Sadly, some of those troubling items are just so ingrained into our culture and I think many say those things out of ignorance. I'm glad this article is so popular, as it does help people reflect on what they might do / say & helps people become conscious of it.

God knows, even as a well-meaning person, I've said some dumb-ass things in life. I remember telling a story to a black friend of mine about 20 years back & I casually used the term "ghetto blaster." She stopped me & said that was a racist term. I was like "really?" I mean, I literally did not even know that -- like, never crossed my mind even once. (I've since changed that word in my mind to "boom box." A small thing, of course, but just one example of how it's good to learn stuff like this.)