FRANAMANIAC
Well-Known Member
The problem with that tho is to even be able to consider King Kong being offensive, black people being referred to as apes would have to be in the forefront of your mind. You really think that's the better way? There are thousands of different things that could be said that people could find offensive if they tried to connect dots hard enough. It's humanly impossible to dodge all of those landmines if given any amount of time.
Of course I have heard the whole black people are apes thing, but I'm sure there are plenty of things I've never even heard of before. How could I possibly be careful to not say things that could be connected to something I've never heard of before? Do I Google "every stereotype and racial slur ever invented" and study for hours and hours?
Well, there are studies of this sort of thing, various cultural studies courses as well as sociology. It's all out there available to be read too, by all sorts of academics over history.
Speaking frankly, I do think being aware of how words affect others and consciousness about class, race, sex, etc, is generally a good thing. My personal belief is that considering how what we say and do affects others, we can all move towards a place where we all live together in mutual understanding and just enjoy life.
And as far as unintentionally saying something you later find out is problematic/insensitive, you just learn about why it's considered as such, and try to apologize and move on, I don't think it really warrants a person being suspended or losing their job, like this situation.
Where it gets tricky is when it's harder to separate out intent from words/actions. Which is where I think a lot of the controversy from things like blackface comes from. It's not so much that I want to crucify people for doing something they truly thought was harmless, I just want them to learn why it does upset some people and apologize for it.
The conservative ideas of "f***you, got mine" and "I dont care if my words or actions hurt you" just have never really sat true with me.
Wow I never thought this would be the kind of place i'd type out a long form political reply!