I apologize for what came across as overly political ranting. What I was aiming at was saying that a lot of my family members are not very open-minded and in fact very bigoted and use awful terms to describe various social groups, including racial minorities. Oftentimes the insults start as a result of some news report on TV or article in the papers. I've tried not paying attention to the newscasts or papers, but I become automatically just so frustrated when I hear people using insensitive epithets or stereotypes to describe people. Which is maybe what I did above, with regards to certain ideological slants, but what my family members do is to use the unmentionable words that nobody likes.
The "N" word is an example of something that gets periodically bantered about in my house. I also remember reading somewhere -- maybe on this forum, can't remember exactly -- that GT folks tend to be more open-minded about their surroundings, which often tends to lead to a more liberal viewpoint, or at least an understanding of different people's circumstances and backgrounds. Because a lot of them have been there, "on the outside looking in." As in nobody is more or less worthy of full respect or appreciation as a human being with regards to demographic factors like race, ethnicity, gender, etc.
Again, I very much apologize for the rant, and it wasn't at all my intent to offend anyone. I just have a lot of trouble understanding how people, especially those I'm related to, can throw about words like the "N" word like people use "the" or "an" or something. I appreciate the links and advice, though. I should've phrased my initial question differently, i.e. how to cope with brick-wall clashes between yourself and others when neither "party" seems willing/able to understand the other's point of view. Sorry
