Epithet Inflation: The Case of "Racism"
Reading news stories about the Shirley Sherrod case, I was struck, not for the first time, by the way in which current usage of the word "racism" demonstrates epithet inflation. Ms Sherrod's initial response to a white farmer who wanted her help, as she reported it, was to give him less help than she would have given to a black farmer. On further thought she decided that that was a mistake, did her best for him, and apparently ended up friends with him and his wife.
Suppose, however, that she had not changed her mind. What she would then have done could legitimately be labeled discrimination, although not (to my mind) a very serious example—most of us are more willing to help people we identify with than people we see as in some way different or alien. Racism is lynching, burning crosses, spitting on people—hating people because of their race. Helping people a little less than you would help them if they were of your race doesn't come close to qualifying.
Once a label is firmly identified as bad, it is always tempting to apply it a little more widely. And a little more widely still. And ... . In the case of "racist," the process has gone even further than this incident illustrates, to the point where it can mean nothing more than "someone whose views about race I disagree with."