Former IRS commissioner said some of his employees went “off the reservation”.
Isn’t this some kind of anti Native American slur?
Moved to IMHO.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
“Off the reservation” isn’t really a racial slur per se, but here are some reasons many Native Americans find it objectionable.
The insensitivity level of the phrase seems to rank somewhere between, e.g., “management has sold us down the river” said to an African-American, and “the traffic authorities need to come up with a Final Solution to the Jaywalker Question” said to a Jew.
None of those phrases is actually meant to insult the ethnic group whose history inspired it. But turning a historical tragedy into a jesting metaphor can be in rather poor taste even without being intentionally insulting.
I’m always like :dubious: when I hear it. Not necessarily racist, but why use it?
Because it’s very descriptive while being very short, and thus is very useful.
We don’t say things like “He’s very unpredictable and capable of serious, random damage”–we say “He’s a loose cannon.”
Same thing.
It sounds like the sort of thing that originated as a ethnic reference that is presently being used more by people who don’t even think about that original usage. I’d heard it before, but was complete clueless as to what it if anything it had to do with Native Americans until I read the article linked by Kimstu.
This. If we want to get rid of it, it would be more effective to come up with and promote a similarly pithy phrase to replace it.
Could be any kind of a reservation. It just means your behavior goes beyond normal bounds. BFD.
So this isn’t racist, but as I recall from the thread on it, ‘shuck and jive’ is?
“His table for four was ready at 6:00pm and now it’s 6:20pm and he’s just showing up. He’s off the reservation!”
Can you think of what sort of reservation the statement might refer to, other than an Indian reservation?
I agree with others who say that it’s insensitive, but not necessarily racist; I doubt most people who use that statement are even aware of its origins.
OTOH, a racist statement would be something like “he’s drunker than ten indians.” That was a phrase I occasionally heard at keggers in my undergrad days in North Dakota. Hard to utter that without knowing that it could be considered offensive.
I live not far from Cherokee, and it’s intentionally racist when used around here. My sister in law is the full blooded daughter of the local chief, and there’s no way I or anyone in the family would make such a crack in her presence. I imagine those within one hundred miles of Four Corners find it objectionable as well.
Maybe we could change it to “off the Mayflower”.
If the person using the phrase continues to do so after being told it is insensitive, then that person is likely to be racist. (I do not believe that words themselves can be “racist;” however, we can tell a lot about a person by what words he/she chooses to use.)
Let me preface my comment with the fact that I don’t find the use of the phrase to be a big deal. That said, I do think it’s racist. If you look at the phrase, it’s clearly meant to be a negative statement. The implication then is that there is something wrong with an Indian being “off the reservation.” Thus, they should stay where they “belong” and not out in society with the rest of us.
possibly “gone off mission” might be neutral enough? “Off the rails” is taken already, I’m afraid.
I didn’t think “sold us down the river” had specific slave connotations.
So telling one of my German data analysts colleagues “to achieve absolute data purity, we need a final solution! We must have breathing room with this client!” might be construed as insensitive? Especially if I say it with ein German accent?
That’s why we management types typically put a Chinese wall around those sort of expressions.
“off the reservation” is more synonymous with “going rogue” or perhaps “off mission”.
“Off the rails” means the whole plan went to shit.
Well… my first thought when I hear “off the reservation” is of a wildlife preserve. So I’m envisioning wolves and lions and elephants and the like menacing farms and livestock. That’s the meaning that my elementary-school brain came up with and it’s stuck with me. (Though I do know now that it’s not the correct origin of the phrase.)
Must depend on where you live but aren’t there reservations all over? Here in the northern plains states I’ve never heard it in polite company. At the 150 year mark after the war between the US and the Dakotah most everyone is aware of its connotations.
Actually I think it odd to compare a business to a reservation.
As far as offensiveness to me it would be like saying, “Out of the ghetto.”
Having worked with the military when I hear the phrase I tend to think they’ve gone off the military reservation (which given military operations, is a very bad thing).
But I am also significant part Indian…so I can see the bad side of this statement.
Then again, I am glad the white man came along and I have AC and sewer so I think “get the fuck over it”.