Off Topic · Chink in the Armor..... (page 5)
If there was a headline that said, "Niggardly Defense" accompanied with a picture of Patrick Ewing do yo not think that would be wrong and offensive and cause controversy. I think you would have to be naive to think that using that as a headline would not get you fired. I have never seen this word used in the context of sports but it seems that sports editors are extra careful in not using it.
"Controversies about the word "niggardly"
In the United States, there have been several controversies concerning the word "niggardly," an adjective meaning "stingy" or "miserly," due to its phonetic similarity to the racial slur
David Howard incident
On January 15, 1999, David Howard, a white aide to Anthony A. Williams, the black mayor of Washington, D.C., used "niggardly" in reference to a budget. This apparently upset one of his black colleagues (identified by Howard as Marshall Brown), who interpreted it as a racial slur and lodged a complaint. As a result, on January 25 Howard tendered his resignation, and Williams accepted it.[1] However, after pressure from the gay community (of which Howard was a member) an internal review into the matter was brought about, and the mayor offered Howard the chance to return to his position as Office of the Public Advocate on February 4. Howard refused but accepted another position with the mayor instead, insisting that he did not feel victimized by the incident. On the contrary, Howard felt that he had learned from the situation. "I used to think it would be great if we could all be colorblind. That's naïve, especially for a white person, because a white person can afford to be colorblind. They don't have to think about race every day. An African American does."[1]
It has been speculated that this incident inspired Philip Roth's novel The Human Stain.[2]
[edit] Public response
The Howard incident led to a national debate in the U.S., in the context of racial sensitivity and political correctness, on whether use of niggardly should be avoided. Some observers noted however that the "national debate" was made up almost entirely of commentators defending use of the word. As James Poniewozik wrote in Salon, the controversy was "an issue that opinion-makers right, left and center could universally agree on." He wrote that "the defenders of the dictionary" were "legion, and still queued up six abreast."[3] Julian Bond, then chairman of the NAACP, deplored the offense that had been taken at Howard's use of the word. "You hate to think you have to censor your language to meet other people's lack of understanding", he said. "David Howard should not have quit. Mayor Williams should bring him back — and order dictionaries issued to all staff who need them."[4]
Bond also said, "Seems to me the mayor has been niggardly in his judgment on the issue" and as a nation we have a "hair-trigger sensibility" on race that can be tripped by both real and false grievances.[5]
[edit] University of Wisconsin incident
Shortly after the Washington incident, another controversy erupted over the use of the word at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. At a February 1999 meeting of the Faculty Senate, a junior English major and vice chairwoman of the Black Student Union told the group how a professor teaching Chaucer had used the word niggardly. She later said she was unaware of the related Washington, D.C. controversy that came to light just the week before. She said the professor continued to use the word even after she told him that she was offended. "I was in tears, shaking," she told the faculty. "It's not up to the rest of the class to decide whether my feelings are valid."[6]
The student's plea, offered as evidence in support of the school's speech code, instead struck an unintended chord helping to destroy it. "Many 'abolitionists', as they now were called, believe that [the student's] speech, widely reported, was the turning point," according to an article in Reason magazine. An editorial in the Wisconsin State Journal addressed the student who complained, saying: "Thank you [...] for clarifying precisely why the UW–Madison does not need an academic speech code. [...] Speech codes have a chilling effect on academic freedom and they reinforce defensiveness among students who ought to be more open to learning."[6]
[edit] Wilmington, North Carolina incident
In late January or early February 2002, a white fourth-grade teacher in Wilmington, North Carolina was formally reprimanded for teaching the word and told to attend sensitivity training.[7] The teacher, Stephanie Bell, said she used "niggardly" during a discussion about literary characters. Parent Akwana Walker, who is black, protested the use of the word, saying it offended her because it sounds similar to a racial slur.[7]
Bell's union, the North Carolina Association of Educators, told her not to speak about the situation, so her son, Tarl Bell, spoke to the newspaper. Tarl Bell said his mother received a letter from the school principal stating that the teacher used poor judgment and instructing her to send an apology to the parents of her students, which was done. The principal's letter also criticized the teacher for lacking sensitivity.[7] The daughter of the complaining parent was moved to another classroom.
Norm Shearin, the deputy superintendent of schools for the district, said the teacher made a bad decision by teaching the word because it was inappropriate for that grade level.[7]
[edit] Mendocino County, CA incident
Dennis Boaz, a history teacher, sued the administrators of the Mendocino County Office of Education for defamation.
Mr. Boaz, who was bargaining for Ukiah schoolteachers, wrote a letter saying that the "tenor of the negotiation tactics of the district office has become increasingly negative and niggardly." The response was a memo from one defendant of the lawsuit that implied that Boaz was racist, and a letter cosigned by the other defendant and nine other individuals in the Mendocino County school system stating that Boaz's comments were "racially charged and show a complete lack of respect and integrity toward Dr. Nash, Ukiah Unified District Superintendent," who is black.
[edit] Other complaints
[edit] Economist magazine, 1995
In 1995, years before the incidents in Washington, Wilmington and Madison, The Economist magazine used the word "niggardly" in an article about the impact of computers and productivity: "During the 1980s, when service industries consumed about 85% of the $1 trillion invested in I.T. in the United States, productivity growth averaged a niggardly 0.8% a year." The Economist later pointed out with amusement that it received a letter from a reader in Boston who thought the word "niggardly" was inappropriate. "Why do we get such letters only from America?" the British magazine commented.[9]
[edit] Dallas Morning News
At some point before the Washington, D.C., incident (of early 1999), The Dallas Morning News had banned the use of the word after its use in a restaurant review had raised complaints.[3][10]
[edit] Old complaint
An article in McClure's magazine in March 1924 prints this exchange (although it may have been from a short story, making it a fictional complaint and an observation by the author of the potential for confusion):[11]
'A niggardly and disgusting habit,' I commented. ... 'Just lay off that "nigger" stuff after this,' warned Pete.
[edit] Acampo, California
On March 31, 2010, a billboard appeared along the frontage of the Hwy 99 freeway in Acampo, CA that referred to President Obama, the first black US President, as "niggardly". A smaller sign that read "Buck Ofama" (a spoonerism of "Fuck Obama") appeared under it.[12] The sign was placed among several billboards advertising a local coffee shop that was going out of business that week. The restaurant's owner stated that they were unaware of the Obama signs until contacted by a local news station. The sign was removed shortly after news reports about it appeared on local television stations.[13]
[edit] Broward County, Florida
One Broward County drug counselor has been fired and another suspended for an incident in which the word "niggardly" was used. A substance-abuse client filed a complaint saying a counselor called him "niggardly dumb" in a June meeting with two workers at a county rehab center. In an investigative report, the county's professional standards office found the workers, who are both white, engaged in "unprofessional, unethical and discriminatory" behavior.[14]"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Controversies_about_the_word_%22niggardly%22