schmidt@reed.UUCP (Alan Schmidt) (02/04/85)
+------------------------------ | I have just been informed that "In our enlightened society, | people of Japanese descent are highly offended by the adjective | 'Jap'." Let me say that I intended to offend noone (and this is not an | apology, because there should be no insult taken), but this news group | should be the last place anybody could the same thing. So, when I (or | anyone else) use a term that might sound offensive to someone, remember | it's coming from the 23rd Century and Not the 20th! Sorry, but I can't agree. Star Trek displayed 20th century ethics in a 23rd century setting. Our heros never used words like "Jap," "Nip," "Nigger," or "Kike" to refer to anyone's racial origin. It's a copout to say no one should be offended. Those words are intended to dehumanize, and are quite a bit less than desireable. Okay, you didn't think it was going to be offensive, but when you found out people were put off by whatever words you used, you owe an apology for the insult, if not for the words used (if they were indeed used innocently). Even though these terms have lost their meaning in the 23rd century (let's hope, anyway) we still need to be sensitive to the feelings of those in the 20th, since that's where these articles are going. Alan ..tektronix!reed!schmidt