[ExI] War ----- It's a meme!

[Mike Dougherty]

2010/11/9 Darren Greer <darren.greer3 at gmail.com>:
> It's not so much the generalized term that people are using, but what that
> generalized term means and where it comes from.  Inuit means "our people"
> from a Northern Indigenous tribal dialect. Eskimo means "eater of raw flesh"
> from the Cree, who are incontestibly not Eskimo or Inuit. Nit-picking aside,
> I can see that the objections to the first might be greater than the second.

Likewise I take offense at being called a Typical American to mean
"eater of junk food while watching TV."
I think the colloquial "Couch Potato" is more appropriate for that
particular meaning.  :)

> But the term Eskimo is (or almost is) universally culturally offensive, as
> far as I know. And this biggest nit-pick of all? I stated the term Eskimo
> was cultural offensive, and bet even the Yupik and (I know the Innui) find
> it so. It is best when dealing with tribes who don't identify with the "Our
> People's" designation to ask them what they prefer to be called, instead of
> assuming "eater of raw flesh" is OK.

Ultimately I prefer to be called "Mike."  If we could remember to call
people by their names rather than by labels all these problems could
be easily avoided.