Q:The minute you use a slur that doesn't belong to you is the minute you lose all credibility. The t-word is NOT okay for you to say. It doesn't belong to you.

shedler-deactivated20120822

(I’ve responded to this privately several dozen times, but as it appears to be of continuing concern, I’ll post this response.)

I didn’t use the t-word. I put the t-word in quotation marks. I quoted the word because using other words, like “t-slur” or “t****” or “t-word” would not make sense to many of my readers, many of whom are adults from the world of book publishing who probably learned today for the first time that the t-word IS a slur. (One good thing to come out of today, at least!)

I don’t use that word. I haven’t used that word. If you look through the millions of words I’ve blogged or tweeted or tumbled in the last 12 years, you will not find that word.

I treated that word the exact same way I’ve treated every other slur, from “kafir” to “slut,” on this blog and all previous iterations of it for the last decade, which is to use such words 1. only when quoting them is necessary to provide context, and 2. making sure to put them in quotation marks with clear attribution.

I understand that seeing the word is triggering to some people, but I didn’t see a way to have the conversation without making it clear which slur Laci used (and then years later apologized for using).

861 Notes/ Hide

  1. almostascoolasbeyonce said: I didn’t know what the t-word was until you mentioned it. I do not use that word, but I did not know it was a slur. You clarified the conversation, thank you. You’ve also been the voice of reason in what’s been going on, thank you for that as well.
  2. jasperseyes10 said: Don’t worry about it John, eveyone knows you didn’t mean it offensively :)
  3. tonedeafjesus said: what’s the t-word?
  4. wildshire said: John, you are my hero