May break my bones, but Names will never hurt me?”
yeah well it’s bullshit.
Words. Such hurtful words we use against each other. I would rather be beaten up with teeth knocked out than to have certain things leveled at me. Sometimes words and sometimes implications, words used as weapons, or lack of words used as well but with *crystal clear* intent to do harm.
Story: My mom told me several times about her experiences of being a young, poor girl. One thing was that She had very dark skin for a Caucasian, blackish curly hair and got incredibly tan. She told me that she would get called N***** all the time, and that she couldn’t express how much that hurt. In her youth she would deny the fact that she was African-American, but as she got older she understood how wrong that was. As she matured so did her anger. Her anger was not that she was being called something that she was not; rather, her anger and sadness was more appropriate as she got older because she understood just how horrible a word that is and much worse, how horrible every single one of its meanings is. How no one should ever be called that. It wasn’t about HER.
I was always taught that I was no better than anyone else, and that actions and how we live dictate who we are to others
She would never allow any of us to use a remotely racist phrase or slur or suggestion. Ever. I told her that I felt bad for her, for going through that. She responded that it was a blessing, because it made her much more aware of how evil that word and all it’s connotations truly are. And how much words and assumptions etc hurt.
That is how I was raised. A white, blue collar, but of course still naive and simple thinking Caucasian girl. But I grew up and made my own observations and founded my own belief system and though I will always be a white privileged female, when someone is oppressed in a way I cannot possibly personally experience I still “feel it” and oppose it.
Thus when questioned about it, or accused of being something I abhor, as I was yesterday, it cut me to my very core. In self examination I can only come to terms with it today by realizing that sometimes even people you have known, or thought you knew, for a very long time make judgments about you based on their own experiences and situations and thus cannot or will not see “you”; the person that you are in your heart and soul.
So today I a) take responsibility for my words, lack of words, jokes, sarcasm and anything else that could in any way suggest I am not who I know in my heart and soul that I am; b) will try my best to understand that sometimes who I am isn’t what others will think of me, regardless of history or anything else; c) will be really really sure all the time to appreciate those who care enough about me to “see me” as a whole and not a sum of parts or perceived parts; d) will try to be a kind person, and a person who isn’t afraid to show her heart, even if it breaks. Because that is just who I am.
Have a great Tuesday everyone. Go Blue!
yeah well it’s bullshit.
Words. Such hurtful words we use against each other. I would rather be beaten up with teeth knocked out than to have certain things leveled at me. Sometimes words and sometimes implications, words used as weapons, or lack of words used as well but with *crystal clear* intent to do harm.
Story: My mom told me several times about her experiences of being a young, poor girl. One thing was that She had very dark skin for a Caucasian, blackish curly hair and got incredibly tan. She told me that she would get called N***** all the time, and that she couldn’t express how much that hurt. In her youth she would deny the fact that she was African-American, but as she got older she understood how wrong that was. As she matured so did her anger. Her anger was not that she was being called something that she was not; rather, her anger and sadness was more appropriate as she got older because she understood just how horrible a word that is and much worse, how horrible every single one of its meanings is. How no one should ever be called that. It wasn’t about HER.
I was always taught that I was no better than anyone else, and that actions and how we live dictate who we are to others
She would never allow any of us to use a remotely racist phrase or slur or suggestion. Ever. I told her that I felt bad for her, for going through that. She responded that it was a blessing, because it made her much more aware of how evil that word and all it’s connotations truly are. And how much words and assumptions etc hurt.
That is how I was raised. A white, blue collar, but of course still naive and simple thinking Caucasian girl. But I grew up and made my own observations and founded my own belief system and though I will always be a white privileged female, when someone is oppressed in a way I cannot possibly personally experience I still “feel it” and oppose it.
Thus when questioned about it, or accused of being something I abhor, as I was yesterday, it cut me to my very core. In self examination I can only come to terms with it today by realizing that sometimes even people you have known, or thought you knew, for a very long time make judgments about you based on their own experiences and situations and thus cannot or will not see “you”; the person that you are in your heart and soul.
So today I a) take responsibility for my words, lack of words, jokes, sarcasm and anything else that could in any way suggest I am not who I know in my heart and soul that I am; b) will try my best to understand that sometimes who I am isn’t what others will think of me, regardless of history or anything else; c) will be really really sure all the time to appreciate those who care enough about me to “see me” as a whole and not a sum of parts or perceived parts; d) will try to be a kind person, and a person who isn’t afraid to show her heart, even if it breaks. Because that is just who I am.
Have a great Tuesday everyone. Go Blue!
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