Calling people names

[Sentinel76 Astrakhan]

I feel like I should finally chip in.

"Countries" and "people" are not homogeneous, nor uniform.  The case of Ukraine is probably the most glaring:  some people want to live one way and be called one thing, and others -- another way and another thing.  Which side has a deciding vote in the "B"/"HA" argument?  All I know is that Germany does not force other countries to call them "Deutschland" and Japan -- "Nippon."  One country that forces all others to call it "Cote d'Ivore" (instead of Ivory Coast and Берег Слоновой Кости), and it's ridiculous.

Based on the recent survey, 30% of Native Americans find the word "Redskins" offensive.  70% don't, and many of them actually think that "Fighting Sioux," "Redskins," and "Blackhawks" serve as tribute to their long-suffering nations.  Why should the majority succumb to the will of the minority, if nobody's rights are affected, only sensitivities?

I really wish this PC dreck would go away already.

Vadim Astrakhan
Vysotsky in English
www.vvinenglish.com



> Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2014 15:05:57 -0500
> From: eb7 at NYU.EDU
> Subject: [SEELANGS] Dead-End Discussions (was the/Ukraine)
> To: SEELANGS at LISTSERV.UA.EDU
> 
> The argument about (the) Ukraine seems to pop up on SEELANGS at regular intervals, like a swarm of linguistic locusts.  
> 
> I agree entirely with Michele Berdy. It doesn't matter if you agree with the logic behind the rejection of a given term by members of an ethnic (or other identity) group.  It's not your call.  Can't we just assume that, in the absence of entirely shared history and experience, no one can really determine what should or should not be found offensive by a group to which one does not belong?  Just call people what they want to be called, and call their countries what they want their countries to be called.  
> 
> It's not censorship, it's not even (horrors!) political correctness.  It's just linguistic etiquette combined with minimal empathy.
> 
> Here's hoping we can put this issue to rest for another five years,
> 
> Eliot Borenstein
> 
> Eliot Borenstein
> Collegiate Professor
> Professor, Russian & Slavic Studies
> Director of Graduate Study for R&SS
> Provostial Fellow
> New York University           
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>  
> Editor, All the Russias
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>  
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> 
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