Submitted by vineyardmike t3_10m3qlp in nottheonion
n000d1e t1_j60ycht wrote
Reply to comment by PythonProtocol in Unsheltered advocates claim SLC didnt give notice, scooping woman into dumpster by vineyardmike
It’s more to highlight that not having a home is not a defining characteristic of who someone is, it’s a situation that anyone could find themselves in. It’s actually trying to dismantle stereotypes by showing that it isn’t some specific group of people. It’s not just changing terminology bc homeless is an insult, it’s changing it because the way that we speak about people can have a huge impact on how those same people are viewed. Homeless drug addict has a different connotation that unhoused person struggling with addiction, yknow? No one is pretending that it has a different meaning, it’s just about being respectful towards others. We can’t dismantle stereotyping without first recognizing the terminology associated with it. Just like “Jap” and “Japanese” have much different associations with them, despite “technically” meaning the same thing (i’m asian btw, that’s why i’m using it as an example, i’m not trying to say that homeless is a slur.) Hope this helps.
PythonProtocol t1_j60z4ga wrote
Yeah I definitely get the intended purpose, I just think there's going to have to be societal shift for it to have the effect that it is supposed to have. The people who think that renaming things is dumb are going to continue to use the old terminology and continue to be negative and the people who choose to use the new terminology were probably already respectful anyways.
Either way, I appreciate the time that you spent to explain it. Just wish that we had better results in practice.
onandonandonandoff t1_j617t79 wrote
The societal shift starts by being intentional with our thoughts and words. Then that leads to being more intentional with our actions.
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