Words Matter

Power of Words

I'm a firm believer that language and how we use language determines how we act, and how we act then determines our lives and other people's lives.

-Ntozake Shange

What you say can motivate, be life affirming, build people up and inspire. Or it can tear people down, spread fear and hate, and divide us into hostile camps.

The former makes a more sense. After the past five years it would be a refreshing change.

In the face of the shootings in Georgia, I'm hoping that more people get the point. Words matter! Hate crimes against Asian Americans are on  the rise, fueled by the hate filled rhetoric of our former president. Six of the eight victims were Asian women. Violence against Asian Americans grew 150 percent in 2020, even as the number of overall hate crimes fell. -pbs

The following is from an interview on NPR between Ari Shapiro and Bettina Makalintal  who wrote about these events for VICE.

SHAPIRO: I mentioned the way that former President Trump contributed to anti-Chinese rhetoric by using phrases like the Wuhan virus. President Biden has directed federal agencies to combat racism against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders specifically. Do you think that's likely to make a difference?

MAKALINTAL: I think that at the very least, it is helpful to have a public denouncement from the president of this anti-Asian racism. I'm not sure personally that it does anything specifically. However, I think it is very important to have a president who is not actively fueling the fire on this Chinese virus, Wuhan virus rhetoric, which has no doubt caused a lot of people who are racist against Asian Americans to associate the ill effects of the pandemic with Asian people in the United States in general.

Words have power. They can destroy and create. ... We can choose to use this force constructively with words of encouragement, or destructively use words of despair. Words have energy and power with the ability to help, to heal, to hinder, to hurt, to harm, to humiliate and to humble.”  compassion.com