Read this. The students in question aren't intelligent enough to grasp the distinction between using a word and mentioning it. By their own account, the professor they want fired mentioned the word "nigger"; she didn't use it. May linguists no longer give an etymology of the word "nigger"? May historians no longer describe how the word "nigger" was used to degrade and humiliate black people? May philosophers no longer use the word "nigger" to illustrate the use-mention confusion? In all of the following, I am mentioning (referring to, talking about) a word:
- The word "nigger" has six letters.
- The word "nigger" derives from the Latin niger, meaning black.
- The word "nigger" can be used to degrade someone.
- I have never seen the word "nigger" on a bathroom wall.
- Huckleberry Finn uses the word "nigger" repeatedly.
- I grew up hearing the word "nigger" used.
- "Nigger" rhymes with "trigger."
- Black people, but not white people, may use the word "nigger."
- The word "nigger" gets 15.2 million Google hits.
- Any good dictionary has the word "nigger" in it.
I'm writing an essay on the word "nigger." It will be entitled "'Nigger,'" which is short for "The Word 'Nigger.'" One of my aims is to stop people from being stupid. (I'm a philosopher; remember?) By the way, I mentioned the word "nigger" many times in this blog post, including just now. I didn't use it a single time.
