Rep. Eli Crane used the derogatory phrase in describing his proposed amendment to a military bill. Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty asked that his words be stricken from the record.
I get that activists like “people-centered” language nowadays, but in essence, it is kind of weird. Maybe it’s just because I have NVLD that I’m always analyzing these language things. Like in a community with which I’m more aligned, the autistic community, “person with autism” doesn’t sound any better to me than “autistic person.” Of course, as someone with NVLD, you’re not always described as autistic to begin with. I prefer the word “minorities” to “people of color” but what are currently minority communities now are on track to become a majority in some communities, and maybe the country at large one day too, so that term may likely be rendered inaccurate soon. Of course “colored people” had been an acceptable term a few decades ago so maybe this guy is just behind on the times. Still, I do find it weird how society often tires of some words and phrases over a few generations.
An accepted term by who? Why does that matter? It’s not now and you’d have to be pretty far up your own butt to miss that. Either way they should know this as politicians representing all kinds of people. There’s no excuse. The fact that he said it so casually is pretty damning. People that aren’t actually racist and that care about those they’re discussing would never make this slip.
I’d seen speeches of Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, etc and other civil rights leaders use the term before. But it is out of fashion now. Yeah, I guess being a politician and not knowing language stylistics is dumb. But political rhetoric and legalese is filled with antiquities. Between stuff like this and politicians who don’t know know how new technology works is frustrating and embarrassing. Sometimes I try to think wishfully about it but when they repeated make the same mistakes it can be hard.
