Quote:
Originally Posted by ryberg
I'm not sure why deepening one's understanding of other groups and letting that be reflected in your language is crapola. The answer to "it is Hispanic or Latino?" would depend in part upon who you're talking about. I mean, it's not "Latino" about people from Spain, right? Because they're not from Latin America. It doesn't seem to me to be too much to ask for people to make that distinction. And there's little to no worry about the other pairings you mention there, as far as I can see. I cannot remember a single instance of anyone complaining that about "white" v "caucasian," for example. Other terms are more appropriate in their subtleties in one context than another, for example "African American" if the origin of the people in question is part of the focus or if one wants to make sure that people of African descent but from other countries are not inappropriately included.
I actually agree with Roni on this one: complaining about political correctness is usually conservative code for "let's get our rocks off trashing those outrageous liberals." Much of this kind of reaction is by people too lazy or too ignorant or who feel too put upon to actually apply some thought and care to what they're saying or to others' feelings. That's my opinion, FWIW.
Steve
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Well, it seems you are defending the system which has erased half your son's identity. I don't really get your point. Do we need more "profiling" (you word here) or less? I have never like the misguided idea of lumping people into neat little categories. It has been a failure. This sort of politically correct attempt does more harm than good when it comes to "actually applying some thought and care to what they're saying or to other's feelings".
This whole idea began with the civil rights movement and people looking for ways to right wrongs. The concept itself may have been noble, but the results have not been stellar. Any gains made have been through one on one attempts at understanding each other, and not on some feeble governmental attempt. For me, this has nothing to do with an opportunity to bash liberals.
I just don't see the need to try and pigeonhole a person's ethnicity to the degree we are doing it. It's offensive to a lot of people, and not just liberals.