In America today, it is unacceptable, for good reason, to use racial slurs in speech.They do nothing but degrade and insult people and often end up alienating groups from one another. As such, society has worked to disdain the use of such words and most are no longer a part of everyday speech as they once were. However, this measure has been taken one step to far by some that take political correctness to new heights.In Washington D.C., mayoral aide David Howard resigned his position after he used the word “niggardly” when referring to his funding of a project. Before we all get fired up over the word and its “racist” meaning, consider these points. “Niggardly” has no racial undertones. The word can be found in any dictionary and means miserly or stingy. It is not listed as a “bad word” by scholars or dictionaries and is of Scandinavian decent. In other words, the word does not mean what it sounds like. In fact, upon examination, “niggard” has a different spelling than the racial slur with which it is confused. Mr. Howard, a white man, made the mistake of knowing the meaning to a word. He knew he was not making a racist statement. But, because of the hate mail and angry phone calls from people who assumed he was, he was out of a job. People across Washington and the nation jumped on this absurdity.The Washington chapter of the NAACP even said the word was misunderstood by many and a trip to the dictionary would clear up any misconceptions. Eventually, Mr. Howard was given his job back, but not before he was run trough the gauntlet of public outrage.Still, some say that Mr. Howard should have known what he was saying and chosen another word with less room for misinterpretation. He agreed, saying he would use the word “parsimonious” next time. This makes sense, and we would all be wise to heed such advice. But, at the same time, why should he apologize for using a harmless word?This is where America is today. It is no longer acceptable to say words that sound like bad words. It follows suit to refrain from using words like “spicket,” “fragment,” and “bit.” These words also sound like ethnic slurs and might offend someone who hears them.I am sure some of you were taken aback when you read the second paragraph of this column and saw the word “niggardly” in print. “How dare Aaron write this, the racist pig,” you might have said. I thought the same thing the first time I heard of this story.But I, as did others, fell victim to political correctness run overboard. I know racial and ethnic tensions are increased today. Minorities and the majority do not see eye-to-eye on many issues. Allowing insensitive remarks to go unchallenged is dangerous territory and should not be accepted by normal people with a heart.However, ostracizing the use of a word that sounds bad is going too far. Remember, minority organizations such as the NAACP take similar stances as mine on this issue. Yet, today’s society offers an “assume and attack first, question later” attitude. Before taking the time to research what Mr. Howard said, people assumed and attacked.Remember this the next time you hear a word and you don’t know the meaning. Question or research before jumping to conclusions and attacking. Racial slurs are unfortunately still prevalent in society and we should never overlook or dismiss this large problem that exists. However, let’s not allow our emotions to cloud judgment on words with meanings different than they sound.
Aaron Wiegand is a parsimonious sophomore finance major from Mansfield, Ohio.
