I know I’ve mentioned this before, but I hate award shows. Most of it, in my opinion, is a bunch of beautiful people verbally licking and sucking each other. Alas, even though I protest every year, there’s always some drama that ensues that will force me to pay attention to all the self-congratulatory masturbation that ensues and continues up until the next media fellatio. By now you might be wondering why I’m using all the sexual references with respect to the Oscars. Seems silly doesn’t it? Almost as silly but a lot LESS disgusting as the tweet The Onion farted about Quvenzhané Wallis, the darling of “The Beasts of the Southern Wild” calling her a c*nt. Yes. A c$nt.

” @TheOnion: Everyone else seems afraid to say it, but that Quvenzhané Wallis is kind of a cunt, right?#Oscars2013 “.

Can somebody PLEASE tell me how an 11-year-old girl and the c-word can even  go in the same sentence, even in jest? Never mind that The Onion promptly deleted the post after the dung storm that shifted in their direction–it’s too late. The tweet had been screen-shotted and retweeted hundreds of times so there’s no way to deny it or wish the 21-year-old intern forced to work on a Sunday had just never been born. News of the tweet is gaining traction on all sorts of news sites, and for good reason–there is absolutely no justification for calling a nine year old child the c-word. NONE.

And while the c-word can unfortunately be applied unilaterally to females of all races and creeds, the application of the word toward an innocent little black child should give you pause. In fact, pause: Can you think of any other little child actress who was called one of the worst words you can call a GROWN woman? I’ll wait.

Couldn’t think of one? Me neither. The reason Quvenzhane was called that word boils down to something quite simple. Black girls and women make easy targets because, well, let’s face it–not too many of our men are running to defend our honor. But it’s not just the black guys, it can be anyone. Black girls and women are often abused and unprotected by their own and ignored and “othered” by everyone else.

Look, I’m as keen on satire as the next person–I use that technique on a daily basis on this blog. But writers, critics, performers, artists, politicians, and Onion interns need to keep children off limits. Because chances are Quvenzahne will catch wind of this and inevitably take it in. Let’s hope she’ll spit it out, rather than swallow it whole.