By JESSICA MCCOY
In today’s society, words are thrown around like they have no real meaning. People tend to speak before they think which leads to things being misconstrued.
Today, it has become normal to call someone retarded, a fag, a whore or even the n-word. America is a nation based on equality and freedom. Living in this country means that citizens may live the life they choose the way they choose to live it. Having said that, it is cause to wonder why these words that plague our vocabulary are so widely accepted, or better yet, ignored.
Thrown around in day-to-day conversations, these words are offensive to a great number of people. When calling someone “retarded,” one is invariably making fun of those who are born with mental or physical handicaps. Although it might not be seen in such a literal sense, using the word “retarded” in a negative manner puts down
those who were born a certain way.
When someone is called a “fag” or hears “that’s so gay,” it is in fact pooling close to 10 percent of the United States population into one category and using their lifestyle to cast their sexuality in a negative light. When these terms are thrown around so loosely, one does not tend to think of the number of people he or she offends.
While walking down a stereotypical high school hallway, one is confronted with a typical scene: a group of girls gathered around a locker talking about another female. It is not abnormal to hear the group call the other a b***h, a whore or a slut. Now, whether the said other female actually is these things or not is not of any importance to these girls; it does not matter whether their peer is really any of these said things, they are just saying them to hurt her.
Calling people names that have no real basis makes the speaker look ignorant. Walking down the street and referring to one of your friends as “my n****r” is not cool, and causes peers to lose respect for the speaker.
African Americans were shown prejudice for years, first through slavery and then during their fight for civil rights. By calling someone “my n****r,” one is disregarding the pain inflicted with that word in our not too distant past.
The Golden Rule is something which every mother surely recites during her child’s youth. The rule teaches people to “do unto others as you would like others to do unto you.” This rule surely comes into play when using offensive terms.
When a person uses these terms so loosely when talking of someone else, it is no big deal. However, the second the tables are turned, the speaker does not like the way the said offensive term makes him or her feel. Everything is fine and dandy on the giving side, but things don’t look as bright on the receiving end.
As human beings, we need to take into account and understand the fact that our words are actions followed by consequences. When using offensive terms to categorize or label another person, one needs to realize that it is offensive to others, makes the speaker sound ignorant and is not something one would appreciate having
said about him or herself.
The spoken word is not something to be taken lightly. Contrary to popular belief, no matter one’s age, race or gender, what people say has an affect on the world around them.