Intent vs Ignorance

So to follow up my previous post and todays class discussion I wanted to touch on intent and ignorance and how each should be responded to. Though ignorance has a certain negative connotation, I feel ignorance can only be viewed in a negative light if the subject refuses to learn. Everyone is ignorant before they have the chance to learn so looking down on those who haven't had that chance is irresponsible. So now that I have made my plea for those who have not yet been educated on a given subject, becoming hostile with someone who says something out of ignorance is foolish. Before today I would not have the slightest clue that saying "Native American Literature" could carry such an offensive message. So after class I began to contemplate the circumstances of the classification and it seems obvious that the terms would offend indigenous people. Being given a name by people that attempted to eradicate your race, it is easy to see why so many are so passionate about not accepting the terms. It is also understandable that some are embracing the terms attempting to reclaim them. So that just leaves intent, and it seems obvious that when some one says something to harm someone that it is not right, so I will not touch too much on that. One interesting thing that i found is that this is not the first name that was supposed to encompass the Indigenous peoples of this country. "Savage" was not always a derogatory term, in fact it was the acceptable term up until the the early 1900's. So now it easy to see how terms evolve and how in a hundred years "Native American" will be the new "Savage." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_American_name_controversy) In a constantly evolving world it is easy to see how terms will evolve with people, but since this evolution is ongoing it is important to first be concerned with educating those who are ignorant of their offense before taking offense yourself.