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BDKJMU wrote:I don't have any problem with someone using this in the correct context. Of course if it had been a Republican, the lamestream media would have this as front page news, and the race baiters like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson would be coming out in droves asking for a resignation. Since its a donk senator, nary a peep...

"Sen. Sherrod Brown denounces ‘niggardly’ colleagues

It’s a word that has caused job-ending consequences in the past for politicians and others in the public eye because of its similarities to a racial slur.

However, that didn’t deter Ohio Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown from using it during an appearance on MSNBC’s “The Dylan Ratigan Show” on Thursday, to describe how he thought some of his colleagues were acting toward veterans.

“Of course we’re falling short,” he said. “There’s plenty of people, as you know Matt, in this Congress that will always send a blank check when it comes to spending money on defense, on war, but are a little bit more niggardly, if you will, on spending money on the actual veterans when they come home. And that means we don’t greet them well enough in terms of getting them the right testing when they’re back in Coshocton, or Cleveland, or Lima, Ohio.”
http://dailycaller.com/2012/03/15/sen-s ... olleagues/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

dbackjon wrote:Last time I can remember a politician using that word, was a dem in dc - and people there raised a stink.


Try again...

andy7171 wrote:

dbackjon wrote:Last time I can remember a politician using that word, was a dem in dc - and people there raised a stink.


Try again...

Yep. I think he got fired too. and there is no such thing as a republican in local DC gov't.

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 responseThe 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]