Freddie Gray possibly had back surgery a week before his death.

[cole256 17,084]

Step two, marginalize a person's life and exaggerate people's statements to make light of it. Check.

Completely unbiased of course.

Too funny. Like clockwork, the usual suspects do their best to minimize the (probable) wrongdoing of the officers.

They are consistent though....

[cole256 17,084]

Step two, marginalize a person's life and exaggerate people's statements to make light of it. Check.

Completely unbiased of course.

Too funny. Like clockwork, the usual suspects do their best to minimize the (probable) wrongdoing of the officers.

"the usual suspects" is in full force from both sides.

This is what I have gathered from this thread alone. Feel free to add everything that I miss as I am just trying to put pieces together.

Rumors:

#1 Mr Gray had recent back surgery

#2 The second person apprehended makes a statement that Mr. Gray was "thrashing" and yelling

Assumptions:

#1 Mr. Grays rap sheet proves he was a violent person with blatant disregard for law enforcement

#2 Mr. Gray was injured while in custody of white law enforcement so something shady had to of went on

#3 Very rare cases of erratic driving by paddy wagon drivers proves foul play in this case

#4 All cops are good

#5 All cops are evil

#6 This is a racial issue

#7 This is not a racial issue

Facts:

#1 Mr. Gray ran from Law Enforcement

#2 Police apprehended Mr. Gray

#3 There were witnesses to the arrest

#4 Mr. Grays windpipe was NOT crushed when put into the paddy wagon

#5 Mr. Gray has a long record of non violent criminal activity (I know nothing about the burglary)

#6 Mr. Gray was shackled but never put into seatbelts

#7 The paddy wagon made 4 stops

#8 There was a second person placed into the paddy wagon for less than half the trip

#9 Mr. Gray asks for medical attention at some point during the ride (I believe this accurate.

#10 Mr. Gray was injured and died while in police custody

#11 Raptor is abrasive in racial matters :poke:/>

#12 Cole is very sensitive in racial matters :P/>

#13 BigBen will never let Raptor have a last word :f :fish:/>

#14 Mims44 is a very sly and funny "dude" :bow:/>

#15 Tigger might have another personality trying to come out of the fallout bunker :outtahere:/>

Unfortunately you get sucked in into their agenda, if anyone actually reads my posts I actually rarely talk about race. Now I am not afraid to speak up and don't rush to call black people thugs, animals, and such. And I'll speak out about things I don't think is right. But yes I am black so I guess I have to be that label on this board....But if being accurate I could see someone saying Cole is sensitive towards police cases of brutality. But yes once again I am black. Thanks

[aubfaninga 16]

Unfortunately you get sucked in into their agenda, if anyone actually reads my posts I actually rarely talk about race. Now I am not afraid to speak up and don't rush to call black people thugs, animals, and such. And I'll speak out about things I don't think is right. But yes I am black so I guess I have to be that label on this board....But if being accurate I could see someone saying Cole is sensitive towards police cases of brutality. But yes once again I am black. Thanks

Now you know there is no fun in "being accurate" in this forum. Trying to accurately state things in this forum is like swimming against the tide ... wait I mean current.

[Mims44 1,871]

I guess I have a bit different view of words than others here :/ Wouldn't think I would be the minority but oh wells.

I usually keep skype conversations with friends to a mic/headset, and when friends come over they know to watch their language around my kids... that being said my kids have heard those friends use the words "thug", "gangsta", and .. oh no the "N" word.

I just explain to my kids that they are like any other word, and that context matters. I used the example of "poop" with my kids, whereas if they told me "daddy, I need to go poop" there wouldn't be any punishment for the language, but if I heard them calling someone else a poop-face then they would be in trouble. My kids seemed to grasp the concept of looking at the use of words in context pretty quickly.

[AURaptor 1,125]

#11 Raptor is abrasive in racial matters

I take exception to that. I'm abrasive on MOST matters.

