In the aftermath of the shootings in Tucson, Arizona, last weekend, the subject of how we talk as a nation has become a frequent topic for discussion among social analysts and around the coffee table. What kind of conversational climate have we all participated in building? In what myriad ways, every day, do we maintain that climate? In what other ways do we challenge it? What kind of climate do we want to have? If that which we want differs from what we have, then what might we need to do in order to effect change? This essay, Choosing The Right Words | Teaching Tolerance, by the Southern Policy Law Center, includes President Obama's address to the nation on this topic of national rhetoric. It also asks some interesting questions like those I pose above. As we embark together on our journey through different dramatic conventions from around the world and across multiple historical periods, we would do well to ask ourselves about our complicated relationships with words: How do we read them? How do we use them? What effects might our words have on others? Finally, what effects do the words of others have on us?
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Choosing The Right Words | Teaching Tolerance
In the aftermath of the shootings in Tucson, Arizona, last weekend, the subject of how we talk as a nation has become a frequent topic for discussion among social analysts and around the coffee table. What kind of conversational climate have we all participated in building? In what myriad ways, every day, do we maintain that climate? In what other ways do we challenge it? What kind of climate do we want to have? If that which we want differs from what we have, then what might we need to do in order to effect change? This essay, Choosing The Right Words | Teaching Tolerance, by the Southern Policy Law Center, includes President Obama's address to the nation on this topic of national rhetoric. It also asks some interesting questions like those I pose above. As we embark together on our journey through different dramatic conventions from around the world and across multiple historical periods, we would do well to ask ourselves about our complicated relationships with words: How do we read them? How do we use them? What effects might our words have on others? Finally, what effects do the words of others have on us?
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