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Ask for help > Native Americans vs. Indians
Native Americans vs. Indians
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mish.cz
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Native Americans vs. Indians
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Hello my dear friends and colleagues,
I �ve got a question I �d like to ask natives (but not only them of course:-)) Is the word "Indians" politically correct or should Native Americans rather be used?� Thank you in advance,� Have a nice evening, Mish |
13 Sep 2010
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blunderbuster
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Actually, Mish, once a Caucasian American colleague said to me "what a stupid word that is, "Native American", I mean, I am a native American, I was born in America."
I am probably not helping you, though.
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13 Sep 2010
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mish.cz
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No, you �re not, Blunderbuster:-)))) But I definitely see your point, I feel the same about this expression, moreover, I am sure that my pupils would understand the word Indians much better but still, I don �t want to make a mistake...
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13 Sep 2010
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yanogator
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Political Correctness is a movement in the US (or maybe the world) in which some group (No one knows who they are) decides that a word or phrase is offensive to someone (even if the person it supposedly offends isn �t bothered by it at all), and provides a PC alternative that must be used under penalty of social calamity.
That said, I �ll tell you that the PC committee (whoever they are) has declared that the term Indian is offensive, and must be replaced by Native American. I agree with blunderbuster �s colleague that I was born here, so I am a native American. You may choose whether or not to be PC.
Bruce |
13 Sep 2010
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elderberrywine
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Bruce, have they also declared that the word CHRISTMAS is politically incorrect?
All you ever see nowadays is talk about HOLIDAYS and wishes for HAPPY HOLIDAYS which often seems quite ridiculous to me.
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13 Sep 2010
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mish.cz
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Again, Bruce I agree and support your point of view. Many of the rules or invented terms of the PC sound awkward to me, I don �t think we are that careful in my country concerning potential� offense. And believe me, it is a thing of real interest to me to hear what the real users of the language think about this issue. I �m happy I can learn more about this. Could you think of some other examples of PC words that you find exaggerated or futile, please? BTW: I �m going to use the word Indian in my next ws. Hope it �ll be ok�
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13 Sep 2010
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SaraMariam
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Hi Mish, I have a friend in Canada who is "native American" and she felt pretty offended by the word "Indian", but also by the "Native American"-expression. Normally you call them First Nations - but I-m not sure if that only goes for the Canadian natives.
Hope it helped a bit. Have a nice day :)
Sara
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13 Sep 2010
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elderberrywine
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I uploaded a worksheet with a collection of politically correct words (but humorous, exaggerated ones!) a while ago. In the description I said
Do we call someone LAZY ? Oh no, not
any more!!! In the year 2009 we are politically correct and call him or
her MOTIVATIONALLY DEFICIENT !
We don�t say a person is UGLY but use the term COSMETICALLY DIFFERENT.
And guess what we call someone instead of saying he�s a COUCH POTATO??
Look it up in the cartoon on page 3. This worksheet for advanced
students ridicules the attempts at political correctness in a nice way.
Maybe that will give you some ideas.
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13 Sep 2010
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mish.cz
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Hmmmm, Sara, this is a totally different point of view. Ii is very difficult to make the decision. I �ll probably stay with the word because I am sure my pupils would have problems remembering First Nations. Moreover, the word Indian has no pejorative connotation whatsoever in my mother tongue. The best thing probably will be to leave the ws editable for everyone to change it according to their preferences
@ Elderberrywine: I �ll check your contributions soon to find your worksheet, I am persuaded it will make me laugh, I really like this:-) |
13 Sep 2010
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