Adrienne C.
Apr 6, 2021

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This falls into the camp of easier said than done, though I absolutely get where you're coming from

That said, there is something to the idea of punching up vs. punching down. If a kid on a bike in Macedonia had called me n****r, I don't know if I'd laugh (though I could see that as a possibility), but I certainly wouldn't take the same offense to it as I would a grown man in America, or even a kid on a bike in America.

Everything really boils down to the echelon and where you fall. A kid in Macedonia has little influence over my life. That kid on a bike in America could someday be my boss or neighbor. I'd rather they didn't come into it with the idea that it's okay to call me that.

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Adrienne C.

Dominatrix of the written word. I write about writing, politics, race, money, religion, sex — hence the editor of The Third Rail