Of words, Race and Global Citizenship
I tried posing this question on my facebook page and got a number of interesting responses summarized as ranging from 'it depends, not anymore' to absolutely! I deliberately desisted from making a comment on the thread partly because I was enjoying the views from different perspectives and also because my answer would have been more than a few paragraphs long ( I agree am not one for subtleties).
In any case the answer is a resounding 'yes!' words still matter and they definitely mean something. They are the stuff that make great unputdownable books, they shape poignantly deep poems, they are the substance of catchy slogans, mission statements, inventive proposals etc. You must possess meaning in order to achieve that.
The question I should have probably been asking should have been to what extent we can rely on words. To what degree does a well refined and polished statement convey the inner and honest machinations of the mind. Of so much that we say, what fraction is truly honest and what fraction is merely meant to fill a void.
Recent and not so recent happenings would suggest we collectively still think most of the words we say, at least in public and with the public in mind may not be what we actually mean. Trust me the words are meant to convey meaning alright, except one is left curious as to whose meaning. I have sat through highly anticipated conferences where millions of statements have been issued. Yet the most revealing statements in my view remain the ones spoken when one is under intoxication, think no one is watching, and sometimes under duress.
Remember not too long ago how a video of US president Obama making a remark to then Russian president Dmitry Medvedev when he thought the microphones were off, went viral within minutes. It is simply because people were hoping to learn something from the unguarded utterance. Quite ironic you might think given the fact that Obama had made speeches in front of the world's media at the conference. The truth is, one unguarded statement, one eavesdropped sentence can and often does contain more honest substance than an assembly of the best speech writers can ever come up in their lifetime. People resort to terrible acts like the phone hacking in a desperate attempt to glean the precious gem of truth behind closely guarded statements, politically correct positions and the different social manicures that make us gloss over anything we find uncomfortable.
Take the new wave of political correctness as an example. There is currently a set (which is growing by the day) of words or phrases you cannot use because they are deemed politically incorrect. Various laws have even been enacted in a bid curb such 'vices' as racial prejudice mostly manifested in racial slurs and the generally so called 'hate crimes'. The question legislators should really be grappling with is whether the act of preventing people from saying certain things significantly changes their beliefs? Racial prejudice for example manifests itself in far deeper and complex ways than a racial slur, most of which are ill-advised insults when someone has had too much alcohol to consume. What about the looks of hatred and utter disgust just because of the color of your skin, what about the loud laughs behind you that leave you in no doubt who the subject of humor is. what about the child that has been taught to run away from you? These are far deeper and basic manifestations of racial prejudice than slurs and believe me hurt even more.
My view is that such problems cannot be tackled by polished speeches, by wonderfully crafted curriculum, by ostensibly contrite apologies after blurting out a racial slur. They don't fool anyone, not even the perpetrator. They can only be solved by the right words in the right place by the right people. The words that are spoken in situations of trust, away from the glare and scrutiny of the media, away from the need to socially manicure oneself. It is about living what you believe. Your children seeing that consistency whether you tell it to their face or they eavesdrop on you (Please read "To Kill a Mocking Bird by Lee Harper).
It is about being the same person, the same human being whether with words or with actions. And that is the definition of a global human being.
In any case the answer is a resounding 'yes!' words still matter and they definitely mean something. They are the stuff that make great unputdownable books, they shape poignantly deep poems, they are the substance of catchy slogans, mission statements, inventive proposals etc. You must possess meaning in order to achieve that.
The question I should have probably been asking should have been to what extent we can rely on words. To what degree does a well refined and polished statement convey the inner and honest machinations of the mind. Of so much that we say, what fraction is truly honest and what fraction is merely meant to fill a void.
Recent and not so recent happenings would suggest we collectively still think most of the words we say, at least in public and with the public in mind may not be what we actually mean. Trust me the words are meant to convey meaning alright, except one is left curious as to whose meaning. I have sat through highly anticipated conferences where millions of statements have been issued. Yet the most revealing statements in my view remain the ones spoken when one is under intoxication, think no one is watching, and sometimes under duress.
Remember not too long ago how a video of US president Obama making a remark to then Russian president Dmitry Medvedev when he thought the microphones were off, went viral within minutes. It is simply because people were hoping to learn something from the unguarded utterance. Quite ironic you might think given the fact that Obama had made speeches in front of the world's media at the conference. The truth is, one unguarded statement, one eavesdropped sentence can and often does contain more honest substance than an assembly of the best speech writers can ever come up in their lifetime. People resort to terrible acts like the phone hacking in a desperate attempt to glean the precious gem of truth behind closely guarded statements, politically correct positions and the different social manicures that make us gloss over anything we find uncomfortable.
Take the new wave of political correctness as an example. There is currently a set (which is growing by the day) of words or phrases you cannot use because they are deemed politically incorrect. Various laws have even been enacted in a bid curb such 'vices' as racial prejudice mostly manifested in racial slurs and the generally so called 'hate crimes'. The question legislators should really be grappling with is whether the act of preventing people from saying certain things significantly changes their beliefs? Racial prejudice for example manifests itself in far deeper and complex ways than a racial slur, most of which are ill-advised insults when someone has had too much alcohol to consume. What about the looks of hatred and utter disgust just because of the color of your skin, what about the loud laughs behind you that leave you in no doubt who the subject of humor is. what about the child that has been taught to run away from you? These are far deeper and basic manifestations of racial prejudice than slurs and believe me hurt even more.
My view is that such problems cannot be tackled by polished speeches, by wonderfully crafted curriculum, by ostensibly contrite apologies after blurting out a racial slur. They don't fool anyone, not even the perpetrator. They can only be solved by the right words in the right place by the right people. The words that are spoken in situations of trust, away from the glare and scrutiny of the media, away from the need to socially manicure oneself. It is about living what you believe. Your children seeing that consistency whether you tell it to their face or they eavesdrop on you (Please read "To Kill a Mocking Bird by Lee Harper).
It is about being the same person, the same human being whether with words or with actions. And that is the definition of a global human being.
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