Hi Selma & Cornel, I have not been following this thread in its entirety, but this one caught my eye. I claim no expert knowledge about the history of the semantics of racial groups, but I have a few thoughts on today's usage. I don't see the need to invent any new words. As you may have noticed, I have used the word "Black" instead of "African-XXXXX" before and I do so frequently, as I am not a stickler for political correctness. I even use the word "Chinky" while speaking instead of "Oriental" or "Asian".
Now while "Black" is not considered derogatory by all, "Chinky" is considered by them as equal to the term "Nigger". But as usual, a fellow Chinky can use the term. Note that "Oriental" & "Asian" does not include the Chinky-eyed people of Hawaii while "Asian" obviously includes non-Chinky races. Now I don't see any reason why we shouldn't call a fig a fig (the word "spade" replaced for obvious reasons!). Both, "Black" and "Chinky" refer to PHYSICAL characteristics rather than the REGIONAL roots that their politically correct counterparts refer to. My exception is to the MANNER or CONTEXT in which the words are used. If it is used in a derogatory sense, then I protest. In fact, even their politically correct counterparts can be used derogatorily, which I would then take exception to. I hope to see a future bigotless generation where we wouldn't have any qualms or insecurities about the semantics of racial or ethnic groups. In fact, I am already starting to see it. Cheers, Aristo. _______________________________________________ Goanet mailing list [email protected] http://lists.goanet.org/listinfo.cgi/goanet-goanet.org
