A professor in Norway said in the news today that people here should stop using the word "indianer (same as Indian I guess)" about the original population in the US. Is this the same as the N-word?
I remember as a kid we used to play "indian and cowboy". There was never any thought about racism, I for my self liked to be an Indian as I liked them and their culture and it was more fun to use a bow.
But maybe some from the US can enlighten me here, this was new to me. Is that word interpreted as something with the oppression and namegiving from when the europeans came and almost eradicated the "original people" over there?
Also, are they demonstrating? They must be one of the most oppressed people I know of, they lost it all.
Personally I think people are going overboard with the semantics, because cynically speaking that's about the only thing they can conjure up as a make up to cover the more dividing racism in the society
It's never about what word you use to hurt the other race, it's always about intent and context. As an example, the Amy Cooper Karen we saw on video doesn't use derogatory word, she used "African American" the correct and polite form and how it should be used, and how it's taught to describe a black man, but there's no doubt what she says contains pure racist intention.
It's never about the word, it's never about what culture is racist, what color is racist, what song is racist, those are gimmicks. English isn't my first language so I think some of what I'm trying to say is lost in translation. When I was small we call each other racist slur as "tiko/cina" towards one another but we remain the bestest of buddies until today. You don't need racist word to hurt and show racism, it's always about the context.
The problem in my opinion is that the PC culture brush up all the small fire or racism with a blanket of gimmicks that doesn't actually solve the underlying issue. People from all sides are told they're wrong, are being e-crucified, instead of being taught that what they did is wrong. It's like you send a predator team to hunt, kill and eliminate every terrorist, you ended up creating more terrorist for every terrorist you killed.
When people are crucified for using the N word, they won't use that word, but they'll still hate Blacks. Because they're not actually told and educated on why you should maintain racial harmony but simply told the end game of "You're racist, we demand you're fired/cancelled/removed"
Eliminating real racism should start from the roots of the problem, the hate for one particular race which normally and ussually grows from misinformation, scapegoating, systematical racism, politics, divide and conquer etc. If any racist reading this, reflect on yourself why you hate "certain race" and make a list, see how many of that is fickle imagination that's usually based on false narratives and stigma / stereotyping from the old days.
For me banning "X" words, changing "Y" words is like whack a mole, people can always comes up with new derogatory words. You need to change the mindset behind racist, not limiting what words they can use.
