Words Do Matter-Even the Ones That Might Not Matter to You

A rash of incidents involving offensive words has made the news lately

According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution online, Georgia Senator Zell Miller recently sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfield over concern that the secretary had used the term "hillbilly" when referring to Congress and staff (7/20/01).

And the Late Night with Conan O'Brien show was sharply criticized by viewers and the Media Action Network for Asian Americans over a recent standup routine where jokester Sarah Silverman used the term "chinks" to describe Asian Americans (eonline.com 7/18/01).

That term, like "hillbilly," is considered derogatory and inappropriate. For some, these terms are the equivalent of the "n-word."

While some people scoff at the objection to such terms as "PC," the truth is that speech that inspires hate or insult accomplishes very little. Such speech certainly has no place in the business world.

People are also holding others accountable for what they say. In addition to boycotts and negative publicity, lawsuits over discrimination have seen record judgments in years. For instance, a court awarded $508 million to 1,100 women who sued the federal government over discrimination. Among the plaintiffs was Sarah Brady Hartman, who testified that an interviewer told her she wouldn't get a job with the U.S. Information Agency because she "was a woman." (The Detroit Free Press online, 3/23/00)

Consider how the words you choose might alienate or insult people before using them. Even an innocent slip of the tongue could, in fact, cost you in the long run.

For more information on making messages bias free, see Module Three, pp. 58-63.