And as for 'thug' being the new N word, I totally disagree. Sorry, it fits ALL races , not just black, who act in a certain manner. The word dates to before slaves were even brought here to the New World, so for anyone to think that it's just evolved in the past 20-30 years to refer to blacks exclusively, that's just flat out wrong.

If you act like a thug, you're gonna be called a thug. Don't like it ? Get over it, and stop acting like a thug.

[alexava 6,973]

The first time i remember hearing the word "thug"used was in high school. A teacher was referring to my brother. At that point i looked it up and have used it ever since, but when i use or hear the word i relate it back to that instant in the 11th grade. So in my head the term means; cocky little undisciplined ---hole, troublemaker, easily influenced, selfish as hell, theif, criminal who hasn't yet been caught but surely will. And we were raised by the same parents same house shared a room with less than two feet between our beds. He finally grew up in his mid to late twenties and we are very close now. So i can't digest that this word is unfairly used as a racial slur. You earn that label. Is it wrongfully assigned sometimes? Absolutely. But that don't change the meaning.

[AURaptor 1,125]

What's amazing is how thin skinned some are about being called out for their actions.

Anyone who loots, riots, beats up others, burns cars and buildings... sorry, you're acting in a thuggish manner.

That's on you. If you don't want to be called it, don't BE it.

[AUtiger98 24]

The first time I heard the word "Thugs" in response to the Baltimore riots was by the Mayor (a black lady) and then by the president (a black man). Are they racist?

[AUFAN78 3,910]

From his grave, John Gotti says hello.

[AUDub 11,149]

The first time I heard the word "Thugs" in response to the Baltimore riots was by the Mayor (a black lady) and then by the president (a black man). Are they racist?

The mayor was smart enough to walk the comment back and apologize. It was certainly wrong by both parties.

[AUDub 11,149]

The first time i remember hearing the word "thug"used was in high school. A teacher was referring to my brother. At that point i looked it up and have used it ever since, but when i use or hear the word i relate it back to that instant in the 11th grade. So in my head the term means; cocky little undisciplined ---hole, troublemaker, easily influenced, selfish as hell, theif, criminal who hasn't yet been caught but surely will. And we were raised by the same parents same house shared a room with less than two feet between our beds. He finally grew up in his mid to late twenties and we are very close now. So i can't digest that this word is unfairly used as a racial slur. You earn that label. Is it wrongfully assigned sometimes? Absolutely. But that don't change the meaning.

This is the thing about language, guys. If people start using a word as a racial slur, it becomes a racial slur irrespective of its previous meanings or connotations.

Thug has been migrating in the direction of the black brute stereotype for several years now. Having a perfectly good word ruined by bigots sucks, but there are enough people who use thug in a racially-loaded manner that the newfound connotations can't be ignored.

[cooltigger21 0]

The first time I heard the word "Thugs" in response to the Baltimore riots was by the Mayor (a black lady) and then by the president (a black man). Are they racist?

The mayor was smart enough to walk the comment back and apologize. It was certainly wrong by both parties.

Why. It was a perfectly apt description of the behavior that went on. I don't care if the people doing that were black, white, red, green, blue or pink purple polka dotted. A thug is a thug and those people were thugs. It has nothing to do with race. People are so offended at the least little thing.

[AUFAN78 3,910]

I'm just dropping a little reminder that riots are not just a black person phenom.

Some of us know this because we think of rioters as law breakers and thus "thugs".

The words law breaker, rioter, nor thug makes me think black. The N-word is directed as derogatory toward blacks in most all cases which is exactly why I do not use it.

exactly. my 10 year old has never heard the n- word. "thug" is said by some to be the new n-word. I strongly disagree. when it becomes racist to call out low life criminals we have a problem.

Must be nice living in y'all's little bubble, isolated from the world at large.

Richard Sherman made a fine point last year. Perhaps y'all should listen to what he had to say.

I don't know what "bubble" you perceive that I live in. I was born and raised in Americus GA (Sumter County). I played football from 6 years old until my senior year of high school in the public city schools system or REC. I currently live in Columbus GA. I have worked in manufacturing plants all my adult life. Basically, I have been in the "minority" my entire life.

