Comment We're using racist terms and don't even know it (Score 1) 413
All these comments saying things like this is Orwellian nonsense, fascist, or "not a big deal," not racist because it's not referring to people, people being offended and butthurt
The explanation is really simple and explains a lot of these comments. Racist terms and usage are so ingrained in our language and culture that we don't even KNOW we're being racist. I understand people being defensive, but you're still defending using racist terms EVEN IF BEING RACIST IS NOT YOUR INTENT. And I'm willing to bet most of the people with these comments are not minorities.
Just because your intent is not racist, doesn't mean the terms aren't. I'll give an example: I was in another country for a funeral. I was talking to a very old man who knew the deceased about living in the US. The country is very homogeneous so he didn't know what it was like living with large populations of a different race. He could barely speak English and used a racist term asking about the black population. He didn't have racist intentions, but that doesn't mean the language he used was ok. I corrected him and explained the term to him and he apologized, saying he didn't know.
We're so used to the terms being commonplace and being accepted as not offensive, that we've become ignorant to their overall meaning. So it's easy to defend its continued use. As a minority myself I'll admit even I'm guilty of it. But this language change is good.
“When a person tells you that you hurt them, you don’t get to decide that you didn’t.” - Louis C.K.
