Some words are spoken at weak moments. Some words are spoken with premeditation. Some words are spoken in ignorance. Some words are spoken in hatred. Some words ought to be banned from our language, except that by doing so, they may be forgotten. For instance, if the word "Nigger" was removed from our language so might the words "Slave Owner" or "Ku Klux Klan." If the word "Kike" was removed from our language so might the words "Nazi" or "Neo-Nazi." These words would do well to be banned from our language, but what if we forget the hatred where these words were derived and where they have led us? And what if the history these words represent could repeat itself all over again?
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Words may be banned from our language or a dictionary, but that doesn't guarantee that the words will not be used. For instance, a family may refrain from using such language in their circle of friends and with their children, yet, the children may hear a word at school that they may have never heard before. When this happens it takes away a certain innocence from a child that can't be mended, as is the case of Gloria Naylor, novelist and essayist. She explains in her essay, "The Meanings of a Word," that one time when she was in third grade her fellow student called her a derogatory name in a way she had never heard before, thereby, causing her mother to have to sit down and explain a very painful explanation of the word (Naylor 15).
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I remember when I was in junior high school. There was a young boy in my art class who liked to annoy my sister and me. One day he asked if my sister or me would give him a "blow job" after school. Neither my sister or I responded to him thinking that it was just another one of his jokes. That evening, though, my sister and I went home and asked my older sister what the words meant. I will refrain from recounting the rest of the story and what happened to the young boy at school, but, needless to say, my older sister was absolutely shocked to hear those words coming from us at such a young age and was forced, not of her own will, to sit down with my sister and me to tell us what the words meant.
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We would do better to "teach [our] children well," as Crosby, Stills and Nash wrote, the history of where these words come from and why it would be better not to use them. There is so much hatred where these words come from: Nigger, White Trash, Faggot, Dyke, Polack, Hillbilly, Gringo, Goyim, Kike. Banning certain words from our language is not the solution. Such an attempt to control language is objectionable. Rather, we would do well to let our conscience be our guide.
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In addition, it would be difficult for some words to be explained or defined if they were removed from the dictionary. Over years words take on new meanings. For example, the word "shambles" in Old English mentioned in the King James Version of the Bible, meant a meat market or butcher's slaughterhouse. The word also has a meaning of being in a state of total disorder. Today both definitions are in the dictionary, but in this day and age we usually don't say we're going to the shambles to purchase some lamb or beef. This does not imply that certain derogatory words will have a different meaning in 100 or so years from now, but that words can take on new meanings as years pass. Such is the expression Gloria Naylor mentions in her essay. She says that "when used with a possessive adjective by a woman—'my nigger'—it became a term of endearment for her husband or boyfriend" (Naylor, p. 253).
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Finally, banning a word from our language is like trying to collect water in a cloth. Any attempt to do so, regardless of the benevolence of the intentions on the censoring party or group would be futile. Banning words would incur more hatred and intolerance and, therein, is not where the problem lies. For instance, when the law on prohibition was passed it didn't stop Americans from drinking alcohol, they just consumed it illegally. More importantly, it would be better if parents, teachers, and community leaders would stress the significance of what Jesus taught: that the "law" should be written upon our hearts, based on principle not just on written rules.
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We must learn from history, not necessarily remembering derogatory words, but where they lead us. Instead of removing the words from our language we should remove the words from our heart. Instead of remembering the word "Nigger" we must remember slavery, how many lives were killed, beaten or abused, and how many lives were lost fighting for their freedom. Instead of remembering the word "Kike" (a word I had never heard until I looked up "ethnic slurs" on wikipedia.com) we ought to remember the Holocaust and the lives of the Jewish people and other "outcasts" of society who were tortured and killed. Never should we allow a place in our hearts to keep a dictionary full of deprecating words, so much so, that it festers hatred toward other people. Having an informed and enlightened conscience is something that no amount of controlled censoring can teach us. Inscribing the law upon our hearts is something that no one, nor time, can erase.
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Bibliography
Naylor, Gloria. "The Meanings of a Word." 40 Model Essays—A Portable Anthology. Jane E. Aaron. Bedford/St. Martin's, 2005, 251-255
Crosby, Stills and Nash. "Teach Your Children" Déjà Vu, Atlantic Records, 1970
Wikipedia.com the free encyclopedia. "Ethnic slur." 2001. 7 Dec. 2005. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_slur
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