Power Of Words In Jonathan Rauch's 'Decolonizing The Mind'

Taylor Shaw
Prof. Klass
3 March2013
ENC1102
All Mighty Power of Words
The all mighty question at hand is who has the power when it comes to human’s form of communication? Is it the person who says the word or the person receiving the words, who truly holds the power of interpretation? In my eyes it’s the way people choose to say the word and most of all it’s the words meaning that holds the all mighty dominance. Language is how our culture communicates with each other; it’s the words within our language that really impact the way we speak to each other. After all it’s not only words that have the power, it’s the people, it’s the brain. In “Decolonizing the Mind” written by Ggugi wa Thiong’o, he presents the facts of how culture and
Words are just how we express our feeling to each other, positive or negative. Jonathan Rauch is the author of “In defense of Prejudice” he stated, “To suppress bigoted language seems, at first blush, reasonable, but it quickly leads to a curious result…as though words were bigoted, rather than people”. (Rauch 573) It justifies saying that such an advanced society should be analyzing different cultural values and belief systems, taking a word for what it is worth and growing a thicker skin. If did not know the meaning of a specific word, I wouldn’t associate the word with a negative or positive feeling because I don’t know the meaning. It’s the definition of the word that matters when it comes to interpreting and understanding the word. For example if someone called me a “hefer” I would just smile because I don’t understand the definition. It’s human instinct to try to feel comfortable when in an awkward situation, due to the fact I didn’t know the meaning of this word. The true definition is offensive word toward a female saying she is fat, ugly, rude and bitchy. In reality the person who said this word to myself did in fact, know the meaning. He or she intentionally said such a rude word in order to inflict a negative attitude. I didn’t understand the context of the word therefore; I didn’t connect the word ‘hefer’ with a negative or painful feeling.
The word ‘cripple’ is an offensive word in societies eyes, people often gesture towards lighter words; such as handicap or disabled. These are all very powerful words used to define the incapable people living within society. I have two cripple parents who both cannot live a normal life due to their chronic disabilities. When people see my mother or father I’m sure they automatically associate the word handicap in order to define them. Yet, my parents are in fact cripple not handicap. The word handicap means they can do the same exact things as normal people but it takes them longer to do so, which is not the case. When in public people do one of the three things. Either people are so scared to say the wrong thing in fear of offending them; or people say way too much and try to help them in anyway they can. Or most often people just stare and say nothing at all. My father calls it all pity, he has both legs amputated above the knee. Because of their disabilities people are very sensitive when choosing what to say to my parents. When reading the essay “On Being a Cripple” written by Nancy Mairs she states, “I am a cripple. I choose the word to name me…. People -crippled or not- wince at the word ‘cripple,’ as they do not ‘handicapped’ or ‘disabled.’ Perhaps I want them to see me as a tough customer, one whom the fates/gods/virtues have not been kind, but who can face the brutal truth