Does any of this make me an expert into black people or racial matters? No, because I am a white man and I have no earthly idea what black people have to live with in matters of oppression. I do know that most of the hard working men in my plant (that just happen to be black) have had 0 issues with law enforcement in at least the past 10 years. Could it possible be that they work 50 to 60 hours per week and stay above the LAW?

Back to the word "thug". Pro athletes and sports commentators are not going to sway my thoughts on any matter whatsoever. Especially not Charles Barkley. I cannot help that the music industry has embraced the word "thug". If I see my nephew or son wearing his pants around his ankles I will most likely tell him to stop acting like a "thug". The only way someone can take that as being a racial slur is if they, in their own mind, relate low riding pants to black people. OR... They think of low riding pants as a positive thing and a good picture to show society.

Interesting this was totally ignored in this thread. Guess what? It is totally ignored in society as well. Until we get real and address known fact, known truth we can't begin to solve the issue. Like Ben, I grew up in the inner city of Birmingham. I had to make a choice early in life to stay and hang with my boys at 7-11 or move on. I chose the latter. But as I reflect on that time, one thing is clear. Those with fathers active in their life had a far greater chance of success. And those like myself who chose to work as opposed to hanging a the 7-11 had a far greater level of success. It is no different today. I've mentioned many times my work in the inner city. Lack of father figures and lack of desire to work are major obstacles in this community. I get so angry when I see people dismiss this as nonsense. The same people that try and talk a good game, but aren't in the community doing a damn thing. Many of our liberal authors are guilty of this crime. You will not see them in the hood. They write from the luxury of their palace. You want real truth? Ride with me for a day in ":the Ham" and I'll show you 20 kids skipping school. I'll show you 100 adults who could care less about work. But more importantly, I'll introduce you to a little brother who chose a different path. Everyone has a choice and a chance.

[TheBlueVue 177]

This is what happens when the grievance industry and the welfare state intersect. Any issue that is perceived as a social injustice by the ignorant is immediately labelled a function of white privilege and systemic racism. Dishonest politicians and stupid pundits stoke those flames because it builds on the left's power base.They look for every possible word spoken to try to justify the rage. The whole debate about the use of the word 'thug" is silly self serving and boring. A thug is a thug and I'd bet my last dollar that the 154 people who had their car burned or the good folks whose businesses got torched would have no problem whatsoever with that descriptor which so aptly fits. I'll never understand why so much effort is exerted to make excuses for vandalism and crime as long as they are black perps. if the Tea Party had a civil non-violent march they'd be so maligned by the same folks making excuses for these thugs its ridiculous.

One brilliant pundit suggested that Obama used the word thug and then doubled down on it because he was half white. Wait what?

[WarTim 3,456]

Why don't we hear that instead of crushed .& severed ?

We wont hear that because Baltimore has decided not to make the report public. So, instead, we'll be treated to, back surgery, self injuring stories. It's just the same progression we've seen before...mixing skittles with arizona tea, drugs in the system, too fat, strategically releasing store video. Wash, rinse, repeat.

No doubt. This was clearly a strategic leak.

Government out of control. And the media is in a feeding frenzy while the rest of us watch in angst. This stuff just tears at my soul....it should to any American citizen.

Agree. Well said EMT

[AURaptor 1,125]

" thug " has been migrated on purpose, by those who object to their actions being called out . They feel they we entitled to " act out " as the world, the USA, etc.., is racist , so they are with in their rights to act like thugs.

They are wrong.

[AUDub 11,149]

" thug " has been migrated on purpose, by those who object to their actions being called out . They feel they we entitled to " act out " as the world, the USA, etc.., is racist , so they are with in their rights to act like thugs.

They are wrong.

"Thug" has been co-opted by bigots to perpetuate the old black brute stereotype.

You are wrong.

[AUDub 11,149]

Back to the topic. Big news.

