Hispanics is a derogatory term - my teacher told me so

[Big Phil]

In my younger days I spent a summer in Mexico. I met a whole group of teachers from California there, taking classes at the same school I was at. I was told by this group of teachers that in California they would get in trouble if they use the term Hispanic, and that only Latino is acceptable.

This was back in 1995 or 1996...

[Darth Servo]

Reminds me of the jokes in college a gay friend of mine and I used to say

"You're not gay, you're heterosexually declined."

Yep, and short people are "vertically challenged".

[Junghalli]

Whats more ridiculous is that they actually try to fight against new technologies on the road to restoring their hearing (cochlear implants for example) and actually call such technology GENOCIDE.

Arrgh, I fucking hate those dipshits who want to deny their kids cochlear implants because they're afraid it'll destroy the "unique culture" that comes with never hearing a single note of music or breath of wind and not being able to effectively communicate with the 90% of the human race that doesn't know sign language. You know, if the kid ever feels deprived by it he could always have the implant taken out (whereas if you wait too long to get it the brain starts to loose the ability to process sound).

I'm convinced that in a lot of these cases it comes down to jealousy. Deep down in their resentful hearts it just burns them that they may end up being the last generation to be so afflicted. It's not fair damn it! Why should I have to struggle with this disability all my life, but then my son just goes in for an operation and he can hear fine? If I can't have it, why should he? They may hide it under bullshit PC talk, probably convince themselves of the BS, but I bet deep down that's what a lot of them are really thinking.

[Dennis Toy]

My Eight Grade English teacher said that "disabled" was derogatory.

The funny thing is "retarded" wasn't. Which is really stupid when you dissect the real meaning of the words. Which sounds worse to you; "he lacks an ability" (which is only literally true in case of somebody who, say, can't walk) or "his development is slowed down".

You know there actually is a movement and even legislation being proposed in DC to actually remove the word "Retarded" from any text medical or otherwise describing people who are mentally-deficient. The new terms being proposed are "Developmentally-Disabled" or "Developmentally-Challenged". Others being proposed include "Socially-Challenged" or "Socially-Disabled".

You guys may not know this but once "Idiot", "Moron" and "Embecile" were actually scientific terms and medical terms used until the 1950's.

[Darth Wong]

That does raise a good point, doesn't it? You may object to "politically correct" terminology, but would you feel comfortable referring to someone's learning-disabled child as an "idiot" in front of him?

[SirNitram]

The biggest reason to drop 'Retarded' is because it's too vague. Are you physically retarded(Say, limbs didn't grow properly?), mentally, learning, socially? I'm Learning Disabled, for example. Do you think 'Retard' fits me properly, as well as a poor bugger who can't manage to stop drooling on himself?

[Middleclass]

That does raise a good point, doesn't it? You may object to "politically correct" terminology, but would you feel comfortable referring to someone's learning-disabled child as an "idiot" in front of him?

No way. I think people take PC backlash too far. There's a time and a place. My mother is a special ed teacher, and while we would get amazingly offensive at home, in front of anyone outside the immediate family her students were "challenged" or just "suffering from {fill in the condition here}".
As opposed to when we were alone, and then it was just "the 'tards". Horrible sounding, but in private, and obviously in jest, it does no harm. I guess my point is that PC does go too far, but you still have to have some level of tact.

As a small side issue, it seems like the "little people" {y'know, midgets}, don't get advantages from PC at all. Its still pretty much acceptable in public to make fun of them for their stature, which I find a little fucked up.

[Boyish-Tigerlilly]

Well, my profession is Special Education, so I get hit with a long list of terminology in this field. The exact terms used according to the literature vary depending on the specific source you cull.

For example, in my lastest manual describing IDEA (the individuals with disabilities education act) they describe retardation as a valid definition, but they call it "Mental Retardation."

However, state's are free to play around with the definitions a bit as well as the exact terminology insofar as they interpret IDEA. For instance, the New Jersey Administrative Code section 6a, I think (I forget the section) lists Mental Retardation as "Cognitive Disability." It says it's really the same thing, but I haven't a clue why the difference between two official legislation documents.


As for Nitram's question, no you are surely not Retarded at all. You are quite articulate. An actual person with Mental Retardation is defined via IDEA as the following:

1. Significantly subaverage general intellectual functioning existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive behavior. And manifested during the developmental period that adversely affects a child's educational performance.

