Troublesome Statements
Read the following statements and identify the language problem demonstrated by the sentence as polarization, bypassing, stereotyping, static evaluation, or biased language. Then revise the sentence to eliminate this problem. Turn this in to the drop box by the end of the unit. 1. You're either my friend or my enemy. Polarization. It does not allow a middle ground. It’s either or. Revised sentence: I have friends, enemies, classmates, associates, co-workers, etc. I try to avoid having enemies. 2. Ken says to his wife Lynette, “Glad to get out of that job. All those ragheads and their curry make me sick.” Biased Language. Ken is making a very derogatory statement using “ragheads” and “curry” to denote race. Revised sentence: “I am glad to be gone from that job. I just wasn’t happy there. I am looking forward to something better.” 3. Guess what? Janine said Chris has a good job. Can you imagine saying that when he works 50 hours a week, is on call the rest of the time, and only earns $31,000 a year? Stereotyping. What constitutes to be a good job for one person may not mean the same for someone else. Don’t judge based on your own interpretation of what you think something is. Chris may have had to leave a job that only allowed him to work 25 hours a week and he was barely making minimum wage. This new job is a “good job” according to Chris and Janine because it affords them more of an opportunity to bring in more income. One should not make judgments based on their own opinions or interpretations. Revised sentence: “Chris has to work a lot of hours and makes $31,000 a year. I am sure that he and Janine welcome the extra hours and income after they weren’t able to get that at his previous place of employment. I am happy for them.” 4. Redheads have hot tempers. Stereotype. This insinuates that all people who have red hair are hot tempered and places a stereotype. Revised sentence: Each person is an individual. How mild mannered or hot tempered they are has nothing to do with what color their hair is. Everyone is an individual. 5. John and I were good friends in college, but now he wants me to vote for him. How can I vote to put a man in the White House who was so unethical that he copied someone else's paper and handed it in as his own. Static Evaluation. This person is basing their opinions of John on how they knew him to be when they were friends in college. They are not giving him the benefit of the doubt that he has possibly matured since that time. Revised sentence: John wants me to vote for him. I will have to take an honest look at his views and how he plans to use his platform for the good of the people if he is elected. I will make my decision based on that. I can’t be biased based on our friendship or his behavior in college.

6. He said he'd meet me after school at the Taco Bell. I am so angry, I'd like to take the car and let him find a ride home. I've been here at the Taco Bell downtown since four o'clock and it’s almost six. ("He is at the Taco Bell near where he works north of town”). Bypassing. I think this one is bypassing. Evidently these two got their wires crossed. One meant Taco Bell on one side of town and the other person meant another one. Instead of confirming the correct meeting spot (“we’re meeting at the Taco Bell downtown, correct?), the other party got upset and is threatening to make the other person find a ride home. And why has 2 hours passed by and she has not attempted to call him to find out where he is? Something could have happened to him. Revised sentence: “Do you want to meet at the Taco Bell downtown or the one that is north of town by your job?” 7. John is upset. She said not to "fuss" over her birthday, so I just sent her a card. Now she's sulking and barely talks to me. Bypassing. She wanted to appear to not be really concerned about her birthday, when in fact, she had an expectation that John would really get her a great gift for her birthday. When she told John not to make a fuss, he interpreted that to mean exactly what she meant instead of assuming that she was just being modest. We have to learn to communicate in saying what we mean and mean what we say. We can’t get angry at people for not “reading between the lines’ when we say one thing but mean another. Revised statement: “John, I would really like _____________ for my birthday.” 8. I can't stand it. I got a B. There are only two grades in the world—A’s and Failures. Polarization. A B is still a great grade to receive. It certainly does not equivocate to you being a failure. A person can set high goals for themselves but not deem themselves a failure if the grade they attain less than what they desired. Revised sentence: I am disappointed that I did not receive an A but a B is still a good grade. However I will continue to try harder to maintain my A average. That course was a bit harder than I thought. So, a B is not bad at all. 9. John and Angela are at dinner. When they get the check, John begins to argue with the Asian waiter over the price of the wine. As they leave, John says “That Chink really pissed me off, who does he think he is?” Biased Language. John was referring to their Asian waiter by using other language to denote his race. Revised sentence: Our waiter really upset me, arguing with me about the wine. Don’t they know the customer is always right (John jokingly adds). 10. I wouldn't hire Hank Bell; he was always getting into trouble with the police when he was in high school. Static Evaluation. A statement is being made to describe Hank Bell’s character based on mistakes he made in the past with getting in trouble with the police and in high school. He could have certainly changed since that period of time in his life. Revised sentence: Everyone deserves a fair chance. Hank Bell might be a great choice for that position.