As long as we’re reevaluating racist American foundations, our language shouldn’t escape direct scrutiny. Plenty of other everyday words and phrases have had their racist origins obscured by time. This column has previously examined the deeply racist connotation of the word thug, and yet Donald Trump wasn’t the least bit bashful in his all-caps proclamation that Minneapolis protesters were “THUGS” (in a tweet that Twitter soon hid because it violated the company’s rules against glorifying violence).īut that’s just the beginning.
As people march and protest across the country, including in Philadelphia, racism in all forms, including language, is the subject of a long-overdue conversation. The killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police has raised our national consciousness about the racist systems that our country was built upon. The good news? We’re all paying more attention to this, including the Angry Grammarian. Let’s start with the bad news: Racism is embedded in almost every institution in America, and language is no exception.
Editor’s note: Please be aware offensive terms are repeated here solely for the purpose of identifying and unpacking them honestly.
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