The Meanings Of A Word Essay

In both Gloria Naylor’s Essay “The Meanings of a Word” and Christine Leong’s “Being a Chink,” both authors, whom are women of color, address the power behind words and their definitions. While acknowledging that words can be both empowering and positive, both Naylor and Leong address that words can be used in negative ways and easily manipulated. Words have the power to express an individual’s feelings and thoughts to one another, whether positive or negative. Alongside this, words can be used as labels. Labels that differentiate certain groups of people from one another. While some labels may be true, they are commonly used in ways to harm the specific individual(s) within a given group of people ( Race ). Gloria Naylor and Christine Leong focus on this side of words and their definitions - the ones that can be used in a manner to belittle and dehumanize one another. Both authors give a personal anecdote of theirs where they have been victim of, or experienced a word that hurt them personally. Though, they did not look into the reasons of why it hurt them, but instead focused on how they were able to flip the meaning of the word and use it in a way, within the group of people who the word was initially meant for use against, in an
To me their arguments did not need any convincing to do because I had already built this mindset that was reflected in both essays through my own personal experience and indirect encounters with cases where others have used words/stereotypes in a negative way. Us using words that are labeled as “racist” should not define us as racist ourselves, instead we begin by looking at ourselves first and then the way we intend the word to be used. Groups of people should do exactly what Naylor and Leong did and take words that are belittling them and render them impotent. Instead of letting the words define us, it is we that should define the