I love Glitch, I love Global chat and I love navigating the wide variety of players who participate in both. I ran up against a fairly common situation today in global and I'm curious how my fellow Glitches handle these sorts of encounters.
I've seen players speak up when words they find offensive appear both in global chat and in the forums and get mixed reactions ranging from supportive to derisive. We're all entitled to our opinion no matter where it falls on that spectrum.
Today, I mentioned in global chat that the use of the word "ghetto" as an adjective bothers me. I made a point to tell folks that I wasn't asking them to stop using the word, but that I thought it was important to be honest that, as a participant in the conversation, "ghetto" troubles me.
I received one supportive "thank you" via IM and a few groans of, "well geez Sloppy, so what's the PC term we should use lol".
If you're not familiar with the Jay Smooth "Ill Doctrine" take on talking about race please take a three minutes to watch this.
Back to using "ghetto" as an adjective. This explains my feelings better than I could. I posted that link in global when people asked me to explain why I'm bothered by the term. No one responded, which is fine. There is no reading required to have an opinion.
My big question here is: How do we respectfully let one another know when we our boundaries are being pushed/crossed? One expects a certain level of dismissiveness in overall responses- it IS the internet of course- but can we talk about these issues without brawling? Can I say both that "ghetto" bothers me and still let you know you're free to use it however you wish?
I like to think that this game, in particular, is a place in which we can talk about these things somewhat rationally and with kindness and respect. I'm hoping that at least 25% of you prove me right.
I'll be over here drinking chocolate milk. Thanks for reading!