Post date: Mar 30, 2017 3:03:42 AM
The Language Matters event with Eli Williams and Dr. Darryl Heller focused on the idea of “doing the work.” Both speakers focused on their own use of language as well as American culture. Williams said a very compelling idea that microaggressions and acts of racism are “violence upon the body.” Her encompassing ideas of everyday examples of white privilege, from band aid colors to police brutality, showed that I as a white person must call out specific acts of privilege in order to have a greater chance of fixing it.
Diversity is not inclusive as its only goal it to have various groups on campus or in a city, it does not mean giving them a voice or a part of the decision making process. To be truly equal we must first be inclusive and compassionate listeners.
Dr. Heller wrote multiple phrases on the board and asked us to dissect them, in order that we see the stereotypes and privilege inherent in them. Words need context and how something is phrased creates and image and makes context. Illegal aliens or immigrants versus undocumented immigrant is the difference between someone breaking the law and someone who just doesn’t have the right paperwork. Civil rights activists called it fighting injustice, Nixon called it criminal actions. Knowing the history of language and its uses empowers people to fight injustice. We must “interrogate” the words we use in order to have our thoughts and actions align with our moral principles. Language has many meanings and is the constructed things that binds societies together.
We must choose our language thoughtfully, mindfully, and, above all, be decent to one another. In order to promote a better campus, both the speakers and the audience came up with ideas but the main take away was this: we need transparency from the administration to create trust, we need them to have skills in solving hate crimes, and we need to keep campus activism going beyond four years, introduce first years to it and do the work.