In article , Janet Baraclough..
wrote:

The message
from zxcvbob contains these words:

Janet Baraclough.. wrote:

The message
from Darren Garrison contains these words:



I do not CARE if the word is offensive in some distant country in some
way that is not meaningful in my own country. I don't CARE if the
word "kaffir" is a slur against ethnic Bantus in South Africa, because
I'm never going to go to South Africa and am most likely never going
to meet a Bantu.


This is an international newsgroup with contributors from other
countries and many races.

Janet


But what is your point? No one here has said they were personally
offended, only *vicariously* offended.

My point is, that it would be polite for Darren to show a little care
for the feelings of other posters than himself; even if they live
somewhere else.

For the record, I am offended by the use of racist slurs.

Janet.

"All Japanese people have buck teeth & say 'so sahwee'" is a racist slur.
"All black people have smaller brains" is a racist slur. It doesn't take
words like Gook or ****** to be slurs, & I side with Lenny Bruce on this
issue entirely: You would EMPOWER words to do harm, then make the words
taboo. I would rob the words of power. It MIGHT be just two reasonable
approaches, but I suspect not; I think you're just wrong. You can make the
personal decision to personally not use words, but when you decide that
the speech of others is inherently bad because they don't share your
desire to FURTHER EMPOWER words by making them taboo, well, we should all
respect each others' choices I guess, but I do believe you do the greater
harm spreading the power of words to do harm instead of undermining that
power. Someone here said dyke is a bad word too -- it's not, it's a good
word, it is the choice of many dykes to call ourselves dykes. So too it is
the choice of many ******s to call themselves ******s, though at this
stage many of those same ******s believe I as a ****ing yid shouldn't have
the same choice. The issue may be complex, but what is certainly true is
this: When words are made taboo their power to do harm is increased.
Polite people are frequently the most racist on earth, but a vulgar mouth
like Lenny Bruce's, that was liberating for all people.

-paghat the ****ing **** of a ******-loving ratbitch hymie

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
See the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com/