Wednesday, April 16, 2014

"The All American Boy"--Really?

Confession: Was teaching sixth graders about our legal system for Law Day at Ecker Middle School in Park City. I try to think about the words I say so I can communicate well with my audience, and I described a witness in a case I once defended in the military as, "'The All American Boy,' stereo type, blond, blue-eyed..." I realized when I said it, as I was confronted by the reality before me that this phrase is now and probably always has been meaningless and insensitive--why I ever adopted it into my lexicon has no good excuse. Except as a historical reference along with other doltish, antiquated and quaint ethnocentric statements that may be uttered by characters I create, I will discard it from a phrase I would use.

Loren M. Lambert © September 16, 2013 

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