Posted on 01/01/2003 5:05:14 AM PST by Sub-Driver
Edited on 04/29/2004 2:01:51 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
SAULT STE. MARIE, Michigan (Reuters) -- Overused cliches, wordy redundancies and hyperbolic phrases -- including the Bushism "make no mistake about it" -- were declared banished Wednesday by the university overseers of an annual list of banned words.
Other favored utterances of President Bush such as "material breach," "weapons of mass destruction," and "homeland security," were the tired targets of the New Year's Day list compiled by the public relations staff at Lake Superior State University.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
Believe me, I'm no advocate of Hyphenated-American Syndrome. I have two primary objections to it: The names do little more than divide us, and some of the names suggest an allegiance to places other than the United States of America.
Maybe something has gone over my head (always a distinct possibility), but speaking strictly for myself, I never interpreted the term "Native American" that way. That one just never bothered me. I don't feel the slightest bit demeaned by someone else's use of it.
I can acknowledge your point, and I hope you will give mine some thought. You said you didn't want to be excluded. You might consider what it must have been like not to have been granted citizenship or voting rights in your own home until 1924 - or what it feels like when someone won't sell you a jug of water because you're an American Indian (an anecdote I read about here on FR that someone witnessed in the Southwest in recent years).
I can't help but see a bit of irony in your post. Exclusion, indeed.
Please consider what it must have been like to have been punished - chained to a radiator for days - for speaking the Navajo language, then being called upon to speak it with precision in combat situations in defense of your country - particularly after (while?) being treated like a dog by ignorant individuals around you.
So, for me, if a Navajo Code Talker wishes to be referred to as "Native American" (I'm not at all certain that would be their preference - I'm just illustrating a point), I think I can dig deep and find the emotional generosity to show him that much respect. In fact, in part because I am the daughter of a veteran of Iwo Jima, it would be a privilege for me to call him anything he wants to be called.
We all pick our battles, and this one is apparently yours. It's not mine, but, I'm glad we got some things cleared up.
Thanks. (And yes, if you use the term "injun" again, please do include the sarcasm tag...that would have helped me understand what you were getting at before.)
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