Whenever this topic comes up (anywhere) you see people call out what they perceive to be “thought police”. We’ve seen a couple here (no names, since I don’t want to point fingers).
But what is more “thought policey” than saying that just talking about racial issues, or questioning the assumptions behind a certain phrase or meme is “ridiculous”, “like a virus”, “a first world problem”, a sign that you are “obsessed”, “triggered”, or any of the other epithets being thrown about?
What this all comes down to is that we are in a position where we can examine our ideas and actions, and think not only about how they feel or what they mean to us and those who look like us, but also to those who are members of other (often less powerful) political and social groups. That is what the phrase “check your privilege” means: acknowledge that it is there, and consider what it means.
In the end, the whole point of all of this is to make us think about ways in which we can be more human and more humane towards each other. When people react to that by attacking each other, we’ve taken a step in the wrong direction.
Weirdly, that article makes the case (in my mind) that caucasian would be an offensive word for everyone else… but appearing white of mainly Western European origins myself, (and a little bit of Blackfoot in there), I don’t find it offensive at all. *shrugs* It’s just a word. And according to the article itself, a word meant to represent “the whitest people”. *shrugs*
Maybe if I were anything other than falling into that category myself I might be offended?
I am so confused by this now. XD
(And by no means intend to offend anyone with my strange musings on the subject here.)
I read through the whole thread and I didn’t get the answer to the original question. Is it 白人 that’s politically incorrect or “Caucasian”? I know from reading around on the Internet that the word “Caucasian” is technically incorrect when referring to people of Western European descent, though. Caucasian people are actually Asians.
(I’m white, but)… I think he was playing Chuck Berry’s song… therefore it’s one of those paradoxical loops… and Chuck Berry still invented it. (Time travel!)
Political incorrectness is anyway not a reason to suppress speech. The entire premise of this question is questionable. I’m exhausted with all this PC b*. Nowadays we have a precursor to a heart attack every time we open our mouths for fear of offending someone, to the effect that now, a thick skin is nowhere to be found and participation awards are necessary.
I don’t. If someone takes offence, that is their problem - they choose to take offence (all too often “on behalf of others”, who are typically not actually especially offended). In the USA this is especially clear cut, since we have protection from the government regulating our speech.
We can still have a discussion about what was said and why some people might take offence, but the fact is, people are free to say what they like (and face the consequences).
As for this particular vocab entry - the possibly questionable word is はくじん 白人 which is literally “white person”, and may not be the most tactful term to use, in some situations.
Since this isn’t even about English, it’s weird that we’re going down this rabbit hole, but in my experience, people who complain about political correctness just want to not ever be criticized for anything they say.
It kind of makes me wish they used polite, because in this situation, it’s kind of the same thing. Clearly even mentioning that something isn’t politically correct starts…something.
I do remember it being said in Harvey Birdman in the episode with Shoyu Weenie, if that gives any context into how little it’s used.
I don’t know about any of you guys, but I just come here to learn Japanese words that I can throw at Japanese people and assume they understand me. Surely knowing anything about their culture to the extent of what words they would find a bit off-colour is entirely optional.
WaniKani is not saying that “Caucasian” itself is offensive. The meaning explanation is saying that the Japanese vocab 白人 is not the most polite way for a Japanese speaker to refer to a Caucasian/white person. The reason we learn it is that it gives us an example of how the contained kanji are used. That’s all. And as far as a language site not being able to “even hint at” political issues, that’s impossible if you expect to be able to use the language in the real world. Terms related to politics and social issues are important to learn because they affect many aspects of life. And from personal experience (with French in this case when I studied overseas) it can be important to learn which words may be offensive or shocking to native speakers. Just trust me that not being exposed to things can make for embarrassing situations.
