I don’t even live in the same universe as the mentality which “thinks” that way.

If only that were true.

The statement you find so ridiculous is actually a very standard POV taken in literary criticism. It’s touchstone is that words actually mean things independent of what the author wants or intends them to mean.

Quite apart from literary criticism, however, the idea that “You don’t get to define your own words” is as close and as obvious as a dictionary (although it appears you don’t have easy access to one) the purpose of which is to define the words you use.

So, the answer to your question is: No. You most certainly do not get to define your own words (presuming of course that you are using words from an accepted form of communication like, say, English). Those words have already been defined for you by Mr. Webster, among others, and I trust him to have done a more thourough job than you. Seriously.

I’ve seen a lot of wise things on this site, and alot of not-so-wise.

That might be the best self-description in any comment I’ve seen.

Why is it that leftists are so hell-bent on censoring those things they find offensive? If you don’t like the card, don’t buy it. It’s that simple. By what right do you deny another the chance to buy a card that they may not find offensive?

J.S. said that he taught the Saints correct principles and they governed themselves. As I understand it, his point was that he did not simply dictate people’s behavior for them. Perhaps you could learn from that.

sd

All cards that structuralize the hegemonic discourse of race, 5% off!

You know, I’m not worried about myself here. I’ve been around, ya know? If it comes to it, I can muster up enough racial resume bona fides to assure most people I’m one of the good guys. I’m worried about my dad–a kind, loving person who has good will towards everyone he meets. But I can very easily imagine him saying the wrong thing. Because he didn’t know any better–he hasn’t been around. And if you explained it to him he might not get it at first. It might be a completely new concept. And depending on who he is speaking with and how big the crowd that gathers around to watch grows he could find himself in the middle of a shit storm that he didn’t see coming and he doesn’t know how to get out of. I worry about that.

Sounds like your dad is like Barack O’bama’s grandmother–you know, a “typical white person.”

For example, when I was on my mission in Korea, I am pretty sure that there were weeks or even months where I was the only blond, blue-eyed, white person within several miles of any direction. I know that I stuck out in a crowd. But I didn’t notice it so much because I couldn’t see that contrast from where I was. Every where I looked, I saw people with black hair and skin darker than mine. Looking out from my eyes, everyone around me looked similar, and since I couldn’t see myself, I didn’t feel that different. I had no context otherwise. You can be sure that people around me saw that difference, though.

I suspect that part of why I didn’t feel so conspicuous was that I was also a dumb 19-21-year-old who was secure in some status as an American in what was at the time mostly a 3rd world country.

For several years we lived in southern New Mexico, near Las Cruces and El Paso, Texas, both border towns. Since many of the people there also had the black hair and darker skin than mine, I still felt like I fit in better than I probably did, because as I looked around and saw mostly people with darker hair and skin than mine, I was seeing what I was used to seeing. Does that mean that I was/am not racist? I suspect it is more likely that I did not experience any racism directed toward me, than that I don’t have racially tinged thoughts and ideas. I say that because I had a black friend who worked in my office who got pulled over by the police at a rate of nearly once a month solely for the offense of “DWB”–Driving While Black. I have never been pulled over for”DWW”, driving while white.