Re: Self-Use of Ethnic Insults (was: Re: Ebonic Christmas )

BP Jonsson scripsit:

> I had *no idea* there was anything negative attached to the word _Jew_ in
> English, anymore than to _Swede_ or _Buddhist_ -- i.e. not anymore than
> individual people may attach negative connotations to people of other
> nationalities/religions than their own.
In the early 20th century, the word "Jew" was absolutely taboo in
American English, and was used only by anti-Semites.  The standard
euphemism was "Hebrew", and this survives in the Jewish analogue
of the YMCA (Young Men's Christian Association), which is the YWHA.
This was later clipped to "Hebe" by the theatrical magazine _Variety_,
itself edited by Jews, but this term became one of the standard
medium-strength derogatory terms.  (_Variety_ style was very marked:
an extreme example was the headline STIX NIX HIX PIX, meaning
"People who live in the country (the "sticks") are not interested
in motion pictures concerned with rural life."

> Least of all I would have thought
> it had negative connotations among Jewish people themselves!
In religious contexts, and in the plural, it does not.
I find it hard to articulate exactly what may be wrong with describing
someone as "a Jew", perhaps because it categorizes rather than
describing *and* refers to a stigmatized category.  The combination
is troublesome.

To take an extreme example, there is a great difference between
"John steals/has stolen" and "John is a thief".  The latter connotes
membership in a specific and (rightly) stigmatized group.

> [T]here is something especially bad with this word.
The word "Negress" became offensive, whereas "Negro" is not offensive
though most consider it out-of-date; it remains in many institutional
names such as the Negro College League, the Negro Ensemble Theater, etc.
In the althistory novel _The Two Georges_, the word "Negro" is used
throughout in both dialogue and narration; *there*, slaves were peacefully
freed in the 1830s, and Americans of African origin now (in the 1990s)
constitute much of the bureaucracy.  A book written in the third
person that routinely uses "nigger" in narration is inconceivable.

> I sincerely apologize if I've ever offended anyone by using the simple noun...
Most unlikely.

> The lame, spastic, epileptic cripple,
> (+ other words I would have no "able" person use about me! ;-)
We TABs will attempt to avoid these terms.

--
John Cowan                                   cowan@ccil.org
       I am a member of a civilization. --David Brin