AmbergrisCaye.com Home Forums Talk Belize Chat Area 9/11 I almost didn't fly today

Well gee, thank you very much gringostarr. And, my next book will be called: "Don't tell me the Truth!"

Don't you have any muslim neighbors or friends? There are a few here in San Pedro that you may have come in contact with when you visited. Was that your impression of them? Why do you condemn all people in a huge religious society just to get in a slam at the terrorists?

LaurieMar, my neice is engaged to a Muslim man. Neither she nor her future husband smell like a donkey or its dung.

Gringostarr, maybe you should reread. I believe LaurieMar says Muslim terrorists NOT all Moslims.

But her slams are directed at muslim beliefs/practices, not specifically terrorist practices. Hurtful to say the least!

Thank you Deacon. That is exactly what my post said. Gringo and Hon: read the first line - what does it have to do with neighbors, friends or neice's engagement?

A self-righteous ugly american!

Whatever you say, and the same to you. But you need to get real and stop reading something that is not there.

Wow, criticism of hygiene, manner of dress, dietary habits, etc. Could you get any more superficial?

I'm for people taking responsibility and for frank conversations - but that kind of joking isn't likely to help. It is the same kind of stuff that was used to perpetuate prejudice against most ethnic groups (before they assimilated) in the states, including my Irish and French-Canadian ancestors.

Why do people use racial slurs? Because they work.
In the toolbox of Language, racial slurs are an easy shorthand; group a set of people (easily picked out by visual cues) into a set of expected shortcomings, and move on. Time is saved, and you never apply these shortcomings to yourself, meaning you can feel better than the group that doesn't get it and never will get it.

In a world where most words have lost their edges ("murder" and "pregnant" come to mind as garnering little reaction when used in conversation) a racial slur can pack all the punch it used to carry.

On the other hand, who reacts when they hear the phrase "Paddy Wagon" (a reference to Irish as criminals, always being picked up by police) or "Indian Summer" (which references a summer turned cold, derived from "Indian Giver", a claim that american Indians would take back what they promised)?

If the goal is to quickly end a conversation and waste no more time on discussion, a good solid racial slur will bring things to a halt. In one word, you can show both an unwillingness to hear another view and a clear demarcation of where you think the others stand compared to you (far below). One does not name vermin; one calls them, simply, vermin. That tone continues to this day.

http://www.rotten.com/library/language/racial-slurs/