Commentary: We cannot continue to treat all offensive speech acts — intentional or not — as equally blameworthy
"He needs to own his impact," said a University of Maryland undergraduate about a professor who offended students by using the n-word. Spoken during a lecture about racial slurs, presumably with the aim of conveying the jarring affront of the epithet without re-inflicting a historic injury, his utterance nonetheless left students feeling wounded.
"He may not have intended it," the student continued, "but if you rear-end someone's car and smash their bumper, you pay up whether you meant to do it or not."
