I’m irritated. I’m frustrated. From every corner of social media to journalism, to everyday communication, we are admonished not only by the cancel culture, but by the “you offended me” culture. I am offended that you are offended.

Let me explain. I recently replied to a post on a social media site where the individual created a video of Kamala Harris, giving praise to Ms. Harris for achieving the Vice Presidency of the United States as a black woman (with additional references to cocoa, cream colored, and several other adjectives.) My replay was “…and she is a beautiful, cultured, articulate woman, but she is a socialist…”

The point was that the woman is a far left liberal who espouses socialism — even communism to a degree. That was my point.

The creator of that video replied to me that “…we all know that the word “articulate” to describe a black woman is racist. Stop it.” Now I’m offended. I am offended and irritated that some individuals of color pick and choose words to automatically define racism. I replied to her that I describe many people as articulate — if it fits. White, black, yellow, it doesn’t matter. It’s a compliment. How am I suppose to compliment the achievement, education, and betterment of that person? That achievement should be celebrated and acknowledged. I did that with one of the words being “articulate”.

This kind of thinking is what divides us. Let me be clear: negative and inappropriate words and descriptions are never to be used. But to say that articulate to describe a person is a racist term is absurd. It’s an uneducated response to exacerbate the great divide between whites and those of color.

No one has addressed the acronym “NAACP”. The National Association of Colored People. Is that not offensive? If that organization is truly for all people of color, why is it primarily run by black individuals? The attack on words should discuss this institution. But it won’t be. Folks are too busy identifying words like “articulate” to notice terminology that should be addressed.

This attack on our language has surpassed reasonable. I will not put every word I use under a microscope to see if it might offend someone. In no way shape or form am I a racist. To imply that I am because of certain words is unconscionable.

We all need to “stop it”. Leave the English language alone and stop forming opinions based on an adjective. That is offensive to me.