AN UPDATE: Regarding the thread this morning about the use of the word "Negro" at work

[Happy Hoosier]

72. OOF. We need to really work on this.

Look.... I advocate sensitivity. I try to avoid the use of offensive terms in a modern context as much as possible.

But there are times where doing so completely can distort history. My wife is a Victorian Lit scholar. Guess what? They often use terms that we consider offensive today. To avoid them would be to put a gloss on history that is just inaccurate. For example, they called Roma people "Gypsies" in this time period. They just did.

I do living history... a War of 1812 frontiersman in Indiana. When IN CHARACTER as a frontiersman, I refer to the Native Americans as Indians. I cannot bring myself to use the term "savages," But my character is a trader who is friendly with the natives and probably wouldn't call them that. Calling them Natives would not give an accurate picture of what white people were doing to the Natives in this part of the country at that time. When I am OUT of character, I do use the modern preferred term. Though the Native camp, which is usually next to mine often uses the term Indian too... and they are all Natives.

Context matters. It's also why "color blind casting" in an historical show bothers me. It give a false impression of historical inclusivity that makes it easy to gloss over the injustices of the past, and to ignore the fact that minorities and oppressed peoples have their OWN stories that are worth telling and hearing. And it can mask ACTUAL inclusivity.

Rant off.