When Vicious Language Leads To Violent Behavior

And what to do about it. An old model guides us to speak out against new (and not-so-new) threats.

Jody Alyn
ILLUMINATION

--

Sign at the Kigali Memorial to the Rwandan genocide that says, “Burial Place. Interred here are the remains of over 250,000 individuals. Please respect the sanctity of their final resting place.”
Sign at the Kigali Genocide Memorial in Rwanda. Photo credit: Jody Alyn, 2016

WORDS

Words are powerful little things. They inspire us, they motivate us, they connect us to one another. They educate, they influence and persuade. They preserve our history and promote social change and progress. They also cut, divide, denigrate and destroy.

Prejudicial language, jokes, and images have profound negative effects but many people — particularly those in dominant groups — tend to ignore or downplay this. They excuse this language in the U.S. by pointing to the First Amendment. Commonly, people also see it as harmless. “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me” may sound good, but modern psychology shows that’s a bigger lie than the tooth fairy. The algorithms of social media and artificial intelligence (AI) can intensify bias and its negative impacts.

In her recent essay on how racist language perpetuates violence, writer and scholar Allison Wiltz lays out historical, current and evolving examples of racial epithets and stereotypes. She connects them to the disproportionate violence that Black people face in the U.S.

--

--

Jody Alyn
ILLUMINATION

Inclusion strategist. Justice advocate. Former therapist. Focus on social identity, implicit bias. Mom. G-ma. Life is a process—I write about it.