Freddie Gray's Death Ruled A Homicide; Officers Will Face Murder Charges

The death of Freddie Gray was a homicide, and there is "probable cause" for criminal charges, State's Attorney Marilyn J. Mosby says, citing her office's "thorough and independent" investigation and the medical examiner's report on Gray's death.

Mosby announced a range of charges against several Baltimore police officers, ranging from second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter to assault and misconduct in office. A warrant has been issued for their arrest, she said.

After announcing those charges, Mosby noted her own ties to the police community — including her mother and father. She thanked officers who are committed to serving the community.

We'll have more details from the announcement.

Update at 10:51 a.m. ET: Recounting Details Of Gray's Arrest

Running down an exhaustive account of Gray's arrest and treatment while in custody, Baltimore's chief prosecutor is listing numerous occasions on which Gray was not properly restrained with a seatbelt while he

rode in the back of a police van.

Update at 10:48 a.m. ET: Gray's Death A Homicide, Prosecutor Says

Mosby said she has assured Gray's family that "no one is above the law," also cited her oath of office, in which she promised "uphold justice."

She said that her review of the case found there had been no reason to detain Gray, and that his arrest was illegal.

The leading prosecutor in Baltimore spoke at a 10:30 a.m. news conference held in downtown Baltimore. The occasion brought a large show of force from both police and National Guard personnel who have been called on to secure the area since violence and vandalism broke out Monday night.

Earlier today, the local chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police says it has sent a letter to Mosby, asking her to appoint a special independent prosecutor in the case. The chapter's president alleged that she had "many conflicts of interest" in the case. This morning, Mosby said she would be handling the case herself, adding that the people of Baltimore had elected her.

Mosby spoke one day after receiving the Baltimore Police Department's report on Gray's death. The findings aren't public, and police revealed only a few new details when they announced the transition in the case Thursday.

NPR and other news organizations have asked Baltimore's police department to release its report on the arrest and death of Freddie Gray, as well as for related documents and materials such as tapes of 911 calls made when Gray was taken into custody.

Our original post continues:

Gray died on April 19, one week after being taken into custody. Police have said that during his transport, Gray wasn't buckled in properly and did not receive timely medical care. Six police officers remain suspended over the case.

As the Two-Way has reported, when police turned over the documents to State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby in Baltimore, they announced that "the van transporting Freddie Gray, the 25-year-old black man who suffered a serious spine injury while in police custody and later died, made one more stop than previously thought."

The roughly 40 minutes that Gray spent in the van have emerged as the focal point in the inquiry over how he sustained the injury.

That extra stop was discovered through a review of recordings made by security and private cameras, Deputy Police Commissioner Kevin Davis said. He added that another detainee who was riding in the van told police that Gray was "still moving around ... kicking and making noises" until the van reached the police station.

That second detainee rode in the police van on the other side of a metal partition that divides its cargo space. When he was picked up, Gray was already in the van.

Local news WJZ-TV reports that Donta Allen, 22, was that second man — and that he came forward Thursday out of concern over how his comments were being portrayed by both the police and the media.

"When I was in the back of that van it did not stop or nothing. All it did was go straight to the station, but I heard a little banging, like he was banging his head," Allen said. " I didn't even know he was in the van until we got to the station."

Saying his words have been distorted by recent reports and that he doesn't think Gray hurt himself intentionally, Allen also told a WJZ reporter, "The only reason I'm doing this is because they put my name in a bad state."

Allen, who was reportedly taken into custody for a minor offense and was not charged with a crime, also spoke to WBAL TV. He told the station that when he got into the van, he didn't know Gray was already there. He said he heard "a little banging for like four seconds."

WBAL aired surveillance camera footage that shows officers looking into Gray's side of the van during the stop that also picked up Allen.

When the van arrived at the police station, Allen said he heard the officers say that Gray didn't have a pulse and was unresponsive — and that another officer later said, "He's got vitals now, he must've come back."

The sequence of events has led to wide-ranging questions over what happened: Was the van driven in a way that caused Gray's injury? When did Gray become unresponsive? Were the sounds Allen heard caused by a seizure experienced by a gravely wounded man?

