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A comment on On Being Midwestern: The Burden of Normality. Parent comment

Re:On Being Midwestern: The Burden of Normality by exelius on Thursday November 16, 2017 @06:21PM (#15717611)
They’re the same word describing different things. Many white people are aghast at being accused of doing something racist because it implies that they themselves are racist. It shouldn’t, and it hampers the conversation to imply it does (the same logic can be applied to sexism and most other isms as well).

Not saying there aren’t racists out there (lol tiki torches), but most people don’t fall into that category.

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Re:On Being Midwestern: The Burden of Normality by humanrebar on Thursday November 16, 2017 @08:07PM (#15718193)
Surely you see the issue when the same word describes perhaps the worst atrocities in human history and something people can't help being or doing. The implication is that people can't help but be the scum of the earth.

Two words for two concepts would decrease the stakes of the conversation and perhaps make room for some actual understanding and progress.

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Re:On Being Midwestern: The Burden of Normality by weberc2 on Thursday November 16, 2017 @09:45PM (#15718531)
Right, so like the parent said, it would be better if people didn't coopt an existing word to mean something else. Especially when "something else" is often merely "disagreeing with someone".
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