Re: A contribution to ongoing terminology work

[Keith Moore <[e-mail]>]

On 4/6/21 3:14 PM, Phillip Hallam-Baker wrote:

> Rather than accept the fact that a certain set of language was used to 
> intentionally denigrate people on account of ethnicity, gender, etc. 
> one party has made even the acknowledgment that this occurred to be a 
> partisan political issue. It has spent the last four years demanding 
> that everyone take sides and now they are having an epic tantrum 
> because along with the vast majority of polite, educated society, we 
> chose the side opposing bigotry.

Agree with most of your post, or at least I think I do.  But as for the 
above paragraph:

I'm not sure who you're referring to here, and it's not necessary to 
name them.   But in general, everyone thinks they're on the side of 
right and (when it matters) and that often implies that others are on 
the wrong side.   The more important the issue, the more likely that the 
opponents of a position will be cast as extremists.  Claiming to be on 
"the side opposing bigotry" implies that the other side is promoting 
bigotry.   Without my taking a position on this specifically (because I 
actually don't know what you're talking about), I suspect that the other 
side doesn't see it that way.   It's easy to mis-state or exaggerate the 
other side's position.    I would like to suggest that discussions will 
probably be more productive if we try to avoid doing that.

Keith