Just to show how off the rails some people can get, see this story:
No, Maxwell didn't use the word as an insult to anyone; she was relating a couple of incidents in which the word was used.
What kicks the whole thing up into the realm of face palm is this:
In other words, Big Brother is watching you.
Let me point out that, Griffin's comment notwithstanding, intent is everything. When it gets to the point where you can't even quote someone else's use of a particular word for fear of offending someone, then we're headed down a steep, nasty slope. This is really nothing more than a few snowflakes setting themselves up as thought police.
The irony here is that this is the position of an organization that regularly uses the word "queer". From HRC's website: "The Human Rights Campaign is America's largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer equality." Some of us remember when being called "queer" was an insult.
I had hopes when Griffin became head of HRC that he would whip the organization into line -- historically, it's one of the least effective civil rights groups ever. Instead, it looks like HRC has whipped Griffin into submission.
The leader of the nonprofit arm of the Human Rights Campaign (the HRC Foundation) has resigned after an investigation found she’d used the n-word twice.
Mary Beth Maxwell, who is white, previously worked for Barack Obama’s administration.
Maxwell was exposed in an email sent to staff by HRC President Chad Griffin which was obtained by Politico.
The email said an investigation was launched after an employee had complained about Maxwell’s use of the term.
No, Maxwell didn't use the word as an insult to anyone; she was relating a couple of incidents in which the word was used.
The President of HRC also wrote that Maxwell did not use the term with intent to insult someone else at HRC, and said that in the first incident she “recounted an upsetting personal story in which the term was used.”
“In the second instance she repeated the word in describing an external situation that they found horrifying, in which racial and homophobic slurs were used,’ Griffin wrote.
What kicks the whole thing up into the realm of face palm is this:
“I share this context because the lesson learned here is that not having bad intent in using the word does not make it acceptable,” Griffin added. “I want to be clear: intent does not matter. It is the impact of the word that matters.”
In other words, Big Brother is watching you.
Let me point out that, Griffin's comment notwithstanding, intent is everything. When it gets to the point where you can't even quote someone else's use of a particular word for fear of offending someone, then we're headed down a steep, nasty slope. This is really nothing more than a few snowflakes setting themselves up as thought police.
The irony here is that this is the position of an organization that regularly uses the word "queer". From HRC's website: "The Human Rights Campaign is America's largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer equality." Some of us remember when being called "queer" was an insult.
I had hopes when Griffin became head of HRC that he would whip the organization into line -- historically, it's one of the least effective civil rights groups ever. Instead, it looks like HRC has whipped Griffin into submission.
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