Title: Soledad O’Brien lectures ‘naive’ journalists ‘thug’ is the new ‘n-word’ – you can’t use it Source:
[None] URL Source:http://www.bizpacreview.com/2015/05 ... -n-word-you-cant-use-it-201375 Published:May 5, 2015 Author:Carmine Sabia Post Date:2015-05-05 03:58:23 by out damned spot Keywords:thug, n word, Soledad O’Brien l Views:1166 Comments:6
Controversy over the use of the word “thug” in the wake of the Baltimore riots continued Sunday with former CNN host Soledad O’Brien weighing in to claim the word has racial overtones.
“I can’t think of a situation where there’s ever been a headline or someone has called a white young person who’s in the middle of a violent protest, demonstration, whatever, a thug,” she told guest host Frank Sesno on “Reliable Sources.” “We use it all the time when we’re talking about people in the inner city.”
Sesno pointed out that no racial connotation s given in the dictionary definition of the word and that the word was also used by President Obama and Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake.
“Doesn’t necessarily mean that they don’t have a specific agenda in how they’re using it,” she said. “Richard Sherman who — plays for the Seattle Seahawks, he really said like, listen ‘it’s the new n-word,’ and I think that’s true.”
She added that the word “thug” doesn’t accurately describe events.
“I think there’s violent protesters, I think there’s peaceful protesters, I think there’s drunk protesters, I think there’s angry protesters. I think when you look specifically about how the word ‘riot’ is used, and the word ‘thug’ is used, it’s always used around people of color, specifically in an inner-city context,” she said.
“I can only comment on how I think journalists should think about a word that actually doesn’t have a lot of nuance and isn’t specific, but somehow seems to be used a lot when you’re talking about African-Americans.”
O’Brien repeated her comments on Twitter and was met with both support and opposition.
Thug is an old word from India and the British occupation there.
Thuggee or tuggee (Hindi: Nepali ṭhag+; Sanskrit: sthaga; Kannada: thakka) refers to the acts of Thugs, an organized gang of professional assassins.
The Thugs travelled in groups across India for six hundred years. Although the Thugs traced their origin to seven Muslim tribes, Hindus appear to have been associated with them at an early period. They were first mentioned in Ẓiy-ud-D+n Baran+'s History of F+rkz Shh dated around 1356. In the 1830s they were targeted for eradication by William Bentinck, Governor-General of India, and his chief captain William Henry Sleeman. The Thuggies were seemingly destroyed by this effort.
The Thugs would join travelers and gain their confidence. This would allow them to then surprise and strangle their victims by pulling a handkerchief or noose tight around their necks. They would then rob their victims of valuables and bury their bodies. This led them to also be called Phansigar (English: using a noose), a term more commonly used in southern India. The term Thuggee is derived from the Hindi word ṭhag which means "deceiver". Related words are the verb thugna, "to deceive", from Sanskrit sthaga "cunning, sly, fraudulent", from sthagati "he conceals". This term for a particular kind of murder and robbery of travellers is popular in South Asia and particularly in India.
Over time, thug seems to have become a generic term for members of a murderous organized crime gang.
