When is a word just a word?
I've noticed something more and more lately; and I'm wondering if it's a sign of the times. I look on facebook sites of my daughter and her peers, and sites like twitter and tumblr, and I find that certain words that I grew up with, have seem to have lost their power. Words like "fag*ot", "nig*a" and others, are used without any regard for the offense factor. In fact, those words don't seem to offend anyone in this generation. With the rise in popularity of artists like Lil' Wayne, Jay Z, and Kanye West, the words that I always felt were meant to demean, belittle, and isolate a certain portion of the population from others are said without batting an eye.... Calling someone a "fag" or a "n" word was tantamount to a declaration of war. It's amazing how pervasive the words have woven their way into our society. Stand up comics, cutting edge cartoons, and popular music seem to have made these words less taboo than ever. The words cross all racial, socioeconomic, and gender lines...as being permissible, even mainstream.
I'm not honestly sure how I feel about it. On the one hand, giving those words power, power to hurt, power to demean, and power to belittle seems like giving it too much credit. The word "faggot" is hundreds of years old. It, in dictonary terms, is a bundle of sticks or iron bars, usually used by a blacksmith to forge things. Not until the word came across the pond from England to the good old USA did it morph into the more recognizable word that is so hurtful to homosexuals.
The other word. The "BIG" bad word...has never had any other meaning in our lexicon. However, it did morph from the spanish word for black, or Negro. It literally meant a color..but once again, once it swam across the Atlantic across the backs of slaves...it changed into the reprehensible word that makes most people, regardless of race, cringe.
But go on Itunes and download hip hop albums....watch movies...and there the word is..in all it's glory. Before, it was just limited to "thuggish" black folk and those who were seen as ignorant. Now, I see kids as white as wonder bread using it without any thought about what the word means, where it came from, and why it was used as a tool for hatred.
Do we let bygones be bygones? Do we quit giving these words the power to hurt? Or do we keep on, as we have been, and keep those words as reminders of things that we fight for...equality, acceptance, and inclusion.
I'm not honestly sure how I feel about it. On the one hand, giving those words power, power to hurt, power to demean, and power to belittle seems like giving it too much credit. The word "faggot" is hundreds of years old. It, in dictonary terms, is a bundle of sticks or iron bars, usually used by a blacksmith to forge things. Not until the word came across the pond from England to the good old USA did it morph into the more recognizable word that is so hurtful to homosexuals.
The other word. The "BIG" bad word...has never had any other meaning in our lexicon. However, it did morph from the spanish word for black, or Negro. It literally meant a color..but once again, once it swam across the Atlantic across the backs of slaves...it changed into the reprehensible word that makes most people, regardless of race, cringe.
But go on Itunes and download hip hop albums....watch movies...and there the word is..in all it's glory. Before, it was just limited to "thuggish" black folk and those who were seen as ignorant. Now, I see kids as white as wonder bread using it without any thought about what the word means, where it came from, and why it was used as a tool for hatred.
Do we let bygones be bygones? Do we quit giving these words the power to hurt? Or do we keep on, as we have been, and keep those words as reminders of things that we fight for...equality, acceptance, and inclusion.
It is true that words have lost their meaning. I realize our generation is blessed we never truly experienced slavery and were born into more priviledge than any generation before us. Our children seem to have even more. When I read this post it made me think of the lengths people will go to in order to be "cool" and "hip". To shock at all costs and use the excuse Freedom of Speech instead of learning the values of compassion and integrity. Yes a word is simply a word, syllables put together that have meaning based upon where you are from but words can cut like a knife. The scars they leave behind are unseen to the naked eye and yet every single one of us carry them. I am learning to not only take the context into consideration but the person behind the voice saying them.
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