The subtext of these stories, which is almost never challenged, is that if someone uses (or is believed to have used) the only truly taboo word in the language, any level of violence against him and those around him is thereby justified.
I wonder when this notion worked its way into the collective mind?
It’s just a word. Why is its use considered worse than violence in response? Why don’t those offended by a word retaliate with words rather than violence?
Indeed
Remember Omar Thornton?
More generally than just that one word,
any sort of “dissing” of a young black man
is justification for at least a beatdown, if not a homicide.
That word is just the pinnacle of “dissing”.