The Power of the Spoken Word
The Power of the Spoken Word"Words themselves are innocuous; it is the consensus that gives them true power" (Naylor, 344).The consensus governs our society because of the power it holds. The understanding of the spoken word, especially derogatory terms, shapes our world because of the power these vile words hold in balancing or tilting race relations. The American Heritage College Dictionary defines power as political, social, or economic control (1072). White America has social control over the consensus, but in "Mommy What Does 'Nigger' Mean?" Gloria Naylor shows that African-American minorities can reclaim the power of the consensus and give new, equal meanings to words that have plagued African Americans for ages.Gloria Naylor uses a young boy in her third-grade class as an example of white America's social control over the consensus. In her third-grade class she recalls the young white boy getting a lower score on a math test and her rubbing it in. Upon hearin
Naylor states, "If the word [nigger] was to totally disappear from the mouths of even the most liberal of white society, no one in that room was naive enough to believe it would disappear from white minds" (346). Naylor explains how "the people in [her] grandmother's living room took a word that whites used to signify worthlessness or degradation and rendered it impotent" (346). White America needs to realize that harmful words can only hurt our country and detract from its potential. Equality would create endless avenues our country could travel, yet without it, our country will only be able to go so far. The impact of such words occurs daily because America regards the derogatory use of the word "nigger" as a singular definition of the word, ceasing to acknowledge a positive meaning. One small word gave a third-grade boy a sense of power over Naylor that she had never experienced. This impotency also illustrates the "language is power" motif. The American Heritage College Dictionary. Degrading words can have a profound impact if they are allowed to infect a person, but the true power comes from a person that can withstand such remarks and render them worthless. " As our country's majority, white America has the mostinfluence on such hateful terms that drastically tilt the racial balance.
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