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Porch Monkey In today’s society curse words and insults are used in many people’s regular vocabulary. Most of these insults, if not all, are being said without prior knowledge of the meaning behind the word. An example of an insult like this is porch monkey, a derogatory term for African Americans. The people that use derogatory terms like this are often ill-informed and unaccepting of other cultures. The term porch monkey refers to African Americans hanging out together in group son porches. The term also infers that they are up to no good and that they are mischevious, revealed by the second word, monkey. On the contrary, the word is commonly known as derogatory, or disrespectful, towards African Americans. There are many definitions …show more content…
It may not be used as often or meant the same way it was in the past, but it still is considered a derogatory term. Many people still use this term without prior knowledge of its definition. This only contributes to the discrimination and disrespect that the word has. By simply saying a word that is hurtful, without knowing what it can cause of what it means, reveals the unfamiliarity of respect for others. The people that use these terms are often uneducated, racist, and stereotypical. In the midst of these people, however, there are other people, such as Randal Graves, in the movie “Clerks 2,” where he says the term, and is surprised to hear that is a racial slur. He believed that it was a commonly used insult that was universally accepted, however, it is not. Today’s society often uses terms with meanings that are not commonly known. Many of these terms are very hurtful and can cause people to become dismayed. People are typically unfamiliar with the term porch monkey. They do not know of the definitions and the implied meanings that the word has. In essence, the term porch monkey is derogatory and demeaning for its racial epithet no matter the meaning someone might believe it
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