| Posted: 25 June 2011 at 2:59pm | IP Logged | 4
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"If you still find some comfort using it to describe humans and want to argue about its legitimacy, ask yourself twice about such disposition." This is not about "disposition". "Race" is the word commonly used to describe "group-classification" in humans. We could certainly abandon it, but we do not generally abandon outdated, "un-scientific" language, do we? When was the last time you heard the word "sunrise" and felt the need to clarify that the person who said it was talking about the iniatition of the phase of the Earth's (approximately) daily revolution around its own centre when their specific location on the surface (with exception for the polar regions and their special circumstances) is exposed to the unreflected light emanating from the sun that the earth in fact revolves around (and not the other way around as the phrase "sunrise" suggests)? And when was the last time you heard the word "racism" and went "Excuuuse me! That's group-classification-ism if you'll be so kind." The word "Race" has been used badly, yes, but the rough classifications that have been called "race" are still useful in describing people, and especially in trying to keep a watchful eye out for racism. We can either continue to educate people that "Race" is merely a classification of physical appearance used to describe people and not a difference in the essential worth of human beings - reclaiming the word - , or we can find another word that we dump the useful 99% of the word "race" into and then re-educate the world into using that word instead. I know that it's very PC to say that if a word has been "tainted" and is being used as a pejorative, we should abandon it and find another, safer word that we have to use instead. But all that does is make language inaccessible. There is no word describing observable differences between groups that will not become a pejorative in the mouth of a bigot. There is no word describing the mentally challenged that will not become a pejorative used to describe people who behave like idiots (excuse the pun). Words don't become pejoratives because they are used wrong but because of how people feel about what the word describes when used correctly. The way to "clean" a word is not by using another word for it but by emptying the word of its negative content and reclaiming it for use. So despite your insinuations, I do not think that using the word "Race" in this context makes me a racist or an apologist for racism. I am well aware of the context and am merely using these terms to be specific and to make myself understood.
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