Sometimes when I see someone doing a social justice freakout it makes me want to say something racist even though I do not really believe it. Not like a raging Karen n-bombing, just a little off color joke or comment to push back against a bully who cares more about forcing their will on other people than they supposedly care about the issue that got them upset in the first place.
Instead I try to remind myself that arguing with the mentally ill is pointless and cruel. They are suffering enough already and engaging them more than necessary only feeds their psychosis and makes me look like a dick.
Also there is still a real issue out there somewhere that is not being sufficiently addressed.
My mother taught me that using profanity, including racial slurs, is a sign of ignorance. If you can't think of anything more appropriate to say, then it indicates you have a limited vocabulary.
I was a really quiet kid growing up ...
I never "feel" like using racial slurs, because I was never taught to use them -- in fact, just the opposite.
I guess being raised in a very densely black community helped. You either avoid people different from yourself, or you learn to treat them like you want to be treated. As far as I could tell, skin color was the last thing I had to worry about. Bad people come in all colors, as do good people who just occasionally do bad things.
I've noticed the movies and music nowadays are full of things I would have never said around my house. That kind of exposure (bombardment?) of bad language teaches everyone, especially the young, really bad habits. Most of the time they aren't even aware they are doing it because everyone they hang out with talks the same way.
It's the "mouth like a sailor" syndrome. Sailors go out to sea for 6 months and come back using some form of "F#ck" every other word. It takes time and recognizing they are doing it to change the habit. It's why cussin' cups in offices work. Gotta get everyone policing our language to show us just how often we use it without even thinking.
I often grin when I hear celebs talk about BLM, then think about the movies or songs they've put out displaying the exact thing they tell us not to do. But, it's "just show business", right?