I’m all for teaching the history of words, what instances they were used, and their purpose. I am against having the words come up on the playground and a kid having to gather up the courage to tell his class what that word means and makes him feel. It’s too much weight on an individual and, to be honest, puts the pressure right back on the one who the word was created to attack, label, and “otherize”.] *
^^I absolutely agree with this.
Going back to the OP, I don’t think first year students should be responsible for educating their orientation advisors about offensive language, even if the language is unintentionally offensive.
As Zekesima and JHS pointed out in post 3, the list is for orientation student leaders. (I’m endlessly fascinated we all keep posting on various threads after JHS explains the issue so clearly )
No one is required to be a student leader for orientation.
None of that language is banned on that campus.
No one is punished for using that language, except perhaps by social ostracism.
The point of the list is to assist orientation student leaders in helping make first year students feel welcome. After a week on this thread, I still can’t find any problem with the list, especially for student leaders at orientation.
If I still had kids looking at colleges, I would want them at the sort of colleges where student leaders for orientation have this sort of training.
Different strokes for different folks I suppose. There is a rather hilarious video called “Cholofit Workout” on Youtube that lightheartedly mocks gangster Mexicans. It was made by a Mexican guy too.
@fractalmastr:
The answer to that is that self deprecating humor by the group involved is okay, because it is meant to be humerous, much the same way that a black person using the N word or an LGBT person using the word queer has a very different context if someone else uses it. Jewish humor, around things like Jewish mothers, JAP’s (Jewish American Princesses), is famous for self deprecation as have Italian comedians.
@jrcsmom:
“You are so articulate”. I think that one is based on context, when said to someone who is black, it can come off as “wow, I found a black person who is articulate”, as if being inarticulate is somehow inate when one is black, or for example, if someone is Asian or Latino, as if to say “gee, you don’t speak broken English, amazing”, even if someone saying it means well, it can trigger unpleasant assumptions (and not surprisingly, given how many people out there see a black face and expect street English or seeing an Asian person or a Latino person and expecting broken English or a heavy accent).
I’ve been to countries/places where they make fun of political correctness. Where a professional soccer player of African descent had bananas thrown at him. Where a dark skinned woman wouldn’t be served in a coffee house because the locals thought she was dirty. Where someone would say “…he Jewed me out of it.” Where a boss would kiss his secretary on the mouth, against her will.
So when I hear that college kids – many of them still teenagers, and possibly raised by people who share Zakesima’s ideas about politeness (not even political, just, normal politeness) – I think to myself. We need lists of what polite people should – and SHOULDN’T say and do.
Because some still haven’t learned and then start silly (or provocative, take your pick) threads on public forums…
In other words, well done James Madison University. You’re doing what parents hope for, and spend major bucks for – you’re EDUCATING your students to be fully engaged, and culturally aware, young people.
@Zekesima - I guess I miss your point because i haven’t dictated to anyone how they should feel or whether or not they should be offended. I have only said it is my duty as a human being to err on the side of treating everyone with the same dignity as I would expect myself. And I strive to provide that respect to all people regardless of their backgrounds, political leanings, or whether or not I agree with them. Of course I don’t always succeed, and sometimes someone may be offended by something I didn’t consider or wasn’t aware of in their background or experience, but then I do my best to treat that as a learning experience and use it to try to be a better person.
@jcrsmom I appreciate that. I just don’t think we necessarily need to make a list of offenses to guide us to that. Not everyone will agree to the contents of such a list.
@katliamom So we’re back to Zekesima is a racist…Okay, folks, I tried. I will leave you to your safe space. I am obviously triggering too many people here.
This is ridiculous. @Zakesima where on earth did I say you were a racist?
Rather, I was showing examples of incidents that happen where there is no ingrained cultural and racial sensitivity. Where political correctness is a joke, and where that sensitivity is never developed as society changes. Where one person’s joke is another person’s assault (banana, unwanted kissing, unintended racial slurs.)
This used to be common in the US. (And remains common elsewhere.) Thank goodness it isn’t anymore. In part because people have stood up and said, this isn’t funny to me. Or to the person of color. Or to the Polish-American, the Muslim or the gay couple.
And thank goodness people and institutions, such as James Madison University, take measures to support this shift toward greater sexual, political and ethnic awareness.
To be honest, I am still confused what it is you are trying to get us to understand.
post #75
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On the one hand you are concerned with a mob enforcing codes, sometimes with violence. I agree with you that is wrong. On the other hand, you want people to learn what words are acceptable by the negative feedback the words produce,. To me this sounds like mob enforcement of speech codes.
To me, the ideas in those posts seem in direct conflict. What am I missing?
What ideas are you not able to discuss, and have folks listen respectfully, because of PC culture?
How is negative feedback to your statements different from negative feedback letting kids know not to use the N-word offensively?
The premise of the op was pretty clear, at least to me. That there’s a creep towards speech codes, and here’s a shining example of another camel nose. Good or bad? That there’s always creep in positional statements, after 20 or so pages, is pretty clear too.
And, that there’s grumbling the thread serves no purpose - since it isn’t changing any minds - suggests the premise has been defended quite well.
MODERATOR’S NOTE:
Closing. We’ve exhausted this topic and now it’s turned into a debate. College Confidential is not a debate society and nobody’s mind will be changed, as this discussion demonstrates.
