Spring Break
Letters to the Editor
Issue date: 5/21/08 Section: Forum
Response to Tuesday's Staff Editorial
Be aware of the history behind the title
I would be very surprised if no one has brought this to your attention already today, but the use of the phrase "The jig is up" was a most unfortunate choice for the headline above the Tuesday editorial.
The phrase has it origins in the American South under Jim Crow law and comes from language used during lynchings.
It refers to that part of the lynching where the victim was hung by the neck. The whiter perpetrators used the phrase when calling to other whites, telling them that the victim had been strung up. "Jig" was, and continues to be, a derogatory term for Black people in the American South. The name is derived from the death dance the victim performed as they strangled to death at the end of the rope.
It is especially unfortunate this headline should appear on Oregon election day, the day Barack Obama, a Black man, is likely to make history by winning the Oregon Democratic presidential nomination.
Your ignorance of American history and the English language does a disservice to OSU, bringing discredit to you, the editorial board of the Barometer, and the entire staff of the newspaper.
Steven Leider
Coordinator, Office of LGBT Outreach & Services
Be aware of the history behind the title
I would be very surprised if no one has brought this to your attention already today, but the use of the phrase "The jig is up" was a most unfortunate choice for the headline above the Tuesday editorial.
The phrase has it origins in the American South under Jim Crow law and comes from language used during lynchings.
It refers to that part of the lynching where the victim was hung by the neck. The whiter perpetrators used the phrase when calling to other whites, telling them that the victim had been strung up. "Jig" was, and continues to be, a derogatory term for Black people in the American South. The name is derived from the death dance the victim performed as they strangled to death at the end of the rope.
It is especially unfortunate this headline should appear on Oregon election day, the day Barack Obama, a Black man, is likely to make history by winning the Oregon Democratic presidential nomination.
Your ignorance of American history and the English language does a disservice to OSU, bringing discredit to you, the editorial board of the Barometer, and the entire staff of the newspaper.
Steven Leider
Coordinator, Office of LGBT Outreach & Services
Note: writers will not reply to comments.
Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 4
Dann Cutter
posted 5/21/08 @ 1:09 AM PST
Actually, the 'Jig is Up' traces its roots much farther back to a colloquial saying. Jig was a common term used in the 1700s, and a written instance of use can be found commonly in the 1780s. (Continued…)
JCastle
John Castle
posted 5/21/08 @ 7:51 AM PST
Actually Steven, "The jig is up" is not a racial term. If you took some time to do some research, you'd find jig/gig in this context has no relation to any racial terms (I will concede that jig can be short for jiggaboo, but not in this context, words can have different meanings you know, especially when slang is to be considered an actual word). (Continued…)
Concerned HUMAN
posted 5/21/08 @ 9:13 AM PST
The jig is up for racially hypersensitive and uncomfortable white guys like Steven,
What does a disservice to OSU, Steven, is constant overreaction to terms or actions clearly not meant to offend. (Continued…)
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