Stereotyping in language: effects and linguistic patterns

Language

The question that is not answered in this essay seems to be, what if one does not accept the belief that "our dominant white culture is racist" (p. 9). If one does not accept that premise in the first place then the entire essay is out of touch and misapplied. The thought that our language "an indispensable transmitter of culture" is racist as well, is not an acceptable thesis. Instead, what one could say is that the culture found in today's modern American society is one that allows for the free expression of thoughts and beliefs with words that are derived from a variety of sub-cultures and that they may not be racist at all, but a more effective method for communicating with like members of that particular sub-culture. Or, better yet, it could be that language no longer commonly used in 'regular' society, has its place in reminding individuals of the vagaries of language and how hurtful and denigrating such language can be.

As an example, it has long been believed that using the word nigger to refer to a person with dark skin was unacceptable in most situations and that many would take offense at such portrayals. Yet, there are plenty of members of the African-American community that call one another by that title with a rather seemed sense of pride. The author of the article uses references to phrases in use in the 70's (February 1972 and July 2975 -- p. 10) but does not use examples from the more recent past to bolster his claim that whites are still stereotyping through language.

It's interesting to view how society used words at the time of the Moore article as compared to today, yet it seems that those very words that Moore derides are no longer used in today's more enlightened society. The words have been eliminated from societal use because they were denigrating to certain individuals, and are now seen as offensive to most of society.

However, the other side of the equation must also be addressed; if words used by today's 'white' society are denigrating or demeaning to others, should they then be discarded, even if that in itself is a form of censorship? Some educators have asked that exact question. A 2006 report by Lennard Davis (a college professor) in response to a request by an African-American student to no longer teach using a text written by Joseph Conrad titled "Heart of Darkness" states "the thought of giving up the book also created a kind of anxiety for me. Was I giving in to the voice of censorship? Were my student's sensibilities simply a new form of the old thought police?" (Davis, 2006, p. 90). Robert Moore wrote about the wrongful usage of words to stereotype certain segments of society, yet there still remains other words that seem to have taken their place. The question therefore becomes 'will there always be words in use that are offensive to some members of society?' If so, does it not then become an exercise in futility in trying to eliminate those words on a regular basis? Will society suffer because no one will dare utter any words whatsoever in a vain attempt to not offend anyone? Open communicating between different segments of the population is what leads to understanding why some words are derogatory and some words are not.