No, this is not an apology or some kind of admission. Rather a candid editorial from the entire Staff of the Chicago Tribune:

It’s hard to come up with an ethnic slur that has less of a sting than “whitey.”

[...]

I’ve got to ask, though. Are there really white people out there so ignorant of history (ed. – they’re seriously asking this question), so unaware of the nuances of language and so threatened by minority grievances that they take genuine umbrage at the term “whitey”?

More a taunt than a threat, the word has no ugly history and hints at no particular stereotypes.

The Staff of a major metro newspaper is arguing that it’s cool to call people “Whitey”? Blackie and Darkie are unavailable for comment but I have a sneaking suspicion that if they were around that they might have some choice words on the subject.

It may have been hurled in a menacing fashion in ugly personal confrontations from time to time, but it’s never been used to keep a people down, to put them in their place, to rank them as subhuman.

What the Chicago Tribune is missing out on is that it’s okay for me and my townhouse crackers to call each other Caucasians when we’re hanging at the Wal-Mart, the gun range, or in the line at the bank that always moves faster than yours but that it’s not okay for other people to.

Much like good credit and a two parent household, it’s a white thing. The Staff of the Chicago Tribune wouldn’t understand.

Obligatory “Kill The White People” video.

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 15th, 2008 at 4:49 pm and is filed under Old Media, Race. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.