As usual, she's misunderstanding the OP's issue and, in delusion, suggesting that others will learn from her. In that sense, the post is per formula. Otherwise, though, I object for a number of reasons.
I have a co-worker who repeatedly (multiple times a day) says “ghetto” when she means unprofessional/janky/subpar/lazy.
I find it really offensive. It’s ignorant at best and bigoted at worst. Is there any way to get the message to her that using “ghetto” in that sense is not at all office-appropriate? I can’t help but suspect she’d never dreeeam of saying it if all of us weren’t white or Asian-American.
July 11, 2012 at 2:47 pm
- I agree. It is WRONG. While there are peeple in today’s slums who are all of those things, the REAL meaning of Ghetto goe’s back to the time when people were herded into places and starved and shot. I sugest you foward my explaination to this co-worker so that she can get EDUCATED.
Read more: http://corporette.com/2012/07/11/previously-on-corporette-71/#ixzz20Mxl3fTX
Okay. Just to be ornery, I'm going to defend poor Ellen (though why, I don't know.) Maybe her point is more nuanced. Maybe she's saying its offensive for more than just its racial overtones in the U.S., but also because of its historical significance in the Jewish community. Yes, her random sentence is very Ellenish in its tone deafness, but she's not entirely wrong I suppose.
ReplyDeleteOf course, she also misses a broader point, that the term "ghetto" pre-dated the Holocaust by about 400 years and applied to a part of any city that was restricted to "Jews only" -- and had been applied to neighborhoods that were "other minorities only" before the Holocaust.
Anyway....everybody here is wrong and you shouldn't use that as a derogatory word.
No more defending Ellen. Geesh.
I don't find this ornery at all, TC. Thanks for taking the time. (And to my huge silent majority readership: know that new or anonymous commenters are also welcome at ELLENWatch to be serious as well as ludicrous. On those rare occasions when the post's provoke it.)
DeleteI thought of the points you raise, and of course Ellen regularly mentions being Jewish herself. I did not mention that here because I didn't want to make it look like I blame her misstep (which I don't) on a real religious faith, ethnic identity, or cultural community.
Actually, I was really proud of Ellen's post. And I'm always willing to get EDUCATED by Ellen.
ReplyDelete