...Verbal Chains...

Back in the day of my grandfather, words served a particular use. To explain exactly what was need to be said and that was it. My grandfather doesn't know any slang, he doesn't know any highly educated words, but in now a days terms his speech would be politically incorrect because of one certain word. My grandfather grew up in a small rural town in southern Illinois, before the march on Capital Hill, before Martian Luther King's speech, before any of this had affected speech. If you were to ask him what he calls people of another color or race, he would say what we've now come to understand as "the 'N' word". This was the only word he knew. This is the word he grew up with. This is his familiarity. However, if he were to say it amongst some of the groups of today, I fear that he may sustain a few injuries.

Also, on another note, music today has changed. Even I can recall back to a time in music where 'bitch' was never allowed to on the free air waves of a radio broadcasting site. Now, you can hear it used, granted if you listen for it. Certainly media has changed drastically in the recent five years or so.

Along with a change in media, there has been a change in who is allowed to say certain words, and who is allowed to be offended by the use of certain words. In a recent example, Don Imus , a popular radio personality, was in the spotlight for saying a racial slur directed towards a collegiate women's basketball team. Don Imus is white and the team members of whom he was talking about were black. This team members took offense to his words, but lets say a black radio host were to say the exact same racial slur that Imus used. What then? Would they call for the firing of that radio host as well? Or would it go unnoticed?

Sitting in my English class today, we also considered comedy. Comedy as such as how it is okay for black comics to make jokes about white people and the things they do, but (big BUT) if a white comedian were to make jokes directed towards what black people do I'm sure he would find out very quickly that that was a mistake. Take into consideration Micheal Richards, most commonly known as Kramer form the hit comedy sitcom called Seinfeld. Granted he situation was in a burst of rage, but say that had happened to a black comedian and instead of continuously saying "the 'N' word" say he said something like cracker or honky or whatever, would it have the same out come? or would it just set the audience into a roar of laughter?

What has happened to today's language? Is it only for a few?
The best answer I can give to that is this. Say what needs to be said. If there is no need to point out the targets race, color, or creed, then don't. Or plainly, do what Ms. T, a teacher at my elementary school, told me, "If you have nothing nice to say, then don't say a thing."