“Whoa,” I said in shock and pressed pause on the audiobook I was streaming to my car radio.
I was listening to my audiobook, Nobody’s Fool by, Richard Russo. I like Russo’s dry humor, and so far, this book had been a pleasure to listen to. It’s set in Maine in the early 80’s. The main character, Sully, is a glutton for making bad choices. In his relationships with others, Sullly is coarse but likeable and respected. The voice actor portrays Sully with a rough gravelly “smoke a pack a day” kind of voice.
I was about 15 hours into this monster 24 audiobook when it dropped.
The “N” word.
I paused the book. Should I stop listening? I don’t want to listen to that word. The word was used by Sully’s boss to describe work that no one wanted. That’s not okay.
I thought about the character – in his sixties, coarse, gruff, hardened. I thought about the time – early 1980’s. Was that just how it was back then? Socially acceptable to say in certain circles?
I waited until I got to my destination and fast forwarded the book by five minutes. I figured I’d listen on and see if it popped up again. Now 20 hours in, no other occurrences. But it stuck with me.
Last night I wrapped up the book I was reading, Speak. With about 25 pages left to go I had another gasp moment. This time, though, our main character dropped the “R” word to describe a mistake, not a person. I flipped back to the publication date: 1999. I guessed the word was still commonly used in this inappropriate way.
Finishing Speak, I tossed it to the side and grabbed the next book on my nightstand. The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver. Twenty-five pages in and there it is again. Another drop of the “R” word this time to question a person’s intelligence. Publication date: 1989.
What brought the use, and I guess the acceptance to use these words to the forefront of my attention was from an article I read about Dr. Seuss. It’s an angry article, titled “People Nationwide are Celebrating an Overt Racist.” In the article I read that Dr. Seuss not only published kid’s books like The Sneetches, but also spent a lot of time publishing hundreds of racist cartoons and advertisements. The author of the article wants us all to stop celebrating him.
So, I did a Google search for these cartoons. Yep. They’re out there. If Dr. Seuss wasn’t a racist, he sure didn’t have any problem drawing like one. He certainly didn’t have any problem using the “N” word.
The first thing I did when I read or heard the words I didn’t like in my books was to check the publication dates or the time period the book was written about. Was that the social culture at that time?
But the author of the article makes a good point.
“That’s just how it was back then” holds no candle of righteousness or excusability. Racism was never okay.
I haven’t gone through the house and trashed all our Dr. Seuss books, like the article’s author did. I haven’t stopped listening to Nobody’s Fool, whose main character accepted a racial slur. I’m still reading The Bean Trees even though the “R” word was used.
The words affect me. I don’t like them. I can’t change the ones that have been written, but I can try and explain to my kids what they are and WHY they are not okay. How any word like the “N” word, the “R” word, “gay” or even “autistic” now used to describe someone or something in a negative way is wrong. How racist drawings and depictions are wrong. I’d like to teach them you can’t hide or ignore history. But you can hope to make change.
I’m so with you on these words. Its so important our kids learn the meaning and the significance. Sadly too few adults do the same.
I agree – when I went looking through the reviews of Nobody’s Fool (thinking someone would have given a “heads up! they drop the bomb on page….) and was somewhat surprised how so many people just overlooked it. I mean, I guess it had nothing to do with the book, and I still like the book, but for some reason I was shocked.
I have books in the attic that feature a little African boy and his Mother . They live in England and the illustrations make him look like something from the Black and White Minstrel show . No kidding! I grew up with these books but I didn’t grow up to be a racist and I never used the N word at any stage of my life. Nonetheless I will NEVER show these little books to my Grandson despite the stories being quite sweet and also entertaining. I just do not want to have to explain why the visual depiction of the central character is so wrong.
Yes! Dr. Seuss wasn’t the only one to depict other races in a negative way. I think Disney did too with a black face Mickey. I didn’t grow up to be a racist or use the “N” word either. But now, images like those do take a lot of explaining, you’re right, because the visual depiction of these characters are so wrong.
The little boy in the book was called Epaminondas. I cannot quite bringmyself to throw out the books. Perhaps they can later serve to give a historical perspective to a younger person.
