Today\’s quote – and it is a jaw-dropper – comes to us from CNN\’s Soledad O\’Brien.
Ms. O\’Brien, as a panelist on CNN\’s “Reliable Sources” today, gave us this fascinating bit of information about the word “thug”:
“(I) can\’t think of a situation where there\’s ever been a headline or someone has called a white young person who is in the middle of a violent protest demonstration, whatever, a thug. We use it all the time when we\’re talking about people in the inner city.”
Yes, Ms. O\’Brien actually said that. She actually said that, to her knowledge, the word “thug” is excusively used for “people in the inner city”, which I take to mean Black people.
I strongly urge Ms. O\’Brien to read Max Kutner\’s excellent piece at newsweek.com, in which he traces the origin of the word (Hindu) through to the present day – making note of the fact that it has been around for centuries, has never had a “Black” slant to it until recently, and that, when it did, the reason was hip-hop and rap performers who used it ongoingly to describe themselves and others in their culture.
Personally, I have used the word “thug” throughout my entire teen and adult life, to describe violent criminals. How many of us, for example have talked about mob thugs, Mafia thugs? I know I have. Does that mean I\’m anti-Italian? I have also referred to Bugsy Siegel, Abe Reles and Louie “Lepke” Buchalter as thugs, and as murderers to boot. Does that make me an anti-Semite?
Merriam-Webster defines a “thug” as a “brutal ruffian or assassin – no racial inference whatsoever. Just as I have used it for all these years…and, I\’m betting most people who read this blog have as well.
Have I used the term “thugs” and “street thugs” to describe the violent looters, thieves and arsonists who decimated Ferguson, Missouri last year and parts of Baltimore this week? You bet I have. Because those mobs were, in fact, acting as a bunch of thugs. The word fits perfectly.
I award Soledad O\’Brien Quote Of The Day honors because, by making that utterly absurd claim about Black ownership of the word “thug”, she has presented herself as either the most dishonest, the most obtuse, or the most politically correct/racially pandering woman on Cable news.
Taking into account how fierce the competition is, I feel at least that much recognition is in order.
