Many years on, our daily vocabularies have included some pashto terms that are outright inappropriate, yet are casually thrown around. Many racist terms we use from our daily vocab often go unnoticed (except for the person feeling the impact of them) and therefore, unaddressed.
From targeting certain ethnic groups to skin tones and derogatory terms based on profession, the ignorant use of these words is ambiguously racial. And it’s time we stop using these racial slurs, even if we have to make a conscious effort to check ourselves.
The lion’s share of racism happens in a Pashtun society on a daily basis. Yet we also negotiate cultural differences in a productive, or even mundane, way each day. But if enough people challenge these everyday forms of injustice, we can build awareness and begin to change social norms.
About time we understand that any form of racism is socially unacceptable and the constant use of derogatory racial slurs should no longer be tolerated. These terms aren’t funny, they aren’t a punch line and have no space in our vocabulary.
