The clash over 'lash'

A gripe about the Chicago Skyway. Correspondence with readers on half birthday celebrations, undercover journalism and more.

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Eric Zorn is a former opinion columnist for the Chicago Tribune. Find a longer bio and contact information here. This issue exceeds in size the maximum length for a standard email. To read the entire issue in your browser, click on the headline link above. Paid subscribers receive each Picayune Plus in their email inbox each Tuesday, are part of our civil and productive commenting community and enjoy the sublime satisfaction of supporting this enterprise.

Another reason to detest the Chicago Skyway

Our Waze app told us that the Skyway would cut half an hour off our trip to Northwest Indiana on Saturday afternoon, but then we got caught stuck behind a car having problems with the toll gate. I snapped the picture below showing that a car in the lane to our right was also having the same problem.

Picayune Sentinel staff photo, June 15, 2024

We waited as cars behind us backed up — against the rules! — and tried to maneuver into other lanes. We ultimately did the same, and found ourselves again stuck behind a car that could not make the toll arm rise. Were the drivers at fault, not knowing their E-ZPass/I-PASS toll transponders had expired? Or were the E-ZPass readers or the credit-card processing alternates not working? Either way, no employees from the Skyway were on hand to resolve the matter quickly.

We finally made it through — our transponder worked perfectly —when our turn came, but the overall delay was about 10 minutes.

Whatever or whoever is to blame for this kind of problem, it signaled the need for the installation of open-road tolling as we have on Chicago’s tollways.

Here’s a sampling of reader response when I posted about this on Facebook:

Katie Dunn — My E-Z Pass works only intermittently. Makes the drive so stressful. And, no one seems to care to fix it.

Bonnie Lewis Prokopowicz — It’s ridiculous how often it happens! We travel on the Skyway a lot and I’d say we get stuck about half the time.

Jon Guiney — It’s glitchy. And it sucks. And I’ve been stuck twice in the two times I went that way. Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice … well, I should’ve known better. Never again.

Nancy Natow Cassidy — Very, very glitchy. In other words terrible! We have an E-ZPass and it works in Chicago and on the Indiana Dunes exit, but not on any of the lanes heading into or out of Indiana. It’a ridiculous system and they need to switch to open road tolling!

Phil Vettel — Horrible. Antiquated. A major annoyance from our backwoods brethren. Who TF still uses gates at toll booths?

Teresa Savino— We use the Skyway when going to Ohio and never have had a problem. And our I-PASS transponder is fairly old.

I put in a query about the idea of open-road tolling to the Skyway media office on Monday. Nothing yet.

Earlier in the Piayune Sentinel: “Skyway robbery: Auto toll will jump another 9% next month.” and “Your way is the Skyway.”

Notes and comments from readers — lightly edited — along with my responses

On my advice to avoid the word ‘Thug’

In last Tuesday’s Picayune Plus I issued an advisory — not an order! — to avoid the word “thug” because it’s come to be seen in some quarters as a racially loaded term. As a follow up, I will first offer more words from New York Times contributor John McWhorter, an African American linguist:

The days when “thug” meant only a ruffian or rascal are long past us; there is a newer meaning, more specific than the older one: thug 2.0.

Language change is not merely Old English becoming Modern English or new slang popping up. It involves words and expressions often straddling both earlier and newer meanings, such that designating them as meaning solely one or the other can shed more heat than light.

Now some letters:

Steven K. — McWhorter is a thinker for whom I hold the utmost respect, but he is completely off base on “thug.” There is no racial connotation to the word at all. It became one of the go-to terms for gangster rappers to describe their own, and it becomes racially charged because of that?

Ken Bissett — I refuse to stop using the word thug to describe someone who acts like a hooligan, i.e. “Former president Trump is a thug.” If you think it’s racist, that’s on you. It’s time to fight back against these self-appointed word police.

C. Pittman — When teens behave criminally in beating and robbing people, we should be able to call them thugs no matter the color of their skin. The fact that Tupac can use the word in glorifying "Thug Life" but now the word is off limits to anyone else, even when describing criminal behavior is a step too far. It just sends everyone to their corners and further stifles communication.

Joanie Wimmer — Reading comments by a lot of white people about how they should be able to continue to use the word “thug” and how ridiculous the “word police” are leaves a bad taste for me. When you are informed that a particular term is offensive to others, especially people in a minority group that is the object of discrimination in our culture, why would you insist on continuing to use the term?

