Rami Ungar The Writer

The first comment I ever got on this blog–left by a good friend of mine, actually–said that the language used in the exerpt from Reborn City made the story sound authentic. I was flattered by this, but it also reminded me of something from years ago:

When I went to a Jewish summer camp in the mountains of New York, it was a hobby among the boys in the older years to swear. I could understand a little swearing here and there, boys will be boys, and even I swear occasionally (I’m from the Midwest, so what do you expect?). However, these boys were using words like a derogative term for gays and the N-word. They were actually calling each other these terms, as if they were nicknames! And these were all white (and at least at the time I assumed) straight young Jewish males. Of course, I, who had been bullied in the past and was sensitive to prejudice, wanted my friends to stop, and several times asked them and the adults to make the swearing stop. No matter what happened though, they said these awful terms, ignoring the fact that if a black man or a gay-rights group heard them using these terms, they’d be in a lot of trouble.

However in Reborn City, I use plenty of bad words, and even a few racial ones in one chapter. These boys would call me a hypocrite if they read my novel. So what do I say in my defense? I use the same argument that they use for The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: those words were used not in a mean way, but in an artistic way, to reflect the culture of a certain place and age. So too, do I use swear words and even racist terms to reflect the culture of Reborn City (though the latter I only use once; I had to read a passage from Huck Finn out loud once and choked on the N-word. Imagine what it was like having to write it).

And to all those people who use those words recreationally, not to be mean but to be funny or cool, I suggest you stop: you’re only hurting yourself and all progress to eliminate racism and prejudice.

Tell me what you guys think about this.