Blog #7

I found the video with Ta-Nehisi Coates to be very enlightening, and I found the examples he used to be very insightful. First off, Coates clarifies that words have no meaning without context. He uses the example of someone other than his wife calling him honey, and how it would be rude for someone other than his wife to call him honey. What Coates is trying to say is that the relationships between certain people exhibit different levels of understanding, especially when it comes to the way that people talk to each other. There are basic laws or guidelines when it comes to how humans interact with each other, and it should go without saying that it isn’t acceptable for white people to use the N-word, or someone that is not involved in the LGBT community to use the word faggot. His general argument is that all words do not belong to everyone, even if you think you “invented” the word.

I think one point that Coates made that really stuck out is that white people are conditioned to believe that everything belongs to them, which is sad to say but also true. Growing up in a society that is, for the most part, ran by white people, might lead white people to believe that they have a right to everything. For white people to argue about not being able to use the N-word is quite ignorant and stubborn, once you realize that colored folk have to go their entire lives not being able to say or do certain things, because of the society that we live in.

The discussion between Coates and Oluo is applicable to the learning in this class because of the education and information they provide given personal experiences as colored people. In terms of writing, the use of language is all about context, and this also applies to the points made by Oluo and Coates.