As a non-white woman, I’ve sometimes encountered white people or men who have said questionable stuff… but if it’s obvious their intent is good, I let it go.

I think in this case, the ranger obviously wanted to keep you safe. I doubt he had any animosity towards you. But he probably didn’t understand how a certain word could have hurt you.

I had a similar incident where I used the word “gyp”, which I thought was harmless. Turned out the person I was talking to was Romany. So she explained to me WHY that word hurt her. It helped me be more sensitive.

In the incident above, it might have helped that ranger to have heard why that word was hurtful. However, having that conversation could have also just made him angry or upset, and you were trying to enjoy a vacation.

There are a lot of times people are insensitive (myself included) not through malice but through ignorance. People are sometimes accused of racism or sexism when all they are really guilty of is thoughtlessness.