The Baltimore Sun reports: "Maryland's chief medical examiner, Dr. David R. Fowler, said his office has not completed an autopsy or turned any documents over to police or prosecutors. He said homicide detectives had observed the examination, a routine practice."

When it's complete, Fowler's report will go straight to the state's attorney's office, the newspaper says.

NPR and other news organizations have asked Baltimore's police department to release its report on the arrest and death of Freddie Gray, as well as for related documents and materials such as tapes of 9-1-1 calls made when Gray was taken into custody.

Protesters have been calling on police to reveal more information about the case.

Thursday was the third night of Baltimore's 10 p.m.-5 a.m. curfew. Ahead of the deadline, crowds of demonstrators marched downtown amid a large police presence. Baltimore's curfew is expected to remain in effect through this weekend.

According to The Associated Press, here's what protesters were chanting Thursday night:

• "I love Baltimore. We want peace."
  
• "No justice, no peace."
  
• "Justice. Freddie Gray."
  
• "Black lives matter."
  

[Mims44 1,871]

" thug " has been migrated on purpose, by those who object to their actions being called out . They feel they we entitled to " act out " as the world, the USA, etc.., is racist , so they are with in their rights to act like thugs.

They are wrong.

"Thug" has been co-opted by bigots to perpetuate the old black brute stereotype.

You are wrong.

I tend to not let idiots decide the meanings of words for me, you shouldn't either BigBens. Sooner or later they are gonna wise up and start calling any individual with dark skin committing a crime an "evolution".

Then you won't be able to use to talk about evolution without being racist.

[AUDub 11,149]

" thug " has been migrated on purpose, by those who object to their actions being called out . They feel they we entitled to " act out " as the world, the USA, etc.., is racist , so they are with in their rights to act like thugs.

They are wrong.

"Thug" has been co-opted by bigots to perpetuate the old black brute stereotype.

You are wrong.

I tend to not let idiots decide the meanings of words for me, you shouldn't either BigBens. Sooner or later they are gonna wise up and start calling any individual with dark skin committing a crime an "evolution".

Then you won't be able to use to talk about evolution without being racist.

Some of you have written to me and asked how I work through the “too hard” pile of things I need to come back to in the future. For me' date=' I keep a system of thought files, on specific topics, and spend several weeks working through them, until I have nothing else to add. They may then sit there for years, until I come across something useful to understanding what is happening. This is an example of one of those thought files. It deals with the evolution of non-offensive terms into profanity and slurs. It is designed to show you the [b']process[/b] of how I approach these things, not necessarily to represent any of my final opinions on the matters, as I am probably several years away from reaching a full understanding of the dynamics of this particular concept.

I’ve never liked cursing. It’s just not my style. To quote the great Dowager Countess, “profanity is no substitute for wit.” However, language interests me. It tells you a lot about human nature, society, culture, values, and, in some cases, the environment in which an area is located.

Given the amount of reading I do every year, including texts that are several centuries old, there is a common theme that has stuck out, always flagging attention in the back of my mind. It’s the evolution of euphemistic non-offensive terms into slurs, only to be replaced by similar euphemistic non-offensive terms, with the cycle ever-repeating.

The on-going churning of words or phrases, arising from accumulated cultural baggage, can tell you a lot about a society and human nature’s desire to ignore underlying realities. It’s almost absurd how regular this practice is, yet few people seem to notice it or when they, themselves, are taking part in the evolution of a word.

Examples are always helpful. My native country is abundant with them; given the melting pot nature of the United States population in the 19th and 20th centuries, it experienced first hand a rapid influx of this phenomenon. As Italian, German, Irish, French, Jewish, and other immigrants flooded into the nation, English, like a self-updating software program, began to organically adopt more efficient ways of communicating ideas by discarding less useful words, substituting in better ones.

An Example from German

Consider the evolution of Scheiße. The word is not offensive to English-only speaking people. It means a “piece of garbage”, or “refuse; excrement”. When Germans came to the United States, one branch of my family among them (the Strauss bloodline on my father’s side, through his mother), the seedier members of society would have cursed, exclaiming, “Scheiße!”.

