To my surprise, the first chapters of the book -- while enforcing the idea of writing as a vehicle for personal expression -- had little to say about punctuation. Little things like commas shouldn't be allowed to impede people trying to express themselves.
Well, not exactly.
The book did have quite a bit to say about limiting people's expression when that expression may be offensive. Just before the one-paragraph treatment of "Review punctuation and mechanics," the reader was given a brief [three-page] suggestion to "change biased words." Gender-specific language, or using the wrong word for a Native American person, or for a person who can't hear (yes, "deaf" is taboo), or -- horror of horrors -- having the gall to call a firefighter a "fireman" -- these are limits we must embrace.
So it shouldn't have come as a surprise this morning, when on p. 9 of my speech textbook, in a section on "Ethical Speech," I found the following warning:
Avoid Offensive SpeechFor some reason I have an inkling this means more than just "be nice."
As an ethical speaker, it is vital that you avoid expressions of ethnocentrism, stereotypes, or outright prejudice. Hate speech is any offensive communication -- verbal or nonverbal -- that is directed against people's racial, ethnic, religious, gender, or other characteristics. This kind of speech is never acceptable.
2 comments:
ahhh political correctness...how interesting you make life :)
I like that we have to create special categories for "hateful" offensiveness, and then include such ambiguous terms as "other characteristics."
Ergo, so long as you don't direct the offensive speech against characteristic things, you're okay. Does that mean if I make fun of people for what they _aren't,_ I'm not using hate speech?
Why don't we just grow up and say that _all_ offensive speech is unacceptable? (Or would that require too much thought about our limited common understanding and acceptance of "offensive" things...?)
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