A note re: the gays and the blacks.... (from a jew)

[jakem]

It is a bit semantic, but it seems dehumanizing to categorize groups as 'the _______' without an acknowledgement of their personhood.


Consider going the extra mile, and typing out 'black people' and 'gay people' for example...


:hi:

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

1. Right on, my brother!

[I Have A Dream]

2. Hear hear!

:applause:

[JohnnyLib2]

3. Excellent point, thank you.

Rec. :thumbsup:

[Brewman_Jax]

4. Agreed!

[Marnieworld]

5. I was going to start a thread about this as well

I always hate it when I hear just "Black" or "blacks". I scream "Black MAN!" "Black WOMAN!" "Black person!" "Black people"

Using the word "black" or "gay" as a noun instead of an adjective is definitely a way to dehumanize a person. In most cases people are repeating what they hear but in many it is a deliberate way to make a person a thing. It's a whole lot easier to give a thing less rights or make it a target for anger.

It's a big peeve of mine. Glad to see that I'm not the only one. :hi:

[scheming daemons]

6. So... do we have to say "conservative people" and "Republican people" too?

Is calling them "Conservatives" and "Republicans" an act of "dehumanizing" them?


This thread is silly.


And silly PC stuff like this is what ends up ultimately hurting us. Please read more George Carlin....

[EastTennesseeDem]

10. No.

[jakem]

19. I disagree, you dumb fuck.

still think words don't matter?

Carlin knew this better than most.


I am not saying to tiptoe, just to acknowledge the humanity of others.

(no offense intended)


-------

(on edit, and No, it does not apply to repubelickings)

[scheming daemons]

20. At least you didn't call me "you dumb fuck person"...... I applaud you for that.

[jakem]

21. well that was the point, no?

'dumb fuck person' would not have that same slanderous feel!

[scheming daemons]

22. Oh... I disagree.... it would be just as slanderous, but take up 7 more characters...

Carlin was right..... the word "cripple" has a meaning, and it is not any more dehumanizing than "differently-abled person".

[Political Tiger]

23. "The Whites" and "the Straights"

You NEVER hear white people referred to as "the whites," nor do you ever hear heterosexual people referred as "the straights."

There's a reason for that. Think about it.

[scheming daemons]

26. Groups that are the dominant culture don't use names for themselves

In countries where white people are the minority, I wouldn't be surprised if the dominant culture referred to them as "the whites".

In Mexico, Americans are referred to as the "gringos". In Europe, we are referred to as the "yankees" or "yanks".


The culture that is the majority culture of a country doesn't usually have a label for themselves. But when they go somewhere else, they do.


Do you think that black people in Kenya refer to themselves as "blacks"? Nope. But I wouldn't be surprised if they had a label for white people.

[Political Tiger]

27. Yes, and that's the point, isn't it?

The dominate culture doesn't call themselves, "the whites" for instance, precisely because they are the dominate culture and they get to set the tone. Referring to the minority culture, as "the gays" for instance, is a way for the dominate culture to dehumanize, purposely or not, those not part of the dominate culture.

Hitler referred to the people of Germany as "the German people," while German Jews were simple "the Jews." This was done to make the Jewish people of Germany the "them" who were not part of the "us" (the German people).

Of course, I'm not saying everyone who refers to African-Americans and gay people as "the blacks" and "the gays" have anything negative in mind, but that is the message conveyed, at least subconsciously.

For instance, the right dreamed up the term "the gay lifestyle" to make being gay less equal to being straight. The purpose is to dehumanize gay people by making their lives less important or valid as the dominate people. You never hear the term "the straight lifestyle."

It's the same concept with the referencing of African-Americans and gay people as "the..." It, purposely or not, pits "them" (gays/blacks) against "us" (straight white people).

[scheming daemons]

28. I'm calling B.S.

Hitler didn't speak English .... please provide a link showing where he referred to the people of Germany as "the German people" and the German Jews as simply "the Jews".

I'm calling your bullshit. Show a link.


Show the German words he used, from ANY speech or writing of his... and the English translation.... where he uses the terms you said.



Hitler was evil incarnate, but you can't just make shit up to advance your point.

..and you're making shit up.

