In 1974 the then Prime Minister of Jamaica, Michael Manley made the most sweeping
legislative changes in this country.
Both the 'words' and the policies were outlawed.
So the word bastard was removed from all official documents and all practices associated with it became illegal.
What that meant was that schools could not prevent qualified students from attending because their parents were not married. The same was true for every other institution.
Maid was replaced with helper - and not only was there a limit on working hours but people could no longer make domestic helpers work beyond regular working hours without overtime. Weekends off so that domestic help could spend time with their own families also became the law. Additionally a minimum wage was enshrined in law.
40 years later I know no one who uses either word, but more importantly children are not punished for things that have nothing to do with them. And household helpers are not exploited as they were in the past.
I get what President Obama is saying. Banning words is not enough - policy must accompany it.
