It isn't the words that offend me so much as the intent of the words to do harm of some sort. Narwhal could call me a cracker day and night for weeks to no ill effect. If he could stand it, I could stand it, too. Basicly, it takes one to know one.

But there have been people here whose sole intent was to insult and demean and denigrate through use of terminology calculated to be offensive. The words didn't offend me nearly so much as the intention of the person using the words.

In that sense, and that sense alone, I don't think using the term "Jap Car" would offend me, were I of Japanese extraction. However, if the term was used as a pejorative with the intention of slandering or insulting me, I would be deeply offended (even if I'm not of Japanese descent).

For example, one of my best friends in the service was an American Indian. No big deal, with him being an indian, he was rather proud of his heritage. He always envied the older guys who made Chief Petty Officer. "I'm the only Indian on this ship and look at all the guys I gotta call chief." Well, some people are just knuckleheads, especially when liquor overwhelms better sense. They'd use the same words that I used or that Bill used, but coming from their mouths stoked a huge head of steam looking for a relief valve.

And that's why I made my callous, flippant remark about being an Offended-American.

There are plenty of reasons to be genuinely offended by bigotry. Why crowd the field unnecessarily?

Just as folks shouldn't look for opportunities to be offended, the rest of us should excersize restraint and not use terminology or references that might offer incedental offense.

All we have to do is take a moment and be polite like mommy told us.

Bot