"That's Just the Way I Talk"

Of all the things you say to a police officer of another color, is using a racial epithet really the best idea?

Remember the story of a Halloween Broad Channel scuffle, between some youths and cops: The police got upset that an unmarked cruiser was egged and questioned people; some youths reacted badly (one jumped on the back of a police officer), so the police started to use their batons and the residents basically rioted; the fact that one of the officers was black may have been an issue. Well, now the four white residents arrested in that incident have also been charged with bias crimes.

Seventeen year old Patrick Rich claims that he was using racial epithets to be cordial to Detective Marques Stewart, who is black. Court papers reveal Rich telilng the police, "I didn't mean n----r in that way, that's just the way I talk. I meant it in a friendly way." Now that is rich!

The Post adds that he apparently also called Stewart a "monkey f-----" and called a white officer a "n----- lover," though Rich now denies it. The Daily News reports him as saying, "I'm not racist, I have blacks in my family .... Do you think I'm that stupid to make those statements?" Well...

And coincidentally, Rich's late brother had been assaulted by Nick Minucci, who was convicted of a hate crime when he beat a black man with a baseball bat in Howard Beach. Minucci tried to claim that the n-word was just part of his vernacular.

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By Jen Chung in News on November 14, 2006 11:54 AM

Comments [rss]

exst

-njm

Teaching kids in school that racism is bad and whatever won't help the situation much. Racism is a part of life and you cant just teach it away. It will always be present in our society and the more you try to prevent it, the stronger it becomes.

I also agree with "Questions & Answers". Just go and stand next to a high school or junior high and count how many times the word n----r is being said. It's a part of popular culture now, so get used to it.

beatdown central

I suppose saying monkey fucker to a black cop is a good idea. Is that OK?

Questions & Answers

Have you ever heard a bunch of young kids talking, especially males? They always use words like that to each other. In the subway, on the street, at the movies, in stores, in the park, everywhere they congregate. I hear it all the time in NYC and the boroughs. The younger they are, the more you hear it. And no one bats an eyelash ever. Is it only shocking or wrong when you talk to a person of authority and use that terminology? Like it or not, that is how they address each other on a daily basis. If we want to get mad at anyone, it should be the parents who allow their kids to talk like this from a young age and think it's ok.

S.D.

"I didn't mean n----r in that way, that's just the way I talk. I meant it in a friendly way."?

Not the brightest light on Broadway, But I mean that in the Best way...

Max

Here's a tip- drop the vernacular when speaking to people who carry guns and/or can throw you in jail for 24 hours. Doesnt matter if you are white, black, or green.

njm

i am not so sure regulating people's thoughts is a good use of taxpayer dollars visavi the law. what if we improved schools, where people could learn that racism was bad, and not be punished for their beliefs we failed to teach against?

ed_Extinct

Racist white kids from Broad Channel?... what a friggin' surprise.

"monkey fucker and n----r lover" are part of their everyday vocabulary? of course it is, they're racist assholes.