Columnist: Don’t be so quick to judge ‘hate speech’
January 5th, 2009Dallas Morning News columnist Steve Blow says the campaign against the word “retard” is doomed to backfire. An excerpt:
I was certainly aware of other terms in use these days. But I sure never thought “retarded” had become hate speech.
And I still don’t buy it.
In fact, in my estimation, the very use of terms like “hate speech” creates a kind of reverse prejudice.
Some people seem to delight in pouncing on the innocent terminology of others. Instead of building good will, they undermine it.
… we have to recognize that language changes slowly. And we don’t need to accuse anyone of hate speech simply for not using the latest lingo.
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January 6th, 2009 at 5:44 pm
Congratulations to him on meeting his deadline. His column really doesn’t say much, as far as I’m concerned. He doesn’t seem to make the distinction between a perjorative term and a descriptive one until he reaches the end, and then states the obvious, that it’s a matter of intent and usage that makes a word “hate speech” or not. Thanks for that insight. Bleh.