A few hours ago I made a comment when seeing a little boy climbing a tree with incredible speed and dexterity. I said, "Wow! That kid climbs like a little monkey!"
The kid happened to be black.
I was told, by a very adamant and irate bystander, "You can't say 'monkey' when talking about an African American! That's racist!!!"
I CAN'T!?
It IS!?
The kid CLIMBED like a monkey, so I said it. Nothing more.
Don't we have the right to verbally express our opinions anymore?
I don't mean saying something with the INTENTION of offending...
I mean, where is it written that we HAVE to constantly censor your own verbiage to use certain words and phrases that OTHERS deem "politically correct"?
Is not ANY verbiage constraint BY DEFINITION a violation of the concept of verbal freedom?
2007-05-05
09:41:11
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12 answers
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asked by
Anonymous
in
Philosophy