[Marxism] On the Use of the Word "Niggardly"

["David Altman" <altman_d@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Fred Feldman wrote:

"I remember that a discussion started off in the Militant staff because
someone used the term "niggardly" in an article.  A Black reader found this
offensive because, well, the first two syllables sound exactly like
"nigger."  The answer was to tell the reader sharply that the word was not
racist and to show from the Oxford English Dictionary that it had old
English origins.  And not only that, the Militant (this was a bit of Barnes
hysteria added to the mix) began to use the word "niggardly" as much as
possible (they were waging war at the time against political correctness --
the tendency of the oppressed who have become conscious and active to take
oppressed at various expressions of the existing situation)."

Did this happen a few years ago, during the flap in D.C. over a civil
servant's use of the word?  It's interesting that Barnes's behavior as you
recount it paralells EXACTLY the behavior that of the U.S. right wing at the
time.  They took a perverse pleasure in aggravating people, using the word
at every opportunity.

There was an anecdote that was related in the book "James P. Cannon as We
Knew Him," published shortly after his death. Cannon was speaking to a group
of Black workers in the late '40s and used the term in its original sense of
"stingy" or "parsimonious." The person who related the story reported that
Cannon received a cool reception after this and the Black comrade who was
chairing the meeting said afterwards, "Comrade Cannon didn't mean anything
by the word 'niggerly.'" Cannon was said to have been genuinely remorseful
and never used the word again.

Of course I agree with you that there's no point in using the word anymore,
regardless of its etymology or meaning.  The people who use it are just
provocateurs - or racists.

David Altman

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