I wouldn’t throw them out either. History may not have been right, but I don’t think we should hide it or ignore it. Just learn from it.
I agree with both of you that as wrong as it seems to us now and indeed is wrong, it is an important part of history and simply trying to eliminate history removes the opportunity to learn and improve. I am 62 and there are many things that I grew up with which are changing for the better. However, I can also tell you there’s still a lot of that negativity out there and people that refuse to change. All we can do is improve ourselves and teach those around us. Teaching awareness!
I don’t know what the R word is, but in England growing up in the 50’s and 60’s I only know one person, a doctor that wasn’t white. Such a polite man. I assume it was more prevalent in the states.
I’m sorry – for the past ten years I believe there has been a quest to put an end to any version of the word “Retard.” I don’t like word so was trying to avoid it, but I guess it wasn’t clear.
Unfortunately the word we heard was ‘simple’.
How was it back in the 80s? In 82 a couple of kids on my dorm hall wrote a note to the janitor in permanent marker that featured the n-word. The other 20 guy on the hall were disgusted and disappointed and they let it show. This was in Virginia. The n-word was clearly out of favor by then. Not long ago, I read Noir by Christopher Moore. The book was really racist. So much so, that Moore acknowledges this in the foreword. He says to stay true to the era, there was nothing he could do about it. I disagree.The word isn’t necessary, and no one needs to write a book perpetuating racial stereotypes. Dr Seuss? Sheesh!
That’s what I thought too – my book character is a sixty year old Vietnam vet in 1982 and I am trying to see if the word was justifiable for the character or the time – nah. Another word could have been chosen. I know, right? Google them – they’re pretty bad.
I’m 100% with you! It’s so shocking when someone uses any of these words. It causes a physical, visceral reaction.
They are part of our history and we have to accept it and do better.
I didnt know that about Dr Seuss. It brings up another thing I struggle with, separation of the artist from their work.
I swear it was like a knee jerk thing – my finger was on the pauses button so fast with a “No” in my head. I agree, it’s our history but let’s do better.
I know! I flipped through a few of his comics and was just appalled. They’re bad.
Yep, most of those words were common till recently.
I never associated any of them with actual conditions, colors, etc… only as generic insults that didn’t really mean anything specific beyond “I’m insulting you.”
That changed in the late 80s when I became friends with lots of gay men. But I was also involved in the gay community when the “took back” words like “queer” and “homo”. I laughed when they got mad when I proudly owned the phrase “fag hag”… they didn’t mind the F word but didn’t like me calling myself a hag. I still do, and try to hear the intent of words rather that the specific word. If you call me the C or T words with love, I’ll take it that way. Say them as an insult and I’ll make you rue the say you were born!!
A neighbor recently, repeatedly, said “midget” even though I kept using the preferred term, ittle person. I know he didn’t mean anything insulting but it still made my skin crawl cause. esp after I made such a point of not using that term!
Oh, yeah – that is another one that needs a good correcting. And I agree – any word said in an effort to insult someone is a word that shouldn’t be said.
I agree that you can’t excuse those past things because of the ‘times’. Because— you could find modern-day examples of things that you can imagine will be viewed in the same way, from the future. And if you asked people Today whether they thought they were right or wrong, they’d probably also say they were wrong.
In any given time there will always be a portion of the population who goes along with injustices, because it’s inconvenient to oppose them, or they’re not free-thinking enough, or whatever reason. And there’ll always be the ones who speak up against these things.
It is easy to imagine these instances of racism etc. coming from the more rigidly-thinking of a previous population. You could never hope to say for sure, but it’s feasible. E.g. if somebody from the future looked back, and tried to tell us how stupid the social-media election stuff was, for example, most people would agree. But enough people currently do go along with it, so it exists. Enough people ARE swayed by ‘fake news’, etc.
Another big one I can imagine— is the hyper-sexualisation of culture/society. Most people would currently agree this can’t be good, even if just at a gut level. But we differ on how much we actually go along with it, especially in the privacy of our own homes.
Racism etc were always equally bad (of course)— because you only have to think about the effect on the victims. And empathetic people always exist— and those people would’ve felt equally bad for those being discriminated against, across different times. Misery is always misery!
