Folks, this is something to think about and I hope those who use this word in casual conversation take heed. Read on and form your own opinion. Forward from a co-worker Chi Jaama Joe Sambou I received this e-mail from my sister in Chicago. If it's true this is ridiculous and outrageous!! Subject: White Student Let Off For Using 'N' Word Against Black Teacher Judge says 'nigga' not the same as 'nigger'. Davey D (EUR) (Mar. 18, 2002) A major WACK Award goes out to those who insist and continue to use the N word. Whether you spell it NIGGER or NIGGA, you still get the WACK Award. Weekend before last, the ridiculous logic of using this word came back to haunt us. A San Jose, California judge allowed a white student who committed a hate crime against his black female teacher off the hook. His defense reasoned successfully that the white guy did not commit a hate crime when he vandalized school property because he spelled the N word N-I-G- G-A and not N-I-G-G-E-R. Yep, the white guy used the "friendly" version of the word and got away with it. Dude wrote 'Thanks Nigga' and had an arrow pointed to the teacher's name. For those who are still shaking their heads in disbelief, here's what went down. A white student at a San Jose high school got upset with his African American teacher for suspending his white friend. In retaliation he spray paints a school wall with the teacher's name and the N word which was spelled N-I-G-G-A. The police were upset. The teacher was upset and the community was appalled. Dude goes on trial for this hate crime and his defense attorney brings in some witness to testify to the judge that there's a difference between the two spellings of the N word. The judge listens and lets the white dude off and says no hate crime was committed and thus a dangerous precedent is set. San Jose's Black Police officers association were extremely upset over the ruling. After all, they know all to well what this will lead to. Next time some cop pulls you over and hurls the N word he can get off by saying he said N-I-G-G-A and not N-I-G-G-E-R. Should you be careful before you file a racial harassment suit against a coworker or an insensitive boss? After all, he or she may actually be using the 'NIGGA' spelling of the word. I couldn't help recalling the speech that Minister Farrakhan gave at the most recent Hip Hop Summit in LA. He emphatically warned us, "If we keep putting something out there we will one day have to answer for it." This recent court interpretation of this hate crime and the use of the N word was proof. Think about it. _________________________________________________________________ Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: http://mobile.msn.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~