This is not a novel writing question, but a spoken word poetry question. I'm writing about how growing up in a small town, I was not exposed to any kind of minority for most of my life. I want to include the line "my hometown is so small(minded), that I knew what a 'raghead' was before I knew that there was more than one religion". As a white agnostic/atheist, is saying this overstepping a boundary, or is it okay in the context of the poem?
Including Slurs That Don’t Apply to You in Personal Accounts
Your audience is going to engage with that word. For some readers that might be like a punch in the face. When I read Agatha Christie and one of the characters comes out with blithe casual antisemitism, my stomach curls up even though the speaker might not be important or sympathetic.
So, we can’t tell you what to write, but we can tell you how some people will feel when they encounter it.
How about a line like “I knew slurs for other religions before I knew other religions even existed” (only, more poetic, obviously.)
–Shira
We’ve talked about the use of slurs in writing pretty extensively, and i’m both weary and wary of the several inquiries we receive that still seek exceptions (and this goes for all questions where something has been clearly stated as problematic).
You need to be very careful about including slurs that don’t affect you. Adding slurs for its potency or shock value is neither edgy or poetic to me; for the ones who face it and/or empathetic individuals, it simply hurts.
It is one thing for someone who is affected by a slur to speak of their experiences using said slur and taking charge of it in their work, but a whole different matter when one outside the slur’s target uses the word for the sake of “realness” art or gasps.
I don't see a problem with alluding to the slur, cluing in on what word we're dealing with, but I don't find it necessary to use it. Refraining use of a slur that doesn’t affect you isn’t censorship; it’s sensitivity and respect.
Sure, you hearing use of these slurs is technically your experience. However, having the experience as a “witness” to a slur is in no way the same as being a victim of the slur. It was never aimed to hit you and it’s crashing right in someone else’s face.
That’s why, as a rule of thumb, it’s best to let those who are affected by a slur (or experience) be the ones to handle its use and the depth’s of the discussion, and for those who are not, be as sensitive as possible and respect these individuals by not invading them with slurs (or topics you may not understand enough about) without their consent.
–Colette
