Stop the Bullying!

[Dakotah]

There's no need to beat people up over political correctness.

To be respectful is now political correctness?

What he was saying was a shorter way of saying "it really boils down to what people think about black people as opposed to what people think about gay people". He used 'those' to combine both into one much shorter to type phrase, you suggesting he use the term 'gay people' actually changes the meaning of what he was trying to say. :x The word 'those' doesn't necessarily hold the connotation of being derogatory, it can easily just be used grammatically the way Mr. X used it, so I think you're kind of making a big deal out of nothing here.

I respectfully disagree. The term "those people" has been used historically as a way of describing a class of people in a derogatory manner. "Those people" has been used to describe those of the Jewish faith, those who are black or Asian or of East Indian descent. I suggest research those words and see how they were (and are) used to denigrate entire classes of people. Whether intentional or not, the use of those words is extremely offensive to anyone who has been subjected to discrimination. I have, experienced homophobic behaviour, including being assaulted by people who just happened to use those words when describing me and my boyfriend.

 

[Oryx]

I respectfully disagree. The term "those people" has been used historically as a way of describing a class of people in a derogatory manner. "Those people" has been used to describe those of the Jewish faith, those who are black or Asian or of East Indian descent. I suggest research those words and see how they were (and are) used to denigrate entire classes of people. Whether intentional or not, the use of those words is extremely offensive to anyone who has been subjected to discrimination. I have, experienced homophobic behaviour, including being assaulted by people who just happened to use those words when describing me and my boyfriend.

Yes, but there's a difference between it meant in a derogatory sense and it meant as a grammatical construct to make a sentence easier to understand. It's different than using the term "gay", where the meaning came from a derogatory definition, or using a word that's only meant to be derogatory. The phrase "those people" is not harmful in itself, and can be used in average conversation without necessarily meaning something derogatory. It is a phrase that you misunderstood to be talking directly about gay people, when I explained how it was not so the substitution of 'gay people' would have changed what he was saying. I feel like if he didn't mean it derogatory and it was not meant as "those people" = people that are gay as you seem to misunderstand it to mean, it's not on his shoulders to apologize for you being offended. I really don't understand the idea that "I know it wasn't meant in a derogatory sense, the phrase can be used in many different ways that don't imply a derogatory sense, but I'm going to be offended anyway and it's all his fault" tbh.

 

[Mr. X]

To be respectful is now political correctness?



I respectfully disagree. The term "those people" has been used historically as a way of describing a class of people in a derogatory manner. "Those people" has been used to describe those of the Jewish faith, those who are black or Asian or of East Indian descent. I suggest research those words and see how they were (and are) used to denigrate entire classes of people. Whether intentional or not, the use of those words is extremely offensive to anyone who has been subjected to discrimination. I have, experienced homophobic behaviour, including being assaulted by people who just happened to use those words when describing me and my boyfriend.

If I meant it in a derogatory manner, then I'd have used harsher words. That said, mountain out of a molehill. My words are said how I meant them, a shortened form of two groups of people that were in a post I was referring to.

 

[Dakotah]

I really don't understand the idea that "I know it wasn't meant in a derogatory sense, the phrase can be used in many different ways that don't imply a derogatory sense, but I'm going to be offended anyway and it's all his fault" tbh.

I guess you have to be on the receiving end of that type of discrimination to understand the harm it can cause, regardless of the context used.

 

[Oryx]

I guess you have to be on the receiving end of that type of discrimination to understand the harm it can cause, regardless of the context used.

I see it this way. If someone was arguing with me and condescendingly told me to get back to the kitchen, I would be offended. But if I was baking cookies and the cookies were burning and I didn't notice and someone else told me to get back to the kitchen to take them out, then I wouldn't be. Phrases that have general meanings other than the derogatory sense of them shouldn't be censored entirely from the English language just because one sense of them is derogatory. This is how it's different from the term 'gay' used to mean 'stupid', even if the person doesn't mean it as a slur towards gay people; in that word, the slur is heavily implied just by using the word to mean something negative. There's no way you can use the word 'gay' to mean 'stupid' without invoking that. But "those people" is different because in context it's not necessarily derogatory. In some cases, the people that feel like they might take offense will have to use context clues and find out whether the term is being used in a derogatory fashion or not.

Mr. X was not discriminating against anyone, or even stating an opinion on gay people. All he was saying was that religious people tend to treat gay people differently than black people. There was no harm. There was no implication that gay people are "those people", that wasn't even what the term referred to. I could understand how it could be offensive if someone used that term to specifically talk about gay people in that context as if they're so far removed from that person that it's that person vs. 'those people', but nowhere in what he said implied anything of the sort. Going through life being offended at instances of harmless phrases used in harmless ways because in another way they might offend someone seems like a life walking on eggshells for no good reason.

 

[FreakyLocz14]

I guess you have to be on the receiving end of that type of discrimination to understand the harm it can cause, regardless of the context used.

Mr. X isn't discriminating against anyone. It's political correctness to expect people to tip-toe around their words because it might offend anyone. It's genuine concern when the person is clearly intending to attack someone.

 

[c l e a r]

Political Correctness is another term for wishful thinking, it makes the issue less serious than it seems and it does not help anyone.

A radical antidote is required to cleanse the bigotry and selfishness accumulated in this life time.