Letter to the editor: If 'squaw' is such a slur, why even say it?

If squaw really is a slur, it is shocking that the proponents of banning it are so willing to utter the word.

Fox Chapel resident Elizabeth Peel was quoted during a Nov. 16 meeting using the word squaw, then reprimanding the Borough Council by saying, “[w]hen someone tells you something hurts, you stop doing it.” So was she hurting American Indians with her use of this word? Hardly.

If squaw were truly a slur, on par with the well-known derogatory terms for other ethnic groups (such as Italians, Mexicans, Chinese, Blacks, etc.) Mrs. Peel would never utter it at a government meeting, and rightly so.

Her willingness to use the term while denouncing it shows the hollowness of her and the borough council’s entire argument.

Greg Dolan

Fox Chapel