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But Arkansas has pulled a series of plates after a complaint by a nice white woman who suggested the letter combination "NGR" looked like too much like a racial slur.
Alice Kunce says the plate she was issued struck her as offensive. She refused to hang it on her bumper.
The Arkansas DMV yanked the plate series after the complaint that NGR looked like the N-word. ...
Apparently, 17 versions of the plate are already on the street and a whole lot more will be trashed. Most states look at a list of license plates set to be printed to weed out offensive letter combinations that create terms like KKK, FUK, GAY.
Recently, WTF made a stir. 10,000 people in North Carolina were given the option to swap out their plates if they had the "WTF" letter combination. Cool license plate, unless you're a nun.
You gotta respect Arkansas' move to pull the plate, after all, it's not like it took a lot of effort to play it safe and sensitive. On top of that, Arkansas kind of lives with a historically bad rap in terms of race relations ( i.e. Little Rock Nine).
Some bloggers are blasting Kunce for being too sensitive. But maybe it was a good catch or just an example of some deep-rooted white guilt.
Before you judge, ask yourself, would you want those letters on your license plate?
It's kind of like those ink-blot tests psychiatrists use. Different people see different things. Some black folks CNN stopped were puzzled by the move, saying the license tag are letters devoid of any meaning.
Comments: (49)
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By: Tired of poor me attitude on 7/28/2008 3:36PM
You have GOT to be kidding!! What next, outlawing the word Coon hound? Renaming Nigeria it sounds too much like you-know-what. How stupid do you have to be to get on line with this idiocy?
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By: NOT PC on 7/28/2008 8:30PM
Deeprooted white guilt? You racist prick!
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By: nick on 7/28/2008 10:11PM
If you are a person of color, please help me understand something. A lot of you get mad when the "N"word is used by a white person, but why is it ok to use in hip-hop music or used among a lot of blacks in general? please explain this to me?
I will never use that word because it is so offensive, but I hear it used by a lot of African Americans to acknowledge another African American.
Why?
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By: Lynn on 7/29/2008 12:52AM
One reason your unable to comprehendj, is that because so many whites, you lump all blacks together as though we share one body,mind and soul. The truth is, most blacks don't use the "N" word. Rappers only represent a small selection of blacks that believe the word can be flipped, most too young or too ignorant to even understand what it means, and the pain behind the word. I was raised never to use the word, as were my friends and peers. There is a real seperation. Most middle and upper class blacks don't use the word and are deeply offended. Lower and poor blacks, are blacks that grew up in poverty, have seem to enbrace the word. How many blacks does the average white person have in their inner circle? unfortunately, what is portrayed on television and in rap songs, reflects on all of us and it's a real shame. When ignorant whites do stupid and unpopular things, you won't hear black people suggesting that all blacks do it.
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By: Lynn on 7/29/2008 12:57AM
OOps! I made an error! in my example, I was using an example of whites, not blacks. I would also like to comment on your statemnent that you hear a lot of blacks use the "N" word. How many is a lot and do you personally know them? A lot of whites use racist terms, but just because they do I don't think all white people are racist.
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By: nick on 7/29/2008 8:17AM
Hold on Lynn, I can see how sensitive it is to you. I was just asking a question because I really didn't understand. I said "a lot" I didn't say All African Americans used the word and to answer your question yes, I do live in an area where it's majority African Americans that live in the city. I hear the word used among the youth and truthfully, some adults say it to acknowledge each other. Hell, they hang around a few white kids that thinks it's ok to say it too. I don't know if they think it's cool to say it or not. I pulled one white kid aside and told him to choose his words some other way, I was told that "they don't care if I say it", I was shocked.
Lynn, I for one do not think ALL African Americans use the word or accept it being used, I was asking a simple question. And yes, there are alot of whites I know who are just plain ignorant.
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By: kwabena de la sankofa on 7/30/2008 10:19AM
you are absolutely, positively 100,00% right--a slur is a slur, no matter how you try to paint it as a socially acceptable epithtet;
although it is deemed by many a case of making lemonade out of lemon peels, in reality it is but another failed example of trying to make sugar out of s--you get the idea;
the n-word was is and always was intended to be the worst racial slur ever invented--its apparent intracultural acceptance today is strictly based upon a marketing ploy--it sells in what passes for "underground" music today, because it is continually bombarded upon the gullable youth market by the few who control the entertainment industry we all know who they are, and ironically, they have never been known as equal opportunity employers, have they?
with education and time, hopefully that slur will fade away along with government-sponsored drugs like alcohol and cigarettes, pit bulls and their human offshoot, so-called "ultimate" fighting, and a host of other activities that continually reduces the state of the American empire to the Roman one;
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By: just say no on 7/29/2008 12:46PM
nick, it't not your business what word/words Black people use. just keep doing what you do, by not using the word yourself. I applaud you for not using the word, it's good for you health that you don't.
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By: just say no on 7/30/2008 11:55PM
Correction: nick, it's not your business what word/words Black people use. Just keep doing what you do, by not using the word yourself. I applaud you for not using the word, it's good for you health that you don't.
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By: Tiffany on 7/29/2008 1:50PM
I'm glad it wasn't a black person that complained about it because we'd get too many people saying that all of us are whiners. When in fact they have no idea what it's like to be an average black person.
They automatically think you're poor, angry, and a criminal.
Anyway, I guess the lady complained because she might think people will associate NGR for a racial slur and she doesn't want to be associated with that word. IMO, she would be OK with it if it were a black person with that plate.
I would love to have a WTF license plate however.
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