Peter Zackrison — Joanie says that when you are informed that a word is offensive to a particular group, you should stop using it. I think you need to look at the basis for that statement. When someone declares the use of a common word off limits in all situations with very limited proof, I tend to ignore their requests. So we have Eric Zorn, a white, middle-class guy, telling us not to use the word “thug,” a common word and applied to a variety of people based on their behavior.

Zorn — I'm not telling anyone not to use the word "thug." Use it all you want. It's a free country. And the word doesn't offend me. I'm just telling you and other readers that it's pretty widely considered a racist term and you should brace yourself for some unwanted and unintended blowback should you use it to describe a Black person.

Jake H. pointed to the “thug” entry at Merriam-Webster online:

The word's original and ongoing use to refer to criminals is still very much present in the culture at large, however, and use of thug by a white person to refer to a Black person is generally understood to lack the nuance the word carries when used by a Black person, and to instead be an offensive insinuation that a Black person can be assumed to be engaged in criminal behavior.

Half birthday observances roundly rejected at the click poll

Last week I quoted @SCbchbum angrily tweeting, “Half birthdays are not a thing!” and asking if you agreed. A huge majority of you did:

But here are some views from the 11%:

Lemonola — Half birthdays have long had a place in our family. My husband was born on his brother's birthday. His mom instituted half birthdays so that each kid got his own day. He only got one birthday but he didn't have to share. We did the same with our daughter born two weeks after Christmas. The weather is crummy and everyone is partied out. We marked the day in January but the celebration and gift giving were in July. She preferred it that way.

Mark Renz — Half birthdays can only be celebrated by those with January birthdays. This way we do not have to endure sub zero temps and/or a snow storm to get to the party. They simply invite us to a BBQ and we enjoy the day in July! Any birthdays from Jan. 1 to Jan. 10 should be celebrated at a Fourth of July/Birthday party celebration!

Kent Frederick — Half birthdays started when it dawned on teachers that kids with birthdays during summer breaks were left out of classroom celebrations. I can attest to that, as my birthday is August 6. Finding classmates for a party was tough, with family vacations, camps, vacation Bible schools, etc. A half birthday may also be a good idea when a person is elderly and/or seriously ill and may not make to a birthday. It allows family and friends to get together, possibly one last time, to celebrate with a person who may have little time left.

Margaret Benson — I don’t understand these curmudgeons who don’t believe in half birthdays. My mom always celebrated ours with half a cake. I did it for my daughters. We still acknowledge them with half a cake. No presents but a happy half birthday and cake lifts my spirits every time.

Jo A. — Our family has long celebrated half birthdays. Jewel Finer Foods sells half cakes, so that was always part of it. We’d get a pizza and ask that it be cut in half. I’d also do “ half” presents. For my girls this involved things like a half circle necklace or bracelet, or a crop top ( half a shirt) , or half a set of things such as pajama bottoms. It was creative and fun. Why not celebrate more in life?

Zorn — Note that, technically, your half birthday is not the same day of the month six months later. As the online half-birthday calculator notes, it “is not necessarily a birthday plus 6 months. It gets messy because of leap years and the fact that months don't all have the same number of days in them.”

My birthday is Jan. 6, for instance, and my half-birthday is July 8.

Should reporters be able to lie to get a story?

I wrote in defense of undercover journalism, which has gone out of fashion in American media.

Ken Bissett —I am conflicted about investigative journalists pretending to be someone other than who they are, especially when asking leading questions phrased so that the responder can simply agree. The public figure may offer a bland agreement just to end the conversation and avoid engaging in a controversial discussion. Maybe the solution is release of the unedited audio/video. At least then the reader can make their own judgment as to how true or misleading the responses are. I am thinking of the deceptive video editing done by the dishonest Project Veritas.

Steve T. — Twenty years ago I might have agreed that the reporter who secretly taped Supreme Court Associate Justice Samuel Alito crossed an ethical line by not disclosing her identity and purpose. Now? In a media environment where some of our most popular news outlets brazenly lie and mislead without accountability? Clinging to the well-intentioned norms of the past may get us nowhere in search of important truths. I’m fine with this reporter/activist because she didn’t hit and run, dumping her “get” without context. She published her full recording quickly, and she made herself available to multiple outlets who were free to critique her methods and motives.

