Seventy Thoughts on Turning Seventy

Boys Will Be Boys or To the Victor Goes the Language

I was about to post a satirical piece by Andy Borowitz with the title- "Musk’s Team Receiving High School Credit for Running Government." when I read a comment to an earlier post about the same subject -- the young people who have been hired by Musk to do the technological dirty work of dismantling the federal government. In that earlier post, these recent college grads ( are some still in college?) were referred to as "boys." A former student noted that even in our attempt to criticize these young people, we were treating them with a privilege never extended to young people of color. To call them "boys" is to obfuscate the very point of the criticism -- these are not boys in any physical or legal sense of the word.

THEY ARE GROWN ADULTS PARTICIPATING IN A HIGH TECH COUP.

These men are hacking our private files, gaining access to data which is not theirs to rob ( stop the steal!) and they are breaking the law publicly and with the expectation of impunity.

He also noted that the infantilization of these men is in stark contrast to the way in which children of color are represented in the media an our legal system. Black children are often constructed as fully grown adults who are violent, overly sexualized threats to society.

The privilege of youth to excuse/dismiss any misdeeds is only extended to white men. You know -- "( White) Boys will be boys!"

In these chaotic times, engineered to come at us fast, to scare us and immobilize opposition, there is so much debris swirling around us all at once. We are in the center of a cosmic whack-a- mole game in which haven't yet grown enough arms to redress each new frontal attack we are witnessing in real time. It is difficult to slow down and talk about things with depth, complexity and precision. We are struggling to find the right words, find the right historical precedents, invoke the right images, ask the right questions, take the right actions.

I am grateful for open discourse with others, particularly with my hundreds of former students and colleagues. I am grateful to learn that my language may sometimes reveal unacknowledged biases and have harmful impact on others. I can work to be more aware of the ways my words may be harmful and the ways they might be carrying meaning I do not intend.

trump, his thugs and minions in today's republican party would mock such analysis as weak and "woke" - as if to be awake to and aware of the racism embedded in our history, our legal system, our educational policies and even our language is a weakness.

I don't feel weaker right now for the critique of my post. I am grateful for the comment and insight it has yielded and the questions it raises for me as I continue to try to make sense of what is happening and how best to respond and resist.

As an English teacher by profession, I have taught about the importance of language. I have studied etymology and the deep history of words covered with the silt of meaning accrued through their journey through history. This exchange reminded me that the word "boy" is charged with another layer of meaning in the context of American racism - the lethal refusal of white America to see Black men's manhood. The word "boy" in any discussion of race and power also has that history clinging to it, making it even more difficult to ferret out all of the connotations that accompany a word in the different contexts it may be used.

Which came first- the word or the meaning?

Mincing words? Splitting hairs? A self serving mea culpa by a pearl clutching liberal white woman?

Or a process of inquiry, dialogue and reflection that can deepen meaning, promote understanding and bring about continual growth and change.

Those in power now are attempting to remake reality. Language is one of their weapons but it can also be a tool of opposition - if used with knowledge, discernment and care. .

For me, this whole discussion of language is not as much about "freedom of speech" as it is about "freedom of choice." Questioning the deep meaning and use of certain words is not a violation of anyone's freedom of speech. Deciding not to use those words after learning their hurtful impact is an exercise in individual free choice. And what's more "american" than that?

What do you think? What role do you see language playing in the right's seizure of power? How can we continue this ethical dialogue of language, power and meaning?