Slang Poachers

How right-wingers redefined minority groups’ idioms

“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” For some reason, this mantra was peddled to my generation from elementary school onward. The idea was that words hold no power to cause harm — or really, to do anything.

As a grad student studying the anthropology of violence, I recall my classmates agreeing with this adage. I could see the look of dismay on my professor’s face as they said, “Yeah, language really doesn’t do much in the long run. They’re just words. They change.”

That’s exactly why words have power — a force that is intangible and often insidious. Language shapes our perception and defines our culture.

And when words reflect bias, they have the power to encourage violence. Provocateurs know this — and they have a long history of re-appropriating potent words for their bigotry.

From Rallying Cry to Epithet: the Story of “Woke”

When did everything become “woke”?

About when conservatives decided it meant “everything I don’t like.”

In 2017, Netflix premiered a new series, “Dear White People.” Galvanized by Barack Obama’s presidency, the show mirrored a surge in Black Americans’ calls for…