Jason Whitlock published a terrific column today at FoxSports. Link and excerpt below, then come back here to discuss if you want to.

Blacks must do more to promote self-respect — Jason Whitlock

Gay people have enough common sense and self-respect to fight against damaging, dehumanizing slurs.

We don’t, black people.

You are 100 times more likely to hear the N-word tossed around on a basketball court or football field than any gay slur.

Kemba Walker, who is black, won a national championship in April and dropped a “damn n—-a” on Jim Nantz’s live CBS microphone as he prepared to be interviewed. America laughed. Nantz never batted an eyebrow. There was no controversy.

We accept it. Worse, we expect it. Our self-hate and disrespect are cultural benchmarks.

For those of you who know me only as a byline, I am neither gay nor black, so I don’t have a horse in this race. That said, I completely agree with Whitlock’s overall point here.

I also particularly related with Grant Hill’s sentiment as expressed in the article. Hill recently filmed a PSA about the use of the word “gay” and has apparently received a tremendous amount of backlash from a segment of his fanbase. Still, he proud to have filmed the PSA:

I’ve used those words in the last year or two. I can’t say that I haven’t. But being in the PSA is a way of holding myself accountable. Words have meaning.”

This has been my overall point all along. Words do have meaning. And while I despite political correctness that inhibits our ability speak honestly and freely, I also believe that loaded words with hate-filled historical contexts should only be used with utmost of discretion, not flippantly tossed about as general nouns in a pejorative sense. That’s not “honest” communication; it’s at best lazy and at worst purposeful hate speech. This is why I have not had too much of a problem with NBA coming down harshly on Kobe and Joakim Noah for directing the word “faggot” at an official and a fan, respectively.

And if I admit and acknowledge that, I have a hard time then rationalizing passive acceptance of the use of words “nigger” or “nigga”, as they are so often used today, for the same reasons that Whitlock brings up.

I’m curious what everyone else things about this and am happy to discuss with any and all who want to comment. A few questions to get things going:

1. Does focusing so much on use and misuse of words like “gay” and “faggot” and “nigga” inhibit our ability to have honest, open communication?
2. Should leagues like the NBA be in the business of legislating speech, as they have done with Kobe Bryant and Joakim Noah?
3. Is Jason Whitlock right that blacks should follow the lead of gays in not tolerating language that is offensive and degrading?

Thoughts appreciated below. It’s a topic I find fascinating.