Use of N-Word Leads to Suspension in Florida
Today’s burning question: I am an African American firefighter. I used the N… word in a meeting and a coworker reported me to the fire chief. Could I be in trouble? I mean, its not like I was using it intending to threaten, belittle or intimidate someone. I mean… I am African American myself.
Answer: You could indeed be in trouble… You won’t be the first nor likely be the last to be penalized for the use of that derogatory term… and in our upside down world of political correctness your race or your intent does not seem to matter a whole lot!!!!
Fire Marshal Kevin Jones has been suspended for 10 days by the Jacksonville (Florida) Fire Rescue following a complaint by a co-worker that he used the N-word when discussing plans for an upcoming concert.
Fire Chief Martin Senterfitt ordered the discipline, and was quoted by Jacksonville.com as saying “Any use of the word in the workplace needs to be addressed. … It’s absolutely inappropriate in the workplace.”
Chief Senterfitt also said the complaint against his Fire Marshal surprised him. The department is currently facing three suits over race discrimination.
A few years back, while living in Michigan, I complained to a supervisor about a black co-worker using the same term. The coworker used a variation of Jones’ argument: “I’m black so I can use it any time I want.” I pointed out that I still found it highly offensive, and told the sup I was going to follow through on the complaint. The twit co-worker told the HR folks that blacks could use the word at will; HR showed the guy the door.
Andrew – these things can and do get nasty.
When using a word as racially charged as this, the utterer’s race or intent SHOULN’T matter. If I as a white can be fired for using it regardless of intent, then African-Americans should also be fired for using it regardless of intent. To claim otherwise would be to set acceptability guidelines that depend on the person’s race… which, by definition, are racist. I can’t think of a different example, so say firefighters sued if non-firefighters called them “jakes.” Let’s say a large minority of the departments in the country have been sued because bosses called the FFs jakes. Let’s say further that the command-level authorities across the board have said “calling FFs ‘jakes’ is demeaning, insensitive, hostile, and threatening.” What, then, gives the FFs the right to refer to each other as jakes, if no one else can?
And on the “N-word” — which is a term that is almost as offensive — have you HEARD how often blacks use it among themselves? If they can, why can’t we? More to the point, if we CAN’T, why can they?
The whole discussion gives me a headache…