Generation Gap: What if you never knew ethnic slurs were slurs?!

From the NSP News Service: What if you never knew an "ethnic slur" was an ethnic slur? It is possible, of course, to have been raised in an era and/or an area where terms now considered "ethnic slurs" were considered perfectly acceptable parts of speech. This is particularly true if your primary cuktural and educational formation took place before the infamous Civil Rights Act of 1964, which the NSP believes ought to be repealed.

The example below is a good example of well-intentioned use of a term ("wetback") which was a regular, accepted part of American speech in the 1960's but is now considered anathema! Contacted by phone early today, NSP Leader Dr. Jacques Pluss recalls that, as an early teenager back in the mid-1960's on the eastern end of Long Island, NY, things were very different. According to Pluss, terms including koon, nigger, nigra, kike, wetback, darkie, yid, queer and faggot were regularly invoked by adults, and many were very well-educated, around him and his friends. In fact, even today, Pluss's present mother-in-law, part of whose family entered the United States illegally from Denmark via Canada in the 1920's, proudly refers to herself as being descended from "snowbacks."

It ought to be taken into consideration that an individual may very well be using a term that is now considered derogatory by a younger generation when the individual using the term means no disrespect. The story below is a good example of the sort of misunderstandings which might occur because of the "language generation gap."

GOP congressman uses ethnic slur to describe laborers

Alaskan Congressman Don Young is under fire for comments he made about immigrant workers during a recent radio interview. He is now saying he "meant no disrespect" by using the term "wetback." NBC's Kelly O'Donnell reports.

By Michael O'Brien, Political Reporter, NBC News

A Republican congressman from Alaska on Thursday used a slur referring to immigrants, particularly Mexicans, in an interview with a public radio station in his home state.
Amid a hot-button debate in Washington over how to overhaul the nation's immigration laws, Rep. Don Young, a 21-term lawmaker, referred to immigrant workers as "wetbacks" — a term that could threaten to inflame the debate about immigration reform.
"My father had a ranch; we used to have 50-60 wetbacks to pick tomatoes," Young said in an interview with radio station KRBD. He was discussing the number of jobs that have been made irrelevant due to advances in automation.

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"It takes two people to pick the same tomatoes now. It’s all done by machine," Young added.
While the veteran congressman wasn't referring directly to immigration reform, his remarks certainly cut against the broader Republican effort to repair the party's dismal image with Latino voters.

Becky Bohrer / AP

U.S. Rep. Don Young addresses a rally in front of the state Capitol on Thursday in Juneau, Alaska.

"Wetback" is a derogatory term for migrant workers, particularly Mexicans or Mexican-Americans who now reside in the United States.
In a statement, Young said he "meant no disrespect" in using the word.
“During a sit down interview with Ketchikan Public Radio this week, I used a term that was commonly used during my days growing up on a farm in Central California," the statement said.
"I know that this term is not used in the same way nowadays and I meant no disrespect.
“Migrant workers play an important role in America’s workforce, and earlier in the said interview, I discussed the compassion and understanding I have for these workers and the hurdles they face in obtaining citizenship. America must once and for all tackle the issue of immigration reform.”

-- Karl Wolff III, Director of Communication, NSP.  1488!