Zorn— I agree that it’s key in such situations to make all the raw footage/audio available so that news consumers can put the findings into context. I don’t share the political leanings of Project Veritas and the editing of their findings has been misleading, but I admit they have discovered and exposed some things that officials would have preferred to remain hidden and that conflicted with their public statements.

Is it wrong for a Sox fan to root for infamy?

Michael Hanley — I’m a Sox fan pulling for them to set the record for most losses in a season, which would be 121, one more than the 1962 Mets. As Ed Farmer would have said: “History!”

Your focus on winning percentage as an indicator of the worst season ever is technically correct, but most-losses-ever carries bragging rights too, is slightly more attainable and easier for non-fans to understand (no math involved).

Zorn — I’ve received some notes and comments from readers who say I’m disloyal to root against the Sox, to whom I defected as a fan five years ago. I’m curious how Sox fans of longer standing feel and, for that matter, how Cubs fans are reacting to the terrible performance of their crosstown rivals. Do their hearts go out? Or are they busting a gut?

Thanks for Mary

Chuck Bagdade — Thank you, Lord, for Mary Schmich. What a treasure.

Thanks for listeners to ‘The Mincing Rascals’

This comment is from Cate Plys, a regular member of “The Mincing Rascals” podcast panel:

The live Mincing Rascals podcast recorded last Wednesday at Winter’s Jazz Club turned out to be a blast, which I didn't expect as someone who hasn't been on a stage since the last time I graduated from something. I'm guessing many listeners are Sentinel readers so just wanted to say thanks for making it so much fun! Next time (since they seem to be talking about a next time) I would be ready to just enjoy it and hope to get to mingle more with everybody who came out.

Word watch: ‘Lash’

For the background on this post, consult “National podcast gets to the bottom of the most Oak Park story ever” in last Thursday’s issue. In an update, “Blocked and Reported” podcast co-host Katie Herzog called attention to the side controversy that erupted on Facebook over the local weekly newspaper’s use of the word “lashes” in the above headline. Here are some selected comments from Facebook directed at the Wednesday Journal:

Susan Lucci — Painting our community members who hosted the event celebrating Palestinian culture as angry serves to reinforce the dangerous and harmful narrative of the angry Arab/Black/Latino. Not only the violence implied but also the reference to slavery. … Please consider the incredibly violent connotation of the phrase (and even its dictionary definition) and explain to me how “heated confusion” implies violence? … Your intentional unwillingness to listen and respond with a new level of sensitivity and regard is resulting in — if not directly causing — harm. I want to support local journalism but cannot tolerate this ignorance and arrogance. I encourage your entire staff to engage in Race Conscious Dialogues training immediately.

Caren Van Slyke --People of color have repeatedly told you that your word choice feeds negative, racist stereotypes. Since many of the commenters at the library board meeting were people of color objecting to racism, I think you need to take this critique very, very seriously.

Asra Syed — You say you spoke with a lot of people who demonstrated “anger, frustration, and heated confusion.” Is this really your definition of “lashing out”? Please consider the incredibly violent connotation of the phrase (and even its dictionary definition) and explain to me how “heated confusion” implies violence?

Meanwhile, here’s a counterpoint from that same Facebook page:

Joanne Parker — Google “lash out” …. (and) literally hundreds of headlines pop up, most of them referring to white men. … Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Medvedev, Azarenka, Billy Jean King, a thousand other sports stars. Lashing, lashing, lashing. So this lashing drama is just made up. … Saying it’s not used for white people is demonstrably wrong. There are certain people in Oak Park … who are going to (cry) racism about anything they just don’t like. It makes other Oak Parkers take you less seriously. Take racism less seriously, because (you’re) crying “Wolf!” at every tiny infraction you don’t like.

Lash meaning “to make a verbal attack or retort; to assail with stinging words” is, for the record, a perfectly common, dictionary sanctioned use of the word “lash.”

I remain interested in any factual rebuttal to the conclusions of the “Blocked and Reported” podcast related to this controversy.

Ya gotta see these tweets!

Here are some funny visual images I've come across recently on social media. Enjoy, then evaluate:

Vote for your favorite. I’ll share the winner in Thursday’s main edition.

Usage note: To me, “tweet” has become a generic term for a short post on social media. And I will continue to call the platform Twitter if only to spite Elon Musk:

There’s still time to vote in the conventional Tweet of the Week poll!

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Contact

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