[Political Tiger]

32. You totally missed the point

But since you insist on using distraction:

"Since the outbreak of the French Revolution, the world has been moving with ever increasing speed toward a new conflict, the most extreme solution of which is called Bolshevism, whose essence and aim, however, are solely the elimination of those strata of mankind which have hitherto provided the leadership and their replacement by worldwide Jewry. No state will be able to withdraw or even remain at a distance from this historical conflict...It is not the aim of this memorandum to prophesy the time when the untenable situation in Europe will become an open crisis. I only want, in these lines, to set down my conviction that this crisis cannot and will not fail to arrive and that it is Germany's duty to secure her own existence by every means in face of this catastrophe, and to protect herself against it, and that from this compulsion there arises a series of conclusions relating to the most important tasks that our people have ever been set. For a victory of Bolshevism over Germany would not lead to a Versailles treaty, but to the final destruction, indeed the annihilation of the German people...I consider it necessary for the Reichstag to pass the following two laws: 1) A law providing the death penalty for economic sabotage and 2) A law making the whole of Jewry liable for all damage inflicted by individual specimens of this community of criminals upon the German economy, and thus upon the German people."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Hitler#CITEREFDawidowicz1976

"There were very few Jews in Linz. In the course of centuries the Jews who lived there had become Europeanized in external appearance and were so much like other human beings that I even looked upon them as Germans. The reason why I did not then perceive the absurdity of such an illusion was that the only external mark which I recognized as distinguishing them from us was the practice of their strange religion. As I thought that they were persecuted on account of their faith my aversion to hearing remarks against them grew almost into a feeling of abhorrence. I did not in the least suspect that there could be such a thing as a systematic antisemitism. Once, when passing through the inner City, I suddenly encountered a phenomenon in a long caftan and wearing black side-locks. My first thought was: Is this a Jew? They certainly did not have this appearance in Linz. I carefully watched the man stealthily and cautiously but the longer I gazed at the strange countenance and examined it feature by feature, the more the question shaped itself in my brain: Is this a German?"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Hitler#cite_ref-Kampf-vol1ch2_11-4

Now who's "making shit up?"

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

7. I don't know if I can do that since I consider left handed people 3/5 of a human being.

(Kidding I'm actually left handed) :+

[bunnies]

8. ah shuddap, whitey.

:evilgrin: (couldnt help myself) :hide:

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

9. The funny thing is that I'm actually a "brownie".

:silly:

[JuniperLea]

11. Heckuva job, Brownie!

:silly:

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

[JohnnyLib2]

12. Is this the ADHD thread?

:evilgrin:

[bunnies]

14. Wanna ride bikes?

:shrug:

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

16. So I told the guy "It's 50 bucks you fucking asshole".

What were we talking about?

[JuniperLea]

18. You betcha! It is now!

[No Elephants]

29. Only if we move from racial insensitivity to ADHD insensitivity. (ADHD = Change)

[bunnies]

13. roflmao!

took the words right outta my mouth! :spray:

[JuniperLea]

15. This reminds me of The Two Joshuas...

When my kids were all in elementary school, my best friend was a white woman who had married a Filipino, and had two kids... Sunshine and Joshua. My middle kid is named Joshua too. So, we're all over at their house one day, moms yapping and kids playing, when my daughter said, "Hey Josh. Let me have a turn. You've had the control a long time." To which her brother Josh replied, "I just got on here!" Daughter says, "Not you! The brown Josh!"

The moms had a good laugh, and we started calling the boys the brown and the white Josh... but my daughter got very angry about that. You see, white Josh isn't really white, he's pink! So be it... Brown Josh and Pink Josh... but then Pink Josh got mad about the pink moniker...

We moms sat back and kept our mouths shut as the youngsters figured things out on their own. Many suggestions were put on the table, and most were vetoed by one or the other Josh. They finally decided Josh T. and Josh P., or simply going by their last names, was the way to go. But the road between the initial discussion and the end decision was priceless.

Kids are so much smarter than adults in so many ways.

But as for this suggestion, I'm just going to avoid the whole mess. I'm tired of the PC bullshit, and I'm tired of being so oversensitive to all of it myself.

I'm not sure how it will all pan out in my mind, but the road will probably be very interesting anyway.

[Ian David]

17. Except when using SMS on your cellphone when you're limited to 120 characters per message. n/t

[jakem]

25. IMHOOK...

[mkultra]

24. im white and i like to be called Milky

[Withywindle]

30. Thanks.

It bugs me too. :hi:

[DonnaAT]

31. So true

We should see the world as a total - all people no matter which race, genda, sexual preferences or religion!
We all should live together in peace - isn't that what everyone want in the deap of his/her heart?

[DU GrovelBot]

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[ddeclue]

34. Does that cover Joe "the plumber" too?

:rofl: