The following opinion is a continuing battle against the "never" tactic the well intended left has with certain words. Now it appears "Redneck" is a slur. Yes, it can be used as a slur, but lots of rednecks use it as a term of endearment. I saw on the news today a kid got scolded by his school for wearing a Duck Dynasty t-shirt and the use of the word "redneck".
Dumb Dynasty, my op/ed on the importance of CONTEXT of words. So a kid gets scolded for wearing a Duck Dynasty t-shirt at school. The offense wasn't that like all reality shows it is mind rot when kids should be learning math and science. No, what offended the school was the word "Redneck".
"Gay" is originally a french word meaning "happy", it went on to become a slur, but there are still tons of gay people who call themselves gay and have the word "gay" in their advocacy organization names. Any rap artist can tell you the difference between when a bigot calls a black person "nigger" and when they use it to describe buddies and loved ones.
Atheists get equated to Stalin and Po Pot and by virtue of not believing cannot have morals according to bigoted believers. "Atheos" the original Greek word merely meant "without god", and was not a moral judgment of the person labeled "atheos'. But theism since has demonized the word. Yet as an atheist I KNOW HOW to make the distinction between when a bigoted theist views it, and when my fellow atheist uses it. And I also joke with fellow atheists that we are "godless heathens".
Same can be said with the word "Jew". "Juden" is German for "Jew" and during WW2 Hitler and the Nazis used "Jew" to demonize Jewish people and justified a holocaust with that slur. But Mel Brooks used "Jew" his comedies and South Park certainly used it to poke fun of bigotry.
Same with the Washington Redskins name. The word "redskin" was invented by natives long before their oppression and did not start out as a slur. When the Boston Braves moved to Washington and changed the name to Redskins, the name was not used as slur to describe the team, anymore than I insult myself by calling myself an atheist or gays call themselves gays.
I think some well intended people do not understand that others KNOW WHAT CONTEXT IS and the difference between a slur and a term of endearment.
ALL WORDS have more than one meaning and can be used in different contexts to mean different things.
Dumb Dynasty, my op/ed on the importance of CONTEXT of words. So a kid gets scolded for wearing a Duck Dynasty t-shirt at school. The offense wasn't that like all reality shows it is mind rot when kids should be learning math and science. No, what offended the school was the word "Redneck".
"Gay" is originally a french word meaning "happy", it went on to become a slur, but there are still tons of gay people who call themselves gay and have the word "gay" in their advocacy organization names. Any rap artist can tell you the difference between when a bigot calls a black person "nigger" and when they use it to describe buddies and loved ones.
Atheists get equated to Stalin and Po Pot and by virtue of not believing cannot have morals according to bigoted believers. "Atheos" the original Greek word merely meant "without god", and was not a moral judgment of the person labeled "atheos'. But theism since has demonized the word. Yet as an atheist I KNOW HOW to make the distinction between when a bigoted theist views it, and when my fellow atheist uses it. And I also joke with fellow atheists that we are "godless heathens".
Same can be said with the word "Jew". "Juden" is German for "Jew" and during WW2 Hitler and the Nazis used "Jew" to demonize Jewish people and justified a holocaust with that slur. But Mel Brooks used "Jew" his comedies and South Park certainly used it to poke fun of bigotry.
Same with the Washington Redskins name. The word "redskin" was invented by natives long before their oppression and did not start out as a slur. When the Boston Braves moved to Washington and changed the name to Redskins, the name was not used as slur to describe the team, anymore than I insult myself by calling myself an atheist or gays call themselves gays.
I think some well intended people do not understand that others KNOW WHAT CONTEXT IS and the difference between a slur and a term of endearment.
ALL WORDS have more than one meaning and can be used in different contexts to mean different things.
