Logo
  • Home
  • Ask
  • Teen Help Network
  • About
    • About Judge Tom
    • Books
    • FAQs
    • Press Room
  • Your Rights
    • Crime and Punishment
    • Student Rights at School
    • You and Your Body
    • You and the Internet
    • Juvenile Justice System
    • LGBT Youth Rights
    • More Categories
  • Blog
  • Get Help
    • Videos
    • A Teenager’s Guide to Juvenile Court
    • Books
    • Research & Resources
  • Newsletter Signup

 

Q&A

Know your rights! Youth justice and juvenile law answers.

Askthejudge.info features regular updates from the news, important decisions from the nation′s courts, and online discussions with Judge Tom. Find out everything you need to know about youth rights, juvenile law and juvenile justice. AsktheJudge – Empowering youth one question at a time.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this site is made available to the general public and is not intended to serve as legal advice.You should consult a trained legal professional in your area for questions you may have about the laws affecting juveniles or any legal interpretations.

Copyright, 2014
Logo
January 1, 2015
Judge Tom
Blog
0

A double standard for the N-word

PreviousNext
racial harassment

Have you ever talked with your friends or parents about the “N” word? Do you realize the trouble adults have gotten into by saying “Nigger” at work or in text messages or emails? We only hear about the high profile cases where the user is fired or criticized in the press for saying the word. But African-Americans seem to get a pass when they say “Nigger” or “Nigga” whether they’re being funny or not. Watch a Spike Lee movie and you’ll get a sense of the casual or even endearing use of the term.

racial harassment

Photo by Elliot Brown

A federal jury in a recent case decided that, regardless of color, the N-word (it’s new politically correct spelling) is unacceptable even when coming from an African-American and directed at an African-American. Not one media source covering this trial spelled the word out – all refer to the word only as the N-word. We believe, in the interest of educating our youthful audience, that being forthright about what word we’re speaking of in the first paragraph is essential.

Rob Carmona co-founded STRIVE, a black employment agency in New York. Brandi Johnson worked at the agency and Carmona was her boss. According to testimony at trial, Carmona went on a four-minute tirade against Brandi regarding her workplace attire and behavior. His repeated use of the N-word upset Brandi. She testified that “I was offended. I was hurt. I felt degraded. I felt disrespected. I was embarrassed.” Carmona told the jury that the word has multiple contexts in the black and latino communities, sometimes indicating anger, other times meaning love. This wasn’t the first time Carmona verbally abused Brandi. Previous complaints about him went nowhere so she taped the 2012 rant against her by Carmona.

The jury rejected Carmona’s argument that the N-word is a culturally acceptable term of love and endearment among blacks. They decided that its use in the workplace was hostile and discriminatory. In September, 2013, the jury awarded Brandi $250,000 in compensatory damages and $30,000 in punitive damages.

What do you think of the court’s decision? Do you understand the double standard presented to the jury? Have you experienced this at school or work? Did the jury do the right thing even though the plaintiff and defendant were African-American or should there be a double-standard for use of the term? Why or why not?

We wrote about this in an earlier post regarding the N-word in American literature. You can see it here.

freedom of speech
Share this
Judge Tom

The Author Judge Tom

Judge Tom is the founder and moderator of AsktheJudge.info. He is a retired juvenile judge and spent 23 years on the bench. He has written several books for lawyers and judges as well as teens and parents including 'Teen Cyberbullying Investigated' (Free Spirit Publishing) and 'Every Vote Matters: the Power of Your Voice, from Student Elections to the Supreme Court' (Free Spirit Publishing). In 2020, the American Bar Association published "Cyberbullying Law," the nation's first case-law book written for lawyers, judges and law students. When he's not answering teens' questions, Judge Tom volunteers with the American Red Cross and can be found hiking, traveling and reading.

Find great resources in our

Teen Help Network


Leave A Comment Cancel reply