^ Yes, I don't think at all that Reasoningtime was to blame for being racist by using the statements.
I do, however, think that it is a perfect example of how white supremacy is written into the English language to perhaps make us subconsciously think in a certain way.
Some other prime examples that I can think of;
A white lie = A lie that doesn't hurt
Hip!Hip!Hooray! = "The next time you hear someone shout this – although, to be honest, who in the hell shouts this outside of a 1950’s TV sitcom these days – just remember that “Hip! Hip! Hooray!” stems from the original “Hep! Hep! Hurrah!” which itself originated because the letters in the word HEP formed an acronym which in Latin spelled out "Hierosolyma Est Perdita" which… drumroll… means “Jerusalem is lost.” Yeah. That in turn was then shouted during German riots by German soldiers when they would kill Jews. Well, okay then. Alternately, it has been explained that “Hep! Hep!” was a rallying cry used by German shepherds to herd their beasts, which sounds innocent until you hear the second part of that story which is that it was then adopted in 1819 by the Germans as they herded and hunted down and then killed Jews." From another site.
Dark sense of humour = A sense of humour that makes "light" (again) of a subject that is normally considered taboo.
Black Tuesday = The wall street crash of 1929 (ie a bad event)
Picnic = stems from "pick a nigger" (excuse my language). This was during lynching parties, targeting black people
To blacken his name = To associate bad things with that person's name.
Shed light on the subject = To make things clearer.
All the best,
Joe
|
|