Everyday as we communicate with one another, we may not be quite aware of the amount of slang we use throughout normal conversation. Slang may not always mean something bad; in fact, slang is often a very unique type of word that strays from the general object that the slang term is describing. However, slang does include certain offensive words or names created for people and things that are considered “out of the norm” by a certain culture. With recent work to bring awareness to these name calling issues such as “Day of Silence”, Black History Month, Disability Awareness Month, etc., it is clear that our American society has come a long way in preventing the use of derrogatory slang against minority groups in the USA. Unfortunately, this does not mean we are quite done yet in eradicating this harmful language completely.
As minority groups have started to become more comfortable with reappropriating derrogatory and racist terms used against them (the “n” word amongst others), it creates the illusion to people who are outside of this minority group that the reappropriated term has become something comfortable in society to be used by everyone equally whether it be intended harm on a minority group or not. When a minority group uses a slur that is normally intended to inflict harm on its members by an outside force and instead as a term of empowerment, it has been reappropriated for that specific minority group and can be used within it. The problem with this comes in where people from outside the walls of this minority group attempt to use these slurs as casually as said minority group does, furthermore defending the use of it with the same reasons minority groups have for reappropriating said term. The way a slur should be treated, unless used within the minority group it has been reappropriated by, is harmful and an act of violence. Even within a group that the term has been reappropriated by, the slur can still often times be considered harmful and violent.
There’s a couple reasons why we must be mindful of our language within our own culture groups/communities as well as the way we talk to or about others. First, we must be mindful of slurs such as the “f” word, other LGBTQIA+phobic language, racist language, etc. is because no matter what way it is used, its initial intention is always to harm. There’s really no good reason to be using any of these words to describe an object or a person, and defending the use of the word by calling it a “term of endearment” or “empowerment”, whether you are within the walls of the minority group it affects or not, only makes the situation far worse. What needs to be remembered is that while certain cultures have reappropriated these harmful terms, that doesn’t mean everyone within that culture is okay with the use of it, for it still holds some traumatizing value depending on the individual’s experience with oppression and violence against them. Second, by treating these slurs as a part of everyday language and erasing the harmful value of those words as a result, society eventually becomes desensitized to the nature of the word and will not realize that kids at a young age who are just starting to hear the word for the first time at school or at the park are being hurt at a young age. The education on oppressive and hate-crime natured language is still very crucial, and it seems a lot of people assume that everyone seems to already know that the use of these words is bad when in all reality, there are kids walking into middle school (even elementary school, in some cases) that have never heard these terms before and won’t even realize they are potential victims of this language.
This all being said, be mindful of language being used both in public and private conversation. There really is no place for these words and no “cool” or “shock” value gained by using them in normal conversation, especially when it’s used out of the minority group the term has been appropriated by. Surely, society has become more progressive in reducing acts of violence against minority groups, but these little things can and will hold us back a long way if we continue to not be mindful of violent language.