Good points!
Dr. Suess! We use his books so much to help kids read. He used sight words. I guess it means that we don’t need fancy words to show our intentions…the words are clearly wrong and I am glad they sound wrong. I wonder how many words we use are going to feel like this in a couple of decades.
But Dr. Suess. So sad.
I know! Dr. Seuss was a sad thing to learn. His books were, I guess are, such great tools to teach kids how to read. That’s a good point!
We can’t trash all books but they are a grim reminder of all that was wrong!
I agree with you, we can’t hide history but we can learn from it.
I grew up in the deep south and I heard the ‘N’ word a lot. My dad didn’t use it, but he didn’t object when someone did. Frankly, I didn’t know what one was… despite seeing a lot of black people. And, I never asked.
I thought it was pretty weird until I saw a movie where someone had the same gap in their knowledge… and, in the movie, he was black…
Oh, that’s interesting. I know I heard the word, but I am not sure where or by who. Someone had to explain it to me too.
Wonderful post and we still have such a long way to go (maybe more so now as it seems to have regressed in the last few years). I had no idea about Dr. Suess, and am going to share that knowledge with my friends and family, if they didn’t know either.
Thank you!
Yes, it’s so important to be empathetic to others. I have been debating how to write an argument I was a part of where the person (a potential partner) had lambasted everything I seemed to have done. And it hurt. Still does. And I’m aware I made mistakes, but it was a new situation for me.
When I read a book and encounter a derogatory name we now consider socially inappropriate or politically incorrect, I am reminded of how far we have come, although we still have far to go in so many areas. I see those offensive words as a reminder and a wake-up call. I lived through the days when a lot of those words were commonly used, and nothing was thought about it. Their use was so insidious and so common that most of us were not even aware of their insulting nature until someone pointed that out! Would you believe that when I graduated from college in 1973 my teacher papers from the state said I was certified to teach the “Mentally Retarded”!!? It was many years before I realized that I wanted to bury that piece of paper. Twenty years later, when I earned my certification in gifted ed, I was so relieved that my new state paperwork changed the old wording. We need reminders, I believe, so we don’t regress. Posts like yours offer that opportunity. But Dr. Seuss?? I never knew. Ugh.
I hear ya! My first job was with the Department of Mental Health/Mental Retardation. I am so glad they changed the name too. I know Dr. Seuss – Uggh!
I remember calling each other the R word in elementary school. I think your idea of open communication is great, because that is what makes my kids’ school environment so much different than mine. They are given lessons on acceptance and bullying, and have consequences if that goes on.
The lessons start in the home, and are reinforced there, I’m glad you’re sensitive enough to have that conversation with your kids. I don’t think we need to burn Suess books (my son said he thought The Sneetches was about accepting racial diversity), either; I think that sort of high-sensitivity-living makes us too anxious to talk in public.
I’m sure I used the R word when I was a kid too. We’ve talked as a family about the words we are not allowed to say and why. I didn’t tell the kids about Dr. Seuss, and we haven’t burned his books. The Sneetches was my favorite growing up and it is all about acceptance – which blew my mind that there are all these contrary drawings out there! I agree – I am sure there are people that are appalled that I haven’t thrown out my books, or stopped listening to my book. I prefer to just recognize history and expect change.
I’ve been a part of the disability community for so long that I remember when “handicapped” was the preferred nomenclature! Oh how fancy I felt as a kid correcting people who used the “r” word with, “Um, actually, people prefer handicapped.” And many did for a while! Anything but the “R” word!! Words change with the times (thankfully) and they will continue to do so. A good example for me was the re-introduction of the work “queer.” It had such a negative connotation for so long that when someone self-identified as such I felt like I had been slapped.
Words certainly have power and checking our understanding of the history and the current preference of the group affected makes all the difference doesn’t it? And it seems to change even faster with access to the internet.
This is such an interesting post – you have me really thinking!
Good examples! Words do change over times, and that is so true – checking our understanding of the history and current preference does make all the difference. Thank you!
You are doing an amazing job teaching your kids the serious truths of those words. We need more informed people with moral compasses.
Thank you!
Thank you for dropping by to the Campfire!