Here's a story:

In the 1950's, my Dad was an eager young intellectual, going to a Mormon university, and always carrying around paperbacks marked up in the margins with his red pencil. During the summer, he would work construction jobs.

There was this one guy on the job site, from somewhere in the deep south, who was constantly spouting "nigger" this or "fucking nigger" that. This bothered my Dad, so he confronted the guy at lunchtime.

"Do you consider yourself a Christian?" my Dad asked.

"Why, yeah, sure, of course" replied the other guy.

"So you believe that God loves everybody, like the Bible says"

"Yeah...."

"So then, if God loves everybody, how can you hate black people?"

AHA! My Dad had this man trapped in the pincers of his impeccable logic! Touche'! Check-mate! There was obviously going to be no other choice but for the other guy to slink off with his tail between his legs and fully reconsider the premises of his world-view! So the guy responded:

"Ya know, I like you a lot, John, but if you keep talking that way, I'm gonna have to take this hammer to you"

Help me! Help Me! I've been Finlandized!

The problem I have with most PC language is that it sometimes becomes just as insulting as the language that it's intended to replace. There was this very PC (white, yuppie) woman at work once, and in response to her question about someone, I replied: "Oh, you mean that Mexican woman who works downstairs". Taken aback, she scolded me: "Don't you mean LATIN-A" (She emphasized the "A" to make sure that I knew that she knew the difference between a latino and a latina. Bravo, Einstein! Anyhow, I replied "Yes, that too, but I talk to her all the time, and she is from Mexico, Oaxaca to be exact. Since when did being from Mexico become a bad thing?"

That shut her up for a while. Later I heard her referring to a black guy as an "African-American". This cracked me up, since the guy was actually French, born in the suburbs outside of Paris (and probably wouldn't appreciate being called an American). We also had some people at the office who were from Ireland, but this woman had no problems with the term "Irish", she never called them "Gaelo-Euro-Americans" or anything.

So apparently for her, being black or brown was something shameful, a thing to be covered up with niceties, but being white or European was OK. I questioned who was actually the culturally insensitive one there.

When Nelson Mandela was in the country the MEDIA kept referring to him as "African-American!!"" How fucking STUPID is that!!?? so... fucking... stupid... *weeps*

latin loggerheads is hilarious, by the way...

Another thing I hate about current language trends in the media (besides everyone being a "folk" now), is that they refer to males they don't know as a "gentleman," whether they are refering to a politician, or a MASS MURDERER. Don't think the dude that just committed that barbarity needs those kid gloves. "Man" should be sufficient.

People are the most screwed up dogs of all.

I got in trouble once fer hangin' my droogies out a car window!