Steve Kagen Gaffe: “Injuns” versus “Warriors”
Via Sykes Writes, the fact that a Democratic congressional candidate (running in Wisconsin’s 8th district) excused his being late to one event by saying “Our excuse, uh, in Oneida was, well we are on Injun time. They don’t tell time by the clock. Our excuse here is I’m a doctor and we’re never on time.”
Referring to American Indians as “Injuns,” of course, is the sort of thing that has to be viewed as derogatory and offensive. Especially when Indians are portrayed as being unable to be on time because “they don’t tell time by the clock.”
But more interesting to us is the question: is there outrage in the American Indian community at this slur?
Apparently not. One of Sykes listeners asked a local TV station in northern Wisconsin whether they were going to run a story on the gaffe, and they got this response.
But these same “tribal spokespeople” claimed to be sorely offended at the fact that Marquette University was considering changing the nickname of its athletic teams back to “Warriors.”
By any reasonable standard you honor a group when you name your team after them. By any reasonable standard, you demean a group when you say that they can’t tell time.
But political correctness has nothing to do with reasonable standards. Being “offended” has nothing to do with objective offensiveness.
Rather, it’s a tool to be used by activists to bully people.
But they only want to bully certain kinds of people.
They are – and they know that they are – clients of white liberal elites. They are the pets of the liberal elites, and if they play the game the way the white liberals want, they get rewarded for doing so (with lucrative gambling monopolies, for example).
So they don’t use the race card against their patrons.
Referring to American Indians as “Injuns,” of course, is the sort of thing that has to be viewed as derogatory and offensive. Especially when Indians are portrayed as being unable to be on time because “they don’t tell time by the clock.”
But more interesting to us is the question: is there outrage in the American Indian community at this slur?
Apparently not. One of Sykes listeners asked a local TV station in northern Wisconsin whether they were going to run a story on the gaffe, and they got this response.
From: “FOX11 News”So a tribal spokesperson “was not personally offended.”
Sent: Monday, October 23, 2006 9:39 AM
Subject: RE: Story Idea
Thanks for writing. We are aware of the comment referring to “injun time” it was not a reference to any one person.
A spokesperson for the tribe said she believes he was trying to be funny. She was not personally offended, and she is a member of the tribe.
We are considering a story.
Brian Kerhin
Assignment manager
WLUK-TV Green Bay
920-490-1407
bkerhin@wluk.com
But these same “tribal spokespeople” claimed to be sorely offended at the fact that Marquette University was considering changing the nickname of its athletic teams back to “Warriors.”
By any reasonable standard you honor a group when you name your team after them. By any reasonable standard, you demean a group when you say that they can’t tell time.
But political correctness has nothing to do with reasonable standards. Being “offended” has nothing to do with objective offensiveness.
Rather, it’s a tool to be used by activists to bully people.
But they only want to bully certain kinds of people.
They are – and they know that they are – clients of white liberal elites. They are the pets of the liberal elites, and if they play the game the way the white liberals want, they get rewarded for doing so (with lucrative gambling monopolies, for example).
So they don’t use the race card against their patrons.
posted by John McAdams at 3:23 PM
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