Off Topic Political Correctness

[Marvelo]

Marvelo -- you raise an interesting point.  I don't think your concerns constitute silly PC policing or shouting people down, which is what often bothers people about PC-ness.

 

It's also worth asking how everyone would feel if someone had told a story like the one Chz told, but with the N-word instead of the K-word.

 

Having said that, I think Marvelo should be careful about accusing others of malicious intent.

 

Fair enough Freeman. My concern is not malicious intent but that people are unaware or don't know how upsetting this word is to Jewish people or other words are to other minorities. Bottom line, treat people the way you like to be treated and be aware of how these types of words hit nerves and cause pain.

[spndnchz]

Your first point is well taken...

 

But as for the story in question, here's my point. This thread has introduced a new ethnic slur to many people, (including Chz) who may not have known it previously. If we keep using these type of words in public, on the web etc. we not only keep it alive to hurt groups of people, but we're passing it on to a new generation of people who will keep reviving the use for their own purposes. 

 

When you stop using a word, it dies out. There are English words like japes, bodikin, furbelow and many others that fell out of use  hundreds of years ago simply because people stopped using them. People need to stop using words like the one Chz used (even inadvertently) and other ethnic, religious and gender slurs need to die.   

 

There was no malicious intent or raising of some mighty racial sword intended Marv.

 

I was 7 years old when my Gramma used that word, she was 92. It wasn't a word that was "passed down" to my parents, or myself. It is however a word that I know the origin of and never use in my conversations.

 

It was used to illustrate a story. A story that shows the ignorance of past generations just like our children and their children after them will call you and I ignorant on subjects and/or words in the future.

[Marvelo]

There was no malicious intent or raising of some mighty racial sword intended Marv.

 

I was 7 years old when my Gramma used that word, she was 92. It wasn't a word that was "passed down" to my parents, or myself. It is however a word that I know the origin of and never use in my conversations.

 

It was used to illustrate a story. A story that shows the ignorance of past generations just like our children and their children after them will call you and I ignorant on subjects and/or words in the future.

 

Chz, Thank you for starting a stimulating and hopefully useful discussion with your story. I don't believe any harm was meant on your part. You may not know that antisemitism has made an enormous comeback in the past few years both in incidents both here and in Europe and in many posts I see on the internet. Increasingly, I see many people freely using words like this as comments to all kinds of discussions on different websites. Because i'm now seeing this pretty often i wanted to take this opportunity to let people know how offensive and hurtful this word is to Jewish people. Because this and many other ethnic/racial/gender slurs are now being thrown around the internet casually and not everyone may realize or care about their impact. 

[JJFIVEOH]

Fair enough Freeman. My concern is not malicious intent but that people are unaware or don't know how upsetting this word is to Jewish people or other words are to other minorities. Bottom line, treat people the way you like to be treated and be aware of how these types of words hit nerves and cause pain.

 

I'm pretty sure most here realize the maliciousness these words carry when used in certain contexts. I'm also pretty sure that ignorance plays a part in people that cannot use them without getting offended because the intent isn't there.

 

Political correctness is getting out of hand and people can't discuss, rationally, the topic of said political correctness because they either don't understand the lack of malicious intent in rational discussions or they're just that thin-skinned. 

 

How can we address the situation of bigotry and racism if we can't discuss it without people getting offended by every other word?

 

I've gotten into some heated debates with some people on here, but I generally give SS posters a great deal of credit by being able to differentiate. Maybe you should too. 

[nfreeman]

I'm pretty sure most here realize the maliciousness these words carry when used in certain contexts. I'm also pretty sure that ignorance plays a part in people that cannot use them without getting offended because the intent isn't there.

 

Political correctness is getting out of hand and people can't discuss, rationally, the topic of said political correctness because they either don't understand the lack of malicious intent in rational discussions or they're just that thin-skinned.

 

How can we address the situation of bigotry and racism if we can't discuss it without people getting offended by every other word?

 

I've gotten into some heated debates with some people on here, but I generally give SS posters a great deal of credit by being able to differentiate. Maybe you should too.

I see your point, but this is well overstated. Certainly it's possible to discuss bigotry and racism while still respecting others' sensitivities -- just as it's certainly possible that sometimes those sensitivities can be unreasonable.

 

In this case, I didn't agree with some of what Marvelo said, but I agreed with a good amount of it. The word he was focused on is indeed a highly offensive slur, and the context he noted of rising anti-semitism, both internationally and on US college campuses, is unfortunately quite prevalent. And while it's clear that no offense was intended, the story could've been told without using the specific word.

 

So it's not like Marvelo acted like some zealous PC policeman, or like we're unable to have a real conversation here.

 

These are interesting subjects, and pretty nuanced IMHO. A good starting point is to assume the other side has a legitimate reason to feel the way they do.

[JJFIVEOH]

I see your point, but this is well overstated. Certainly it's possible to discuss bigotry and racism while still respecting others' sensitivities -- just as it's certainly possible that sometimes those sensitivities can be unreasonable.

 

In this case, I didn't agree with some of what Marvelo said, but I agreed with a good amount of it. The word he was focused on is indeed a highly offensive slur, and the context he noted of rising anti-semitism, both internationally and on US college campuses, is unfortunately quite prevalent. And while it's clear that no offense was intended, the story could've been told without using the specific word.

 

So it's not like Marvelo acted like some zealous PC policeman, or like we're unable to have a real conversation here.

 

These are interesting subjects, and pretty nuanced IMHO. A good starting point is to assume the other side has a legitimate reason to feel the way they do.

 

You're right, I should have quoted this post. I did get the impression he was directing it at me. While it's not my idea, the term 'you' can be taken too many ways on an internet forum. 

 

This isn't about you personally. It's about your idea of the validity of casually using hateful expressions to put down other groups of people. This particular word that I and most other Jewish people find so offensive has hurt us for so many generations. I don't have to cite examples of other expressions or nicknames that put down other different groups. 

 

 

These aren't just words. These words are shorthand for ideas. Destructive ideas. These ideas are charged and have dimensions and histories of their own. By casually repeating this and other similar words to suit your everyday purposes, you and others are also giving life to very dangerous ideas that are very destructive to people.