External links (Was Re: [tied] Re: oldest places- and watername in

> > It has offensive overtones in English, the language of this
> > list.
> >
> > GK: Not to me it hasn't. But this is an interesting
> > issue. I've always wondered how the various components
> > of "political correctness" get started. Could it
> > be as simple as this? Somebody somewhere puts forth his or
> > her little idea with emphatic certainty. Others yield
> > ("Gee I didn't realize...") and another item
> > is added to the new decalogue... In my old Webster's of
> > 1949 there is not a hint of "Hamitic" being
> > objectionable. (p. 373: HAMITIC: "Of or pertaining to
> > the Hamites, or the family of languages (HAMITIC languages)
> > including ancient Egyptian, Coptic, and various modern
> > languages. See LANGUAGE,Table. ----n. Any of the Hamitic
> > languages." Any idea as to when and where (after 1949)
> > "Hamitic" acquired "offensive overtones"
> > and which authority sanctioned this?
>
> Hamitic refers to Ham, the son of Noah who was cursed.
>
> ****GK: In one Biblical passage. Which is contradicted by others

(quite a few others). So do we now get into exegesis? The Bible is not
exactly a useful source here. It doesn't even have a single answer to
the question of Israel's borders, never mind the meaning of "Hamitic".****

>
> African-American were often referred to by racists as "Children of

Ham", especially in the Bible Belt -a term which has become more
marginalized in recent years.

>
> ****GK: I'm supposed to be interested in "Bible-belt" opinion?

(:=))) The notion of "son of Ham" also appears in one of Shevchenko's
greatest poems("Hajdamaky") where it is applied to a Ukrainian
peasant... What's next? Somebody coming up with the notion that "Jew"
is a racist concept because the Bible recognizes them as "the chosen
people"****

>

So next time I'm in a McDonald's,
should I be asking for an Afrasianburger?


Torsten