[WikiEN-l] Request for help with new article (slurs)

[Ray Saintonge]

Dante Alighieri wrote:

> Howdy all, I just wrote a new article, [[List of ethnic slurs]]. I've 
> put a redirect at [[List of racial epithets]]. Now, the list also 
> includes terms for people based on their religion, but I don't think 
> that the article title is that big a deal. Now, on to my request.
>
> Because I've from the United States, the list is obviously heavily 
> populated with American English examples. I'm hoping that people from 
> other countries (especially non-English speaking ones) will stop by to 
> add in their own terms.
>
> Just to clarify, I'm interested in this as a scholarly pursuit, 
> although it will probably be used for unsavory purposes by unsavory 
> individuals. If you could all take the time to go look and make 
> whatever changes you think will improve the article, I'd really 
> appreciate it. Thanks in advance!
>
> http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ethnic_slurs 

I would express a concern about the title.  "Ethnic" is certainly more 
comprehensive than "racial", so that part is a clear improvement.  On 
the other hand I find "slurs" to be more POV than "epithets".  I see a 
need to maintain a perspective of time.  What may be a slur to-day may 
not always have been so.  When the Doukhobors were given that name it 
was intended as a slur by the Tsarists; eventually they assumed the name 
themselves and the pejorative nature of the word dropped away. 
 Contrariwise, black Americans were once called "colored", and that term 
was generally accepted in its time.  It has since evolved away from 
acceptability, but it was certainly an improvement over "nigger".

Eclecticology