If you are learning disablied, that's something entirely different from mental retardation or cognitive disability. Learning disabilities are referred to as Specific Learning Disabilities and are defined as the following:

2. A disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, that may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or do mathematical calculations. This term includes such conditions as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia. This term does not include children who have learning problems that are primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor disabilities; mental retardation; or environmental, cultural or economic disadvantage.


There really is a term similar to developmentally disabled, by NJcode defines it as developmentally delayed and is, at the discression of the State government, set for children I think ages birth to three. This is primarly because it's notoriously difficult to tell.

[Admiral Valdemar]

I would just use the term disabled for both mental and physical handicaps. It's not as pejorative as "retard", yet retains pragmatic meaning. People do attack even that term, though, since the labelling of someone without legs as lacking in the mobility area is mean. It's better to believe that they're just as capable as anyone else... except when it comes to stairs.

[Shroom Man 777]

My friend told me that a black guy from British posted something like this in regards to the term 'African American': Unless if you're from some third world shithole where your president, general, dictator, warlord, chief or whatever has a name that sounds like a children's toy, like Mambouti Magobo, and you've spent half your life starving and running away from children armed with AK-47s and hopped up on drugs, you're NOT 'African American'

Which was so wrong but so funny.

[Luxfere]

I've always been irritated by the (to me) strange idea that a mixed individual with both White and Black blood can be considered Black. Being Mixed myself I get really quite annoyed by Mixed people claiming they're Black (eg: Halle Berry), can you picture the outcry there would be if they started claiming "Me, I'm White of course!". Yet another irritation is when my mother's (Nigerian) side of the family start telling me I'm half-African (Nigerian) or worse, get upset when I reply "Only genetically". So far as I am concerned the fact I have lived in England virtually my entirely life, my upbringing was English and I am essentially English far outweighs the mere genetic heritage of my mother (Who's lived here for thirty-five or so years of her forty, was educated here and doesn't really like Nigeria anyway). In terms of culture I and identity I've always considered myself to be far more English than Nigerian, but certainly not to the rather insulting point of dismissing half my heritage and labeling myself as White, it isn't so.

I think alot of the awkwardness this 'problem' can cause comes out of some feeling of insecurity on the part of some Black people, for example; the question of ethnicity on British blood doner forms. British blood doner forms for some bizarre reason have these options:
White-British
Irish
White-Other
Black-Carribean
Black-African
Black-Other
Mixed-Black African
Mixed-Black Carribean
Mixed-Black Other
And so forth. In physical terms, I'm fairly certain that there's no real difference between Irish and British blood, or Carribean and African. Such unncessary exactitude only makes things difficult, especially when you get a the Scots, English and Welsh looking at the form and saying 'Why's there no Scottish/Welsh/English/Cornish/Manx (etc.) option, you've got Irish!'

[Cairber]

They teach you never to call a student "disabled", but, rather, use "child first language." That means you call them "A student with a disability" or "a child with a disability" (replace "disability" with more accurate description of the disability if you chose). I guess it is suppose to show that the child is not defined by their disability.

On hispanic: The only people I could see having a legit argument against the term are Native Americans.

[Lost Soal]

And so forth. In physical terms, I'm fairly certain that there's no real difference between Irish and British blood, or Carribean and African. Such unncessary exactitude only makes things difficult, especially when you get a the Scots, English and Welsh looking at the form and saying 'Why's there no Scottish/Welsh/English/Cornish/Manx (etc.) option, you've got Irish!'

I can possibly understand why they ask about African since, correct me if i'm wrong, those of african decent have a chance of either having sickle cell or being a carrier of it, which is something they would want to know to check for.
As for the rest, it's PC.

[Mobiboros]

.
That describes the rest of the Spanish speaking world save for Spain.

Hispanic covers people from Spain. My descent is from Spain and Ive always considered myself Hispanic. And according to the US census bureau you don't even need any part a spanish origin to be Hispanic. You just need to self identify as Hispanis (the bureau actually lists Jews and Asians as examples of people who may be Hispanic.)

[phred]

I have always used the term "latino", Hispanic was always just a word on the job application.
I have always called black people "black" (even when their skin is more of a dark brown-ish color)
I have always called asians "oriental" considering asian somewhat of a misnomer due to the fact that asia is a really big place with lots of different looking people living there

I figure im doing good as long as i try not to let their physical appearance affect the way i treat them

as for the rest I will probably always use the words "retard" "handicapped" and "midget" until something happens that causes me to discuss one of these subjects regularly with people that that are sensitive enough to require me to change

[Darth Servo]

That does raise a good point, doesn't it? You may object to "politically correct" terminology, but would you feel comfortable referring to someone's learning-disabled child as an "idiot" in front of him?

