At 11:53 AM 25/08/2001 -0400, Brian Phillips wrote:
><<My point is that we must be aware of how we use language. As far as I can
>see Olga did a service being prickly about possibly racist remarks. It
>makes good sense to be careful about walking on broken glass.
>
>Best wishes,
>
>          - Miriam>>
>  I dance on your broken glass. I already have enough problems
>getting my ass into a grad school that promises a lucrative
>career without worrying about whining. Not to put to fine
>a point on it.
>
>Mexican.
>Mexican.
>Mexican.
>Mexican.
>
>Yeesh. I think your comment dragged down the average level
>of discourse on the list a few percentage points.  I don't spend
>valuable time reading Extropian for the liberal schmaltz after all.
Wow. And after that childlike display of petulance you think *my* post 
dragged down the tone of the list? All I was suggesting is that people be 
careful about the impact of their language.
Whining??? Liberal schmaltz???  hahahaha :-)  Grow up.
It is simply a mistake to say "Mexican" if in fact you mean "poor". There 
are clearly many Mexicans who are not poor. Would you refer to all flowers 
as yellow just because a lot of flowers are yellow? Inaccurate statements 
like that just risk encouraging the nasty racist seed (of which there seems 
quite a disproportionate number in here, sadly -- I wonder why that is).
Sure, you can use language anyway you want, but you have to be prepared to 
take responsibility for the results too. But if I know loud-mouthed 
smart-asses, they like to blame anyone except themselves, especially when 
they get cut up from treading (or dancing) on broken glass.
Cheers,
         - Miriam
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Q. What is the similarity between an elephant and a grape?
A. They are both purple... except for the elephant.
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http://werple.net.au/~miriam
http://members.optushome.com.au/miriame
Virtual Reality Association  http://www.vr.org.au
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