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Originally Posted by xepherys
Take the word "nigger". Now I understand that in it's initial creation, it had a negative intent. It was meant to belittle. But that was in a time long ago, generations past. Sure, some people still try to use the word as an insult against blacks, colored folk, african americans... whatever the hell dark skinned people in the US with African heritage are called these days. Maybe the PC crowd will adapt that... "Dark skinned US citizens with African heritage". *sigh* But if black people didn't CARE anymore, the word would have no meaning...no weight.
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Words are symbols. What one must not forget is that not using a word can become a symbol as well.
For example the word "nigger" has a deep history of being used in a derogatory manner. Not using it is a show of respect and the admitance of past sins on the race it was used to describe. As such not using derogatory language in certain company is a show of courtesy. And refraining from using certain language around minors is a show of sensitivity towards the way their parrents might want them raised.