Gaffer Tape said:
Yes. You were ignorant. That's nothing to be ashamed of.
oh thanks. : (
Gaffer Tape said:
But it shouldn't be up to ignorant people to decide these things.
no, it should be up to reasonable people. I guarantee you there were alot or reasonable people that did not know what the word niggardly meant and incorrectly assumed it had something to do with the n-word. You'll no doubt disagree, but I believe it to be a reasonable assumption to make. Of course that doesn't mean its right to refuse to listen to someone trying to correct you or look it up in the dictionary.
Gaffer Tape said:
And if somebody has never even heard of this particular word before, why in the world would they immediately feel comfortable in assuming it has anything to do with that other word?
Oh, I don't know . . . because its spelled and sounds similar to the n-word?
Gaffer Tape said:
If something I didn't know anything about made me uncomfortable, I would immediately find out more about it to make sure I had a legitimate grievance before running up and making a fool of myself.
but not everyone is you, and David Howard should have known that.
Gaffer Tape said:
And I'll know you'll (rightfully) argue that this example has a much more common word, but having to "immediately explain himself" (which an innocent person shouldn't have to do) is silly. It would be like saying, "My pop, and by that I mean my father. It has nothing to do with the derogatory term for Italians." I mean, where does it end?
my answer to this is what you stated above, pop is a common word.
As for an innocent person having to immediately explain himself, he doesn't have to all. But if he doesn't, wrong or right he is asking for trouble. I would explain myself just to avoid the trouble, and because I wouldn't want someone thinking that I was some sort of racist.
Gaffer Tape said:
And then, of course, are the cases where teachers have been fired or asked to resign or issue apologizes for using the word in academia? Talk about shooting yourself in the foot! Teaching the word in schools is precisely the way to END the ignorance and avoid situations where people fly off the handle for no reason. But instead they succumb to the pressure and punish people for TEACHING, see, EDUCATING a purely innocuous word.
I'd have to know the details behind these firings and the context and exactly what these teachers said and did in order to render an opinion. But yes, sometime this sort of stuff goes too far.
Gaffer Tape said:
Sigh, I really hate political correctness gone mad.
I do too. We just disagree on whether this is a case of it gone mad or not.