I'd pretty much see the insult the same regardless of if it were "idiot" or "mentally handicapped" or "disabled" or whatever. The kid's parents KNOW he/she has a problem. They don't need to be reminded of it. You just don't go up to a parent and say, "aw, what a poor 'intellectually-challenged' child" any more than you go up to one and say, "your kid is an idiot" unless you're looking to start a fight. This is a difference between being politically correct and being polite.

[lance]

I have always used the term "latino", Hispanic was always just a word on the job application.

IIRC latino only aplies to people from latin america, while hispanic applies to people whose ancestry is traced back to spain. Sometimes both apply sometimes only one.

[Knife]

I have always used the term "latino", Hispanic was always just a word on the job application.

IIRC latino only aplies to people from latin america, while hispanic applies to people whose ancestry is traced back to spain. Sometimes both apply sometimes only one.

I've heard that too, yet being latin has nothing to do with American. Latin and spanish have everyting to do with europe, and only trickles down to the so called latin states.

[ArmorPierce]

Latin doesn't mean anything but Latino is different from Latin. Latino is from Latin America. Latin America includes not just Spanish speaking countries but other countries like Brazil, countries with a Latin cultural heritege. Yes, there are jews and asians living in Latin America. Peru for example has a large Japanese minority and they probably would be considered both latino and hispanic. The term Hispanic has little to do with race, it merely means origin from a spanish speaking country in the new world. Some times Spain is included, usually not. Hispanic is not a race neither is Latino. It is a combination of races coming together such as people of Spanish decent, native people's to America, Blacks, Asians, what ever. To make it short, Hispanic or Latino is not a race but place of origin.

[Darth Wong]

That does raise a good point, doesn't it? You may object to "politically correct" terminology, but would you feel comfortable referring to someone's learning-disabled child as an "idiot" in front of him?

I'd pretty much see the insult the same regardless of if it were "idiot" or "mentally handicapped" or "disabled" or whatever. The kid's parents KNOW he/she has a problem. They don't need to be reminded of it. You just don't go up to a parent and say, "aw, what a poor 'intellectually-challenged' child" any more than you go up to one and say, "your kid is an idiot" unless you're looking to start a fight. This is a difference between being politically correct and being polite.

And what parenting or teaching experience do you draw from when you say this? Because it's a load of bullshit; teachers do have to tell their parents to get their kids assessed for learning difficulties, and when they do it, they do tell the parents "I think you need to get your son assessed for possible learning disorders" rather than "I think you need to get your son assessed because I suspect that he's an idiot". One of those is a phrase you'll hear often in the corridors of a real school, and the other one will start a fight.

[DrMckay]

how far should this PC distinction go? Twenty years down the line, can we expect everyone to be so sensitive to other people's cultural needs, that every ethnic group, of European, African, Asian, Hispanic etc, descent is seperated, referred to, and interacted with based soley no the geographical region or nation that their ancestors came from hundreds of years ago (in some cases?) because that would be really silly if it actually happened.

Tact? Yes. Cultural diversity and acceptance? Yes. Artificially PC-induced and amplified Cultural diversity and acceptance that won't really stop BOIGOTED IDIOTS from their racisim anyway and only serves to make conversation with anyone more akward? No, thanks

[phred]

I have always used the term "latino", Hispanic was always just a word on the job application.

IIRC latino only aplies to people from latin america, while hispanic applies to people whose ancestry is traced back to spain. Sometimes both apply sometimes only one.

true but i make the call based on their physical appearance, and by extension would probably put Brazilians into his category despite the fact that their ancestors were Portugese rather than Spanish.
the point is i try not to worry about those distinctions when dealing with others and dont really care if its PC or not

[phred]

Tact? Yes. Cultural diversity and acceptance? Yes. Artificially PC-induced and amplified Cultural diversity and acceptance that won't really stop BOIGOTED IDIOTS from their racisim anyway and only serves to make conversation with anyone more akward? No, thanks

amen brother or sister

[DrMckay]

brother, thanks.

[Big Orange]

I do not mind PC if it stops people from being assholes when it comes to minority groups and the disabled, but it gets silly when otherwise amiable public figues get massive media flack if they blurt something out of turn or question negative cultural practices (like when Jack Straw stated that he disliked veils).

And as for the term "retarded": I remember in another talk forum where I labelled this particularly nasty troll "a retard" and some other user called me "evil" for saying this insult. Why are some people so overly sensitive? Why don't they grow some balls?