Sociolinguistic Artifacts

Warning- strong language and frequent use of racial slurs. In this scene from the movie "Clerks 2", in which the characters discuss the use of racial slurs, specifically the term "porch monkey", reflects some of the different attitudes towards racist language in society. Randal (played by Jeff Anderson) plays the ignorant white man in the scene, and his attitude towards the other, outraged characters in the scene represents opposing ideologies that are present throughout society. Just like society as a whole, Randal is stubborn in his defense of the term "porch monkey", claiming that it's not racist, and that he can "take it back." At one point Randal describes his grandmothers racist remarks as "cute" and says "that's the way people talked back then", excusing racism as a social norm. Randal's friend and co-worker Dante (played by Brian O'Halloran) at one point says, "And even if it could be saved, you can't save it because you're not black." This statement is interesting because white people are notorious for being entitled when it comes to other races or cultures, whether it be Cinco de Mayo, or white people's use of African American Vernacular English. This scene sheds an interesting perspective on the issue of racism in the US and how some still view racism as an objective subject matter.