From: James Cermak <jameseff41@gmail.com> Date: Sun, 18 Feb 2018 18:08:32 -0600 Message-ID: <CANJFB47awemrMtrf_xQqZiXKhZ3=v+MCNe+C-LD0OGFNmLyfiw@mail.gmail.com> Subject: Re: Offensive names
As a retired college professor, now on the board of the Butternut Area
Historical Society, we spent 40 years teaching that an individual or group
cannot 'Ignore' the idiosyncratic behaviors of previous generations.
As a 100% Bohemian American - even "Bohunk" was a derogatory slur in its
day.
Lengthy discussions are in place to guide changes that must be made.
I am not an expert, nor do I have online resources at hand, but our Board
considers any questionable language concerns, and make changes that are
suited to today's cultural perspectives - not those of a prejudiced society
from 100 years ago.
This is an excellent question, denoting a reasonable evaluation.
How would you or an ancestor respond to a derogatory slur? That's what
drives the need for adjustments. It is not just 'politically correct.'
On Fri, Feb 16, 2018 at 6:11 PM, William Schuette <wschuette1@frontier.com>
wrote:
> We have old settler's articles and newspaper stories on our Web site from
> the late 1800s and early 1900s, which contain a few derogatory names for
> African Americans and Native American females. How do other organizations
> treat such occurrences? Do we leave them as written with the understanding
> that the usage was based on the time period, perhaps with a caveat at the
> beginning of the article explaining why they were retained? Or do we delete
> these references and put a bracket [ ] with an explanation as to why the
> words have been excised?
>
> Bill
>
> Sauk County Historical Society
>
>
-- *Jim Cermak* *Arts Referral Service* *W 9710 Meier Rd* *Butternut, Wi 54514-9051* *715-769-3245* *"I have three spectators: one who is deaf as a carpet, another who is blind as a mole, and another who is intelligent--more than anyone in the world, fine, sensible, spiritual, but doesn't understand a word of my language. It's a matter of convincing all three." Lucien Guitry, film director*