Quattro wrote:KayDee35 wrote:PedroFlu wrote:
Never say never.
Agreed.
I understand that most posters here would be ignorant of the history of dominant groups describing minorities as animals and then treating these humans as such.
There is research into how these dehumanizing attitudes can make violence against the minority group socially acceptable. There is also research showing that some minorities receive significantly longer sentences for similar crimes. And women receive far shorter sentences than men do...
These outcomes are largely due to how we speak within our culture.
The well educated have been aware of these issues and have been making change. The poorly educated aren't aware of the issue because they have their own problems. And even if they were aware they are unable to comprehend it due to their limited cognitive skills.
I didn't like what Westbrook did. But I find describing him as a "wild animal" to be ignorant.
And the subsequent excuses and defense of this ignorant language are flimsy and unconvincing. They do nothing but demonstrate that the person is sorely lacking in knowledge and mental acuity. And sadly, those are often essential ingredients for change.
I like how you argue "words matter" but then proceed to call poor people and people who disagree with your point of view dumb.
I did not say anything about poor people. I did say something about poorly educated people, particularly those who participate in bigotry, often unknowingly. Those are very different groups.
People can disagree with my view but not about the facts and not about the research. And yes, I would call those who disagree with facts "ignorant." I mean, isn't that basically the definition of the word?
Anyhow, my main point is that language changes. And why not support positive changes in language and do away with the negative aspects of it? The way people spoke about women a few decades ago would sound uneducated to the modern ear. We learned to speak about women in better terms and that has been for the better.
Similarly, there is a history of speaking about black people in animalistic terms. The research has been done and can be found with a quick search. I think we can agree that that was a bad thing and resulted in negative outcomes. I am simply saying that we should be cautious of repeating those mistakes.
In the end, people are free to do as they see fit. I think being careful with our language is a small price to pay for building a kinder, more inclusive society that encourages everyone to do their best.