When German immigrants came to the United States, often forming little communities as they integrated into life in a new country, many didn’t want to use the more offensive term, Scheiße, so they used the less crude “s***”, instead. Once those native speakers died off after a couple of generation, the less offensive term became the more offensive term.Not fit for the ears of women and children, polite society urged those who would curse to use a far less offensive substitute, which is still used in Germany today: s***.

So, the more genteel members of society did so. Hit your hand? Be polite. Don’t say Scheiße, say s***.

It only took a few generations for the native German speakers to die off before people forgot entirely that Scheiße was the bad word. With no more, higher offensive term above it, the word “s***” took on the crown of its former master and became the de facto reigning monarch in that branch of English cursing.

Today, I still cringe when I hear the word, even though it makes no sense. It is an artificial social construct. It is, in fact, a social construct that wasn’t even offensive that long ago. Yet, I still get caught off guard when I hear it. I hate even typing it. It’s lazy, not very clear, and has a high probability of alienating a given percentage of an audience, meaning your ideas are less likely to find receptive ears.

Polite society then introduced a second-tier word, to replace the loss of “s***”: “Crap” or, in some cases, “Bull Crap” or “Bull”.

And now, we’ve arrived at the point where those words are, in some quarters, considered offensive. I’ve seen parents discipline their children for using them.

It starts, again.

An Example from English

Consider another example, from native English to native English. The word “retarded” comes from an Anglo-French or Latin word “retarder” or “retardere” which means “to slow” or “to delay”. It has found its way into many languages, including Italian, where it is commonly used in music. If you see “ritardano” on an orchestral score, it means gradually reducing the tempo; retarding. Likewise, in music theory, a retardation is a type of non-chord tone.

In English, the word has been around for 225 years, first appearing in 1788.

It was for that reason that in 1895, the word “retarded” began to be used to describe those who were “slow” due to mental handicaps. It was a perfectly innocuous word that was used as a euphemism; “Timmy is … retarded” meant the same as us, today, saying, “Timmy is … slow”.

The word “retarded” was used as a replacement for offensive words such as “idiot”. It was the polite euphemism. A lot of well meaning people convinced others to use it instead of the more hurtful terms.

How did the word become offensive, to the point it is now considered a serious slur by some? Over several generations, cruel elementary school children turned a descriptive word into a weapon, calling out a feature that was different from the standard. Kids would laugh and point when the person with the mental handicap made a mistake, yelling, “Retard!”, slowly transforming it into a slur.

Those kids grew up and it spilled over into general usage for efficiency sake, becoming a way to quickly denigrate the mental competence of someone who was behaving in a non-optimal manner; e.g., a college team is drunk and one of them starts climbing a high tower, from which a fall would kill him. One of the more sober teammates yells, “Get down here! You’re being retarded.”

When a certain critical mass of cultural baggage had been achieved, the parents who found themselves having children who were intellectually handicapped chaffed at the word.

So new euphemisms arose. These differ based on your geographic area, but the most common substitute these days is “special needs”. It is young enough to be descriptive, and convey ideas, without having taken on much of the baggage of its predecessor.

That will change.

In a few decades, if the term “special needs” remains en vogue, it will be just as big of a slur as “retarded” is today. By then, it is possible that “retarded” itself will have fallen out of use entirely, and could make a rise as the less offensive term. More likely, another phrase or word will rise in its place.

The Phenomenon Can Reverse

The process can also reverse. It is possible, though rarer, for an offensive term to become a common, everyday term.

One hundred and fifty years ago, the term “Dickens”, which was used as substitute for “devil”, was offensive. For example, “Who the dickens traipsed all this mud into the foyer?”. Today, the word would be a charming anachronism with nothing offensive about it.

One hundred years ago, “balls”, short for “ballocks”, was crude. Today, most Americans would raise their eyebrows at you and think you were from Europe. There would be nothing offensive about the word anymore than “apple” or “orange”.

