Out Of Name
George, boy, dyke, chink, bitch-- these are just a few of the many words used to rename persons of color, females, homosexuals, immigrants, and any minority who does not fit within society’s norms. Out of context, some of these words do not seem like used to dehumanize and belittle, but the context and hate attached when these words are used can make them offensive and disrespectful. The act of renaming a person robs an individual of their sovereignty and forces the individuals into submission. Calling a person out of name is when individuals with more power address a person with significantly less using an undesirable name or title in order to degrade and demean them. Calling a person “out of name” is always an act of aggression because
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Although Financial power determines who have the power to name racial power has a greater influence naming. He states “all the white people in piedmont, West Virginia, treated my parents with an odd mixture of resentment and respect that even we understood at the time had something to do with a small but certain measure of financial security” (55). Although Gates family was treated with respect, his father was still belittled by a white man, named Mr. Wilson, who thought himself superior to Gate’s father. Gates implies that Mr. Wilson was a lower class citizen who was poorer than Gates’ father. When he used the word George to refer to Gates father,he was asserting his racial superiority over blacks. In his essay he explains that he was baffled as to why his father was being called “out of name” but is father explained that “[Mr. Wilson] calls all colored people George”. Being white gave Mr. Wilson the power to call Gates’ father and other persons of color “out of name”. He states that “[calling a person ‘out of name’ is] one of those things that provide a glimpse, through a rent curtain, at another world that we could not affect but affected us” (56). People who have less power in society are affected by what people with power do. For instance, people with power have the ability to name while people without power do not have this
Although Financial power determines who have the power to name racial power has a greater influence naming. He states “all the white people in piedmont, West Virginia, treated my parents with an odd mixture of resentment and respect that even we understood at the time had something to do with a small but certain measure of financial security” (55). Although Gates family was treated with respect, his father was still belittled by a white man, named Mr. Wilson, who thought himself superior to Gate’s father. Gates implies that Mr. Wilson was a lower class citizen who was poorer than Gates’ father. When he used the word George to refer to Gates father,he was asserting his racial superiority over blacks. In his essay he explains that he was baffled as to why his father was being called “out of name” but is father explained that “[Mr. Wilson] calls all colored people George”. Being white gave Mr. Wilson the power to call Gates’ father and other persons of color “out of name”. He states that “[calling a person ‘out of name’ is] one of those things that provide a glimpse, through a rent curtain, at another world that we could not affect but affected us” (56). People who have less power in society are affected by what people with power do. For instance, people with power have the ability to name while people without power do not have this