Role of language in cultural and ethnic diversity

Discuss the role of language in cultural and ethnic diversity.

• Identify terms and/or phrases that were “acceptable” when you were younger but are now considered insensitive or offense.
• Are these changes for the better?

Some of the terms that seemed to have been used more frequently and loosely when I was young were “bum” or “retard.” Due to the high usage, children did not seem as offended when being called these names. If you take a second to look up what the meaning of retard is, you will find it is not a nice word to call someone. According to the Merriam & Webster dictionary the word retard in the offensive or informal way means a person affected with intellectual disability or a foolish stupid person. The role of language in culture and ethnic diversity is major, because if it is often seen in your culture to say these specific words, the meaning is not as serious or as deep rooted as it would be if you are not used to hearing it. For example, if you would have called me a retard growing up, I would just laugh and probably say it back to the person. If the same exact sentence or words were said to someone from a different culture or ethnicity, the person might feel offended and/or felt like they are being bullied. The word can damage or hurt that person more. Seems like the current culture is focusing on trying to be more empathetic towards other people’s feelings. People tend to get cancelled or become irrelevant in social media when using such harsh words. Does this strategy work? It should but there are an extreme number of cases of bullying on social platforms. People tend to spend too much time saying things they would not say to someone if that person was in front of them.