Fifty years ago, the term “homosexual” was often used as a slur by the news media in scandals, leading to court damages in some cases, whereas today is a completely innoculous descriptive term like Caucasian or female.

It takes time, but there are words right now that are common into more common usage. Though we aren’t there yet, there are some linguists who believe that “****” has become so common that is getting ingrained in the cultural language itself. Though I am not a fan of using it, for the 30-and-younger crowd, it is far less offensive as it was a generation or two ago. In most parts of the world, it isn’t even bleeped out on television, the United States being one of the lone exceptions.

Where It Gets Tricky

Things can get complicated when you have certain elements of society that insist on using out-of-date definitions.

Take the phrase “dumb” and “lame”. Unlike “retarded”, which has transformed into a legitimate slur tied to a specific group of people and used as a weapon, a small faction of people now believe dumb and lame represent the same sort of offensive wording because the former – a century ago – was used to refer to people who could not hear, and the latter to those who could not walk.

The problem? An insignificant percentage of the population was alive when those definitions were used in that way. Even to my grandmothers, born in the 1930’s and 1940’s, dumb means stupid and lame means boring, whereas deaf means deaf and handicapped means handicapped. The terms are in no way related. The words evolved. They have no connection or connotation relating to their former usage, just like half of the words we use. The last time anyone was widely referred to as “deaf and dumb” in the archaic use of the term was Helen Keller, who was born in 1880.

This same thought process would be like insisting, “homosexual is not offensive because back in 1914, it was a bad word used to speak down to a child or a woman, and before that, it meant a pile of sticks used to kindle a fire”. Yes, but neither of those definitions represent the meaning of the word today. Therefore, the word is offensive, just as retarded has become offensive. Deaf, and lame, however, are not. You will never get a significant portion of society to agree to police the latter two words. The transformation is already too complete, and too ingrained. Due to mental models, someone who insists otherwise or who advocates for change will be written off – including ignoring any valid concerns they have – making their mission more difficult. It isn’t right, but people let mere association and the horns and halo effect bleed over into everything else (e.g., “She’s so stupid, she believes X, therefore, I won’t listen to her concerns about Y,” even though Y could be perfectly valid.)

Language Evolves. It Always Has. It Always Will.

The lesson: Language evolves. To borrow from the last paragraph, two hundred years ago, Scheiße was offensive and homosexual was not. Today, the opposite is true. That is reality. The meaning of words change because words don’t exist as a fixed, absolute thing.

Words represent a package of cultural ideas and associations, all wrapped up into a sound or group of symbols.

You know this on an instinctual level.

Picture the first thing that comes to mind when you see the following words:

• Apple
  
• Truck
  
• Death
  
• Birth
  
• Cat
  
• Snowstorm
  

The moment you saw the letters, your brain conjured images, associations, feelings, and visuals about what the word represented if you are like most people. The associations give the word meaning, not the other way around. That seems to be the lesson.

The moment I became convinced of this theory? I was walking somewhere and heard another person refer to Hermione Granger as a “filthy mud blood”, a completely made up term from the world of Harry Potter to describe those who were not of pure wizard blood. It’s a fictional book, dealing with a fictional character, and a fictional slang word. Yet, before my rational mind could process what was happening, I instantly had a flash of disgust and anger that someone would speak about someone else like that.

Words: Symbols, and sounds, that serve as shorthand for associations, ideas, and concepts. When the latter changes, the spirit of the former does. The word itself has no power. Words themselves have no meaning. It is the intention behind them that counts. It is how a seemingly innocent word can be turned into a weapon, and a seemingly offensive word can be used lovingly among a group of close friends.

The Internet Might Change This Pattern

There is one wildcard variable: The Internet. Travel back in time a decade. The year is 2003. I am in college. There was no YouTube. It hadn’t been invented, yet. You couldn’t just pull up a video site and see archives of news footage from back in history, or watch your favorite band when they were younger.

Now, you have access to enormous archives of recorded human speech, politics, news coverage, economic policy, music, law, art, history, etc. It is much more difficult for something to fade into memory if you can still see it; remember it.

