I am the poster who asked that the term "nordeast" be avoided. I tend to do this offline these days, but I have posted it directly to the list in the past.
I differ with my friend Andy Driscoll as well, who suggests it is PC gone berserk to ask that the term be avoided. Here's why. I, too, have family born in eastern Europe -- Poland. That includes my father, all my grandparents, most of my aunts and uncles; mother born here, but nearly all of her siblings were born abroad. Some of my fondest childhood memories are of the botched English we heard from our family and neighbors. It peppers our conversations to this day. A brief history: the term "nordeast" was, indeed, a term of endearment a couple of decades ago. It was a nod to our brave ancestors who left everything behind to come here. They learned English as best they could, worked hard, sent us snot-nosed kids to school (many to college), built the schools, churches, commercial businesses and homes, and created the communities we still value today. The story is not unlike those of other ethnic groups who did the same. We were unique only in that we were the butt of ignorant remarks long after other immigrant groups were "accepted." But over the years, "nordeast" came to be associated with the "dumb pollock" characterization that prevailed among people who were totally ignorant of the rich culture of the eastern Europeans. Those of us who affectionately used the term "nordeast" found it twisted to demean those we loved, and we stopped using it. Some time ago, on this very list, may wrote to complain about the "Dago" sandwich at a local bar. A number of posters rightly criticized the term and added many others to the list of still-in-use-after-all-these-years derogatory terms for various ethnic peoples. They were right. It's time for them to go the way of the "Irish Need Not Apply" signs. The "pollock joke" craze has subsided, but it did a lot of damage to young people of Polish descent who knew nothing of the rich history of their grandparents or greatgrandparents and really believe Polish people are stupid. "Nordeast" should be relegated to the trash heap along with all the other slurs. Fran Guminga Bottineau, Northeast _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
