The “funny” thing about bigotry in general is that folks who are just against the “others” without really investigating said others tend to stereotype and over generalize. “Muslims” become a “race” because these same people tend to believe Muslims can be visually identified or at least that they share common traits.
They’re wrong of course, but if said bigots believe they are a race, is it then appropriate to call them “racist”? Maybe. But bigot covers it all, so I’ll prefer that term, personally.
Bigots are loveable! Who doesn’t remember Archie Bunker really had a heart of gold. ……
It’s my prefered term as well, unless the behavior is specifically racist, or transphobic, etc.(i.e. I get the feeling the person really directs anger at a group rather than othering what they don’t understand or are uncomfortable with).
I think you’re on to something with calling out the general state of intolerance, though, and trying to work in from there.
In most English dialects (and all dialects of French, for that matter), “cunt” is a gender-neutral epithet. That’s why I don’t hesitate to call The Donald a lying one.
It also references a portion of the female anatomy. And since we have plenty of other options (such as the aforementioned asshole or the perfection* that is douche and its derivatives), why use a term that will denigrate women?
* Perfect because of the fact that the procedure is unnecessary and potentially dangerous.
The interesting new info here is that, contrary to most of the speculation to date, she clearly used the word “massacre” knowing that she was talking about stuff those Iraqis had done in Iraq. Which means she is absolutely, 100% aiming to deceive by saying “Bowling Green Massacre”; she does know that no one was killed there.
Not helping, either of you. And actually, this one is tricky imho.
On the one hand, natehoffelder is exactly right. There’s no rules on who can follow Islam, it’s not like your mother has to be born of that religion to be one.
On the other hand…this is where imho it gets tricky. To “real Americans”, Islam is a race. Them’s the brown people that’s trying to blow us up. Random screenings based on skin color totally makes sense to them, because hey, they just know that them Mooslims is brown. So calling it “racist” plays into their sterotype that gets Sikhs’ asses kicked.
On the other, well, same thing as above. Racism is a huge factor in anti-Muslim sentiment. They look different than us, they dress different, they have different customs, several middle-Eastern cultures treat women waaaaaaay shittier than 'real Americans" do, so what I get to see in my college town surrounded by rednecks is that any couple that walks in where the husband is brown and the wife is mostly covered, holy hell, if you want to see open, unashamed racism, just come here.
So yeah…tricky. Use the correct term and have the idiots think you’re an idiot, or use the slightly incorrect term and play into racists’ idiotic beliefs. And of course, arguing it just makes people angry.
I can only hope that Tony_MacFarlane, if he converts to Islam, can abstain from becoming a raging misogynist.
Too easy. I prefer a slightly greater challenge than shooting fish in a barrel with TNT.
@KathyPartdeux: No one really believed it at the time Mr. Reagan testified before Congress that he didn’t know anything. Turns out he had Alzheimer’s and was telling the truth when he repeatedly said “I don’t know.” The SFV’s spokesweasel doesn’t have the cover of a medical condition.
Well, no, the 2 iraqis didn’t do anything other than get entrapped by the FBI agents who had concieved of and organized the “terror plot” just to ensnare the unwary.
That is what makes Conway’s lies so offensive; not only was there no massacre, the only victims here were the two Iraqis.
I, personally, don’t like the first three anyway (the fourth is pretty much gender-neutral). Nonetheless, there is a difference between an insult which denigrates an oppressed class and one that denigrates a non-oppressed class. For one thing, one of the reasons that ‘cunt’ is insulting is for the same reason ‘sissy’ is. It marks the insulted as womanly, and hence lesser.
Edited to add:
I of course can not, and would not if i could, control anybody else’s language.
Very fair all around, and agreed. I also realized after writing that my question that it might easily be misconstrued as a veiled insult, and if that impression was given I do apologize.
That’s the territory of this part of language, and why it can and does often require extra care in use…explosive words.
Curses and their part in our language are very interesting, and will continue being interesting, as the intersection of emotions and abstraction.
Government sources told the news agency the program would be rebranded as “Countering Islamic Extremism” or “Countering Radical Islamic Extremism,” and “would no longer target groups such as white supremacists who have also carried out bombings and shootings in the United States.”
They’re not even bothering to pretend they’re not motivated by prejudice.
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