
the makers of Spic and Span? Will gamblers be tossed out of politically correct casinos for welshing on a bet? If Councilwoman
Hammond ever called the Maryland Smoke Nazis “morons,” would that be a case of the pot calling the kettle black? And if it
is, am I allowed to say so?
For the existence of these and other questions, you can thank the American South. We invented the idea that offended people
have no duty to be rational. If white-supremacist Southerners can be victimized by black citizens claiming nothing more than
their right to vote, then any group anywhere is entitled to ruin the fun for the rest of us.
There’s no end to the examples of the spread of southern-style
with a limited vocabulary—did not recognize the word. Worse, they assumed the guy said something all-too-familiar. They complained,
and the literate worker was summarily fired.
What makes this incident so perfectly southern and, therefore, perfectly American is that an investigation by rational people
quickly got to the truth. The man had said nothing wrong. The word “niggardly” is a perfectly good word, the offended employees
were told. It comes from the Scandinavian word
nygg
and predates the African slave trade. And guess what: The guy
still
lost his job.
To D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams’s credit, the victi—er, “fired person” in this case was offered a different city job, but some
black Washingtonians complained regardless. “I still find the word offensive, I don’t care what it means,” one D.C. resident
said. Keith Watters, former president of the mostly black National Bar Association, raised the possibility of a conspiracy.
He was quoted in the
New York Times
asking, “Do we really know where the Norwegians got the word?”
Now flash-forward to a story in the
Sacramento Bee
in2001. Robert Pacuinas appeared before the city council to oppose red-light cameras being used to ticket drivers. He believed,
as many other citizens did, that these cameras were just another way for the city government to make money. “It is time to
call a spade a spade,” Mr. Pacuinas insisted, “and acknowledge that the city wants these cameras because they increase revenue,
not safety.” When his three-minute comment period ended, he received this reply from City Councilwoman Lauren Hammond:
“You… made an ethnically and racially derogatory remark and I hope you think about what you said…. It is not appreciated.
It is no longer a part of modern English. The phrase just isn’t used in good company anymore.”
The remark at issue was “calling a spade a spade.” Councilwoman Hammond, who is black, went on to tell reporters, “It’s an
old racist analogy and I’m sick of hearing it. This is 2001.”
Ms. Hammond claimed to be the victim of racism, which is hardly news. But Mr. Pacuinas, hardly a member of the White Anglo-Saxons
Club himself, was simply unwilling to be labeled as such. He went to reporters, who then went to Ms. Hammond, with irrefutable
evidence that the phrase “calling a spade a spade” was nearly five hundred years old and had everything to do with gardening
and nothing to do with race. Mr. Pacuinas had not been speaking about race, he said nothing about race, he had implied nothing
about race, and everyone present agreed that the only color he referred to in any way was the red in the red-light cameras.
The accusation of racism was totally and utterly false.
To which Ms. Hammond’s reply was, essentially, “So what?” She argued that since she felt like she was a victimof racism, she was entitled to be viewed as a victim, regardless of the facts. For good measure, she added that she still
considers “niggardly” to be derogatory. “Any word that has that base word refers to black people, the darkest people on earth.”
Once you untether victimhood from the realm of reality, who knows where it will float next? Will Mexican Americans boycott
the makers of Spic and Span? Will gamblers be tossed out of politically correct casinos for welshing on a bet? If Councilwoman
Hammond ever called the Maryland Smoke Nazis “morons,” would that be a case of the pot calling the kettle black? And if it
is, am I allowed to say so?
For the existence of these and other questions, you can thank the American South. We invented the idea that offended people
have no duty to be rational. If white-supremacist Southerners can be victimized by black citizens claiming nothing more than
their right to vote, then any group anywhere is entitled to ruin the fun for the rest of us.
There’s no end to the examples of the spread of southern-style
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