| People learn languages that are already established, and the evolution of language is a slower one than you imply. When I'm born I don't "make my own tools;" I learn the language that is used around me. In that way, language is determinist. Only when I am old enough to feel constrained by the language do I seek to change it. Anyone who has studied a foreign language can tell you that a different mode of thought is quite evident in the structure of the linguistics.
In any case, if you've grown up hearing, "Hey Jackson, gimme coffee!" or "Dude, that's so gay..." you'll probably emulate it and not even realise that your mind's connections have set themselves up to certain prejudices. Surpressing the language doesn't help those who are already racists - they'll still be racists, but it helps those who haven't yet been influenced by the terminology to see that it is unacceptable. It's a form of enforced progress.
. . . whenever any government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a new government, laying its foundations on such principles and organizing its powers in such forms as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. |