What are words? Well, to put it simply they are what we use to communicate both verbally and through writing. But, what ARE they? I cannot give a single answer to to this because Words mean many different things to people the world over. Yes words put together in strings form sentences and then stitched into paragraphs form larger volumes of language, we all understand this. Words make it so we don't have to point and grunt like prehistoric man did (although some of our fellow humans still point and grunt, evidenced by watching some in our government). Words can do many things, inspire, infuriate, praise, bring joy, etc. We would clearly be lost without the ability to express ourselves, words... no matter the language... do this for us.
We do, however, have offensive words. Words that are slang, shortened, elongated, acronyms, and abbreviations that, at least for English sometimes make new words. This is where I want to focus, on the offensive words (no, I am not going to use any). There are words, more specifically names or descriptions that are offensive to some, and some that are offensive to all...or should be. Certain words should never be used, they are outdated or have attached to them such negativity that there is no need to use them. We should, however, keep these words around as reminders of what they mean, how they were used, and why we have abandoned them. History, and especially the history of language and words is important.
So why do we allow some words to offend us? Is it because of the emotions a certain word brings to the surface, or do we simply get upset from an ideological point of view? I myself think the upset over specific words that people feel is purely emotional. If you are debating someone on the opposite side of an issue, you are both using words, and you both can go back and forth with your respective points. Even in a heated debate with barbed words, each person gets their own chance to respond (In theory, as a lot of us know, right now in America censorship is afoot). This censorship has led to some political groups being allowed to use names and or slurs against other groups but no vise versa. Some ethnicities think it is okay to use a negatively charged word to describe themselves but want to block anyone else from using those words even in a historical context. To me this is wrong, if a word is deemed bad by society, and we all agree that current use of these words should be shunned, then all of us should stop using them.
Another question I have is why have we as a society abandoned the teachings of our childhood, the one that taught us a building block we need for social interactions? "STICKS AND STONES CAN BREAK MY BONES, BUT WORDS WILL NEVER HURT ME". Pretty basic, easy to understand, and right to the point. So why now in the 21st century have we allowed this simplest of life's rules to be tossed aside? Americans these days are full of the, as I like to call it "The Offended Syndrome". We get highly offended over words that just 20 years ago we would of publicly shamed someone for using. Now those same words get people fired, kicked out of organizations, or in some cases thrown in jail! It has gone completely mad out in the world of America. We used to teach our children that a word by itself cannot hurt you, it cannot draw blood, or leave a mark on your skin. Now we punish people more for the use of a single word than we do it seems for a physical crime.
So where do we go from here? We have to somehow get back to our roots as Americans, all Americans no matter a persons secondary culture (I bet that little sentence will enrage someone). We are Americans first and we have to band together across the ethnic boundaries, we have to use our words effectively and respectfully. But, when there are those who don't, the way forward is not to ruin a person's life over a poor choice of words, it is to fight back using our own words to show them the error of their ways. How many times have you heard a parent or done it yourself to your own child saying "use your words"? We do this to help teach children how to communicate properly instead of grunting and pointing as Democrats do? (I bet that choice of words ticks some off). We need to tell the offended culture this, teach them that they must use their words instead of getting offended and wanting someone banned or fired. We must also remember that lying is definitely a part of politics and deal with it accordingly using our words.
I pity those who call me names. I pity them because they have lost their ability to be civil and conduct themselves in a respectful manner, or they were never taught it in the first place. To me...emotionally a certain word or words may be upsetting, but the way to respond is in kind with words of my own. Respectfully, maybe forcefully, but always without letting my emotions take over. Communication is key, and as Americans we have lost dialog, we have lost the ability to understand that certain words are not harmful to us physically. Censorship is not a fun thing, we embraced it in the past blocking certain people and groups of using their voice(s). We rectified this injustice but, the problem is we did not learn from this because here we are again engaging in the behavior of censoring. As a nation we are taking words away from people because we are too afraid someone might get offended, when what we need to be doing is standing together and debating our issues in an open forum. We cannot move forward unless we stop censorship, at least not productively.
We all need to agree that there are words that just don't need to be used any longer by anyone...period. We do however need these words to stay in our literature, movies, and art so we still understand the meanings and why they are so negative, otherwise we will never learn from our past mistakes. All of us also need to remember the "Sticks And Stones" golden rule and understand that no matter what the word is, it can't hurt us. Those who lash out with name calling and using offensive descriptive words should be pitied or shamed into not using those words.
I remember one time in my childhood of getting caught swearing at another child. The dressing down from my mother for using such words made me feel an inch tall. I was embarrassed for uttering them. My mother told me there were other respectful ways of expressing myself that would get my meaning across without using dirty words (her term for them). She told me that if I expressed myself intelligently, my words would carry far more weight than a swear word. I must admit that as an adult, I let a swear word fly from time to time, but my mother's advice rings true and I try to follow it even today. Her philosophy was that "only the dimwitted swear when there are other words to be used". She was careful not to say this in front of my father who could swear a blue streak when he was upset.
I hope that the future of this great country remains bright and promising but we have to get over this need to punish people for just words. We also have to shun censorship wherever we find it, heck look at some of the gross examples in the art world. I remember a controversy years ago over a crucifix being suspended in a glass vile upside down in urine and covered in feces. We were told at the time that this is just an expression of the artist and we should see it as such and not be offended. There were plenty of people offended, but they all used their words to describe their feelings and viewpoints. There were some of course who tried to have this display banned, but in the end, people who did not agree chose to stay away from the art exhibit this display was in and not spend their money to see it. We need to learn from this, if we allow one side expression and not the other, we are no better than so many oppressive societies of the past.
