I hate people redux

[acari]

Okay, I think my head

I think there's value in reassessing using troubling words, gyp is a good example of one that I honestly was SHOCKED to learn the history of. I still use it, because I don't know any gypsies that it might offend, and most people are ignorant of where it came from (and I doubt they know any gypsies either).

just

You're an

Comments

[maleyka]

Oh Jesus, it's that woman.

Maybe if I repeat "they were not raised and do not live in a European historical and societal context" to myself enough times it will make me stop wanting to bitchslap people.

On the other hand, maybe not.

I need a rage blackout icon

[acari]

Omg I had to go away and watch the latest BSG I was so angry. Doesn't help that I've been reading up about the crap going down in Naples all weekend. I want n-tv to die in a fucking fire:

Nicht nur die zum Himmel stinkenden Müllberge brennen in Neapel, nächtens von wütenden Bürgern angesteckt, die die Nase voll haben von dem sich auftürmenden Unrat. Die Flammen lodern jetzt immer wieder auch in verlassenen Baracken am Stadtrand, dort, wo vor allem Roma und Sinti sich eine provisorische Bleibe gezimmert hatten. Bürger machen ihrer Empörung Luft, nachdem ein 16-jähriges Roma-Mädchen versucht haben soll, ein Baby zu entführen.

I'm currently editing (and editing) a comment to that post. SO ANGRY OMG.

Re: I need a rage blackout icon

[maleyka]

*STABSTABSTAB*

Re: I need a rage blackout icon

[acari]

*breathes in a paper bag*

Okay, I need to go stare at puppies and kittens now.

[miriam_heddy]

I still use it, because I don't know any gypsies that it might offend, and most people are ignorant of where it came from (and I doubt they know any gypsies either).

Something to think about on this... when you're dealing with something that's not visible and obvious and you use a word like that, you might not ever find out that someone is Romany, because, if they're annoyed to hear that, they may also be too tired at that point to bother saying anything.

Kate Harding has a good and relevant post on the use of the word "retard" and the problem of invisibility:
http://kateharding.net/2008/05/01/why-i-dont-use-the-word-retarded/

[acari]

Thanks for the link! Disability is something very obscure to me, I have to admit. I don't know anyone with a disability in RL. I only fairly recently clued in about the myriad problems connected to words like retard and the German equivalents. It's on the list of things I'm attempting to learn more about.

Predjudice against Roma is so prevalent in Europe to be almost invisible again. It seriously is everywhere. I only realised it after moving to Ireland and suddenly being a "good foreigner" the natives could bitch with. It was eye-opening.

[revelininsanity]

You don't know me, but I recently had an experience related to that word where a manager at my place of work used it to describe a shortage of work.

Later on, when I approached him and told him the history of the term, and why it was offensive, he was genuinely(as far as I am able to tell. I have a small amount of difficulty reading other people's emotions) apologetic and told me he would "drop it" from his vocabulary.

Just to let you know there is hope out there!

[acari]

I don't know if my mothertongue (German) ever had the equivalent of gypped or if it has only been purged thoroughly after the Holocaust. I need to find out.

I do know that predjudice against Sinti and Roma is incredibly widespread. Just reading the news after what happened in Naples and how it was framed and then dismissed made me so angry.

[revelininsanity]

I was... Too mad to do more than scan it. It's insane, really and I don't have any ideas beyond the fact that people don't watch themselves and their attitudes anymore, making it easy to rationalize these things to themselves. I suspect it starts as small as justifying words and moves on from there, to burning homes and people. When one small bigotry becomes acceptable, it makes it easier to move onto larger and larger acts.

I don't know if that makes any sense.

[fairestcat]

Jesus FUCK. Her reply to your comment makes me seriously want to break something. WTF Internets, WTF!

[acari]

Yes, that was the cherry on the fail cake. *draws hearts around it*

[celli]

Oh, my GOD.

*hugs*

*stabz*

[acari]

You mean I am not crazy for thinking this is fucked up? Are you sure you are American?