That could be the death knell of the evolution of euphemisms into slurs but we won’t know for another few centuries.

It might also accelerate the process as words become slurs faster or become used more frequently.

It’s going to be interesting to watch.

The Questions I Still Need to Answer

The next big question:

• Who are the agents of change that introduce these language developments?
  
• Groups play a role – immigrants especially.
  
• Comedians, the modern day court jesters, also tend to wield enormous power in shaping the discussion and evaluation of a culture.
  
• Music, to some degree, does, but there is often a backlash by the older generations, limiting its power somewhat.
  
• Journalists, certainly, but they can only really do what society already reflects if they want to be taken seriously.
  
• Which people, and which organizations or institutions, are most responsible for driving shifts in the base language?
  
• What causes some concepts to catch on, and others to be ridiculed and mocked? (There seems to be a strong tie to certain biological or natural truths.)
  
• How could this be abused by a manipulative government or institution to implement its own policy on a society over long periods of time, against that society’s own best interests?
  
• The conditions of exposure probably play a significant role, as well. If a parent has a child who is mentally handicapped and, up until that point, has only ever heard “retarded” used as an insult, he or she is likely to take it as a slur. This probably plays a much larger role than is being considered in the present formula.
  

These are the things I need to be thinking about, identifying, and cataloging.

Just as importantly: Social programming, and decency standards, need to be studied. Although I intellectually understand that certain words are a social construct, I still get incredibly uncomfortable if I, myself, am forced to use them. Even writing some of the words for academic study in this document is bothersome. Why? Although I have no intention of changing it, nor would even consider it advisable, examine that, as well.

[AURaptor 1,125]

" thug " has been migrated on purpose, by those who object to their actions being called out . They feel they we entitled to " act out " as the world, the USA, etc.., is racist , so they are with in their rights to act like thugs.

They are wrong.

"Thug" has been co-opted by bigots to perpetuate the old black brute stereotype.

You are wrong.

It hasn't.

Those whining about being called s thug are just losers, punks & low life's who take exception to being called for what they are.

They demand respect where none is earned. I'll say it as often as I have to... Don't act like a thug .& you won't be called s thug .

[TitanTiger 20,483]

Officers charged:

http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/01/us/freddie-gray-baltimore-death/index.html

[TitanTiger 20,483]

More details:

Baltimore's state's attorney announced Friday that charges will be filed against six officers in the death of Freddie Gray, the man who suffered a spinal injury while in police custody and died a week later.

"I assured his family that no one is above the law and that I would pursue justice on their behalf," Marilyn Mosby said in a press conference on Friday.

The charges against the officers include second-degree murder, manslaughter, assault and misconduct in office, among others. Only one officer faces a second-degree murder charge, the most serious count.

Mosby's announcement that Gray's death was ruled a homicide was met with cheers from Baltimore residents. The city has been the scene of protests and riots demanding justice for the 25-year-old.

Gray was arrested April 12 and died on April 19 from his injuries. His death has prompted calls for police reform nationwide.

Mosby detailed Gray's arrest on Friday, describing how during his ride from the scene of his arrest to the booking site, he repeatedly requested medical attention. The officers failed to get him any help, she said.

"A medic was finally called to the scene, where the medic determined that Mr. Gray was in cardiac arrest," she said.

Baltimore's police commissioner said Thursday that his department had handed over confidential information on how Gray died to prosecutors. Meanwhile, the Justice Department is also working on its own independent investigation.

Mosby said in Friday's news conference that her office had been investigating Gray's death independently of police's investigation.

"We knew that this was a serious case," she said. "From day one, we investigated. We're not just relying solely on what we were given by the police department."

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/baltimore-unrest/freddie-gray-n351881

[Proud Tiger 4,261]

Now we can get at least 22 more pages of yada yada and speculation

[alexava 6,973]

Officers charged:

http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/01/us/freddie-gray-baltimore-death/index.html

unless these officers turn on each other, i dont think this will stick. Too much unknown.