[nfb-talk] To Be or Not to Be, Irritated

Sat May 10 14:12:18 CDT 2008

Dewey, I don't know that I've heard of anyone going to jail over use of a
racial slur--I've heard of anything a person does to indicate race was a
factor in a crime, particularly a violent crime, adding on to the sentence
under hate crime laws.

Some words just should not be used.  They aren't helpful to society, no
matter who is saying them.  Racial slurs tend to be among them.  Just
because people are not (as) offended when a person uses a racial slur
applying to their own ethnic background doesn't mean they should.

Thinking about these things in terms of they can say it and we can't is
just wrong thinking.  It's the same thing I've been talking about in other
(more topical) threads this week--we should do the right thing, whatever
that happens to be, and encourage others to do the same.

Joseph

On Fri, May 09, 2008 at 05:43:35PM -0600, dewey bradley wrote:
> In allot of cases, you will go to jaill for useing the so called N word.
> So maybe we should make It a hate crime to use words that make blind people 
> look dum.
> Black people can call a white person all kinds of names, but that's OK, but 
> my point Is that We make It a crime to talk bad about some groups and not 
> others.
> 
> And I'm shore that this Is going to come out wrong, but there you go.
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "David B Andrews" <David.B.Andrews at state.mn.us>
> To: <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, May 07, 2008 1:01 PM
> Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] To Be or Not to Be, Irritated
> 
> 
> > Joseph:
> >
> > There are of course abuses of politically correct language!  However, as a 
> > part of change you first have to get people to say something even if they 
> > don't believe it.  The rest may come later * it may not, but it definitely 
> > won't if they aren't using better words.
> >
> > There was a time in this country when virtually everybody used the N word 
> > to describe black people.  And ... the attitudes and prejudice were 
> > monumental.  And now, while the word is still used some, and prejudice 
> > hjas not been eliminated by any means, it is certainly less then when the 
> > N word was used as a matter of course.
> >
> > Getting people to say the right thing, even if they don't believe it at 
> > first, is just one of many steps in change.
> >
> > Dave
> >
> >
> >
> > David Andrews
> > Chief Technology Officer
> > Minnesota State Services for the Blind
> > 2200 University Ave. W., #240
> > St. Paul, MN  55114-1840
> > (651) 642-0513  Office
> > (612) 730-7931  Cell
> > (651) 649-5927  Fax
> >
> >
> >>>> tjosephcarter at gmail.com 5/7/2008 12:50 PM >>>
> >
> > David,
> >
> > Getting people to say the right thing is how we got person-first language.
> > That and every other politically correct alteration to vocabulary to refer
> > to the disabled in terms that don't connotate negative value judgments.
> >
> > We've gone through four or so revisions of politically correct language
> > and yet we still have the same attitudes.  I just read in a recently
> > published study a person with Autism described as having "stereotypic
> > behaviors such as hand-flapping and..." some others that don't come to
> > mind right now.
> >
> > Changing the words does not change people's attitudes.  At best it's a
> > band-aid.  The attitudes must change, period.
> >
> > Joseph
> >
> > On Wed, May 07, 2008 at 08:40:27AM -0500, David B Andrews wrote:
> >> There are lots of components to bringing about change.  First, we
> >> must sometimes change our own attitudes.  Then we have to get people
> >> to say the right thing, then believe it.  Changing public attitudes
> >> is there as is the legal aspect in some cases.
> >>
> >> The courts alone won't change things, but they are certainly a part
> >> of it.  We need the laws to support some things, but there are other
> >> steps too.
> >>
> >> Dave
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> David Andrews
> >> Chief Technology Officer
> >> Minnesota State Services for the Blind
> >> 2200 University Ave. W., #240
> >> St. Paul, MN  55114-1840
> >> (651) 642-0513  Office
> >> (612) 730-7931  Cell
> >> (651) 649-5927  Fax
> >>
> >>
> >> >>> ryano218 at comcast.net 5/6/2008 9:19 PM >>>
> >>
> >> It may be that we've got it all wrong. The ACB could have a point.
> >> Perhaps
> >> we should be turning to the courts to remedy more of our
> >> situations. God
> >> knows we're too much of a minority to do otherwise.
> >>
> >>
> >> RyanO
> >>
> >> "You can look the other way once and it's no big deal, except it
> >> makes it
> >> easier for you to compromise.  Pretty soon, that's all you're doing
> >> is
> >> compromising because that's how you think things are done."
> >> Jack Bauer - "24"
> >>
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> >>
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