Monday, February 2, 2015

Critical Language



Language is a critical part of ones daily routine. Correct communication with one another is an acute component to life. Often racial biases can interfere with the ability to talk and work with one another. This skill is vital, and makes learning and studying language one of the most important parts of education. The misuse of language can offend people, and in order to not do so, learning what certain racial or gender affiliated words mean and how they originated is important and useful. The negativity and hatred that can be shown through words can hurt and damage people forever. Understanding what words can do and what they mean is a necessity in learning, and developing ones education. Knowing how people felt during times of oppression and being able to show this to others and passing this knowledge down by generation is another part of the education. Without this learning, mutual respect, and comprehension of language events such as the hatred toward one race could happen again.
During the Civil Rights movement African Americans were hated and severely abused by many white Americans. They were called abusive names by their white counterparts and harassed because of their supposed inferiority to whites. This was not only physical violence but also verbal and written violence. People created names and developed caricatures of Blacks, which were openly displayed in public using language like nigger, coon, sambo, and darkie among others. Each and everyone of these names brought the Black American race down in society and made them inferior. Today in modern culture learning how these names brought down our fellow Americans is extremely critical, and will make for a better future and a more peaceful world.

Click the link to see some examples of racist cartoons used in the media: http://goo.gl/Dl2VyM

No comments:

Post a Comment