The G***** Word

When I was younger, there was a saying, "Sticks and stones may hurt my bones but words can never hurt me". Sometimes words hurt more than sticks and stones and stay with us longer than those external wounds. Sometimes we unknowingly cause hurt that cannot be easily undone and sometimes the people we hurt don't even realize that it is our words that crippled them. Why is speaking proper English sometimes referred to as "talking white"? Why is excelling in school sometimes called "acting like a white boy or girl"? One word that I am going to stop using is the word ghetto. I cannot think of a truly positive connotation that goes along with that word. We use it as a way to describe something less than what we consider the norm, something undesirable or to describe a behavior less than what is expected. People are even inventing more hurtful ways to use the word, I was watching a new series the other day that used the term along with the word twin to describe two children born around the same time fathered by the same man with different mothers. How do we hope to build confidence and a sense of belonging in our children if we continue to use words that describe where they live or even their place in this world by using a word that can never mean anything positive. My grandparents on both sides came from humble beginnings. They had a vision for their children that went beyond their immediate surroundings. They did not instill the power to dream in their children by speaking negatively to them, they did the opposite. They talked about opportunity and seeing beyond their immediate circumstances. Some of my fondest memories as a child come from the feelings I got from those communities. Our dreams for our children should go beyond financial. They should be dreams for them to be happy, for them to fulfill their unique purpose. When we continue to define worth and happiness by places and things, our children do whatever they can to obtain those things. Some choose careers that don't make them happy, some choose ways to get that respect and financial success by any means necessary. If we choose our words more mindfully and instill a sense of pride in our children based on them being their best and living up to their potential, our communities and our world would be a better place. Thoughts and words in the time of slavery and Jim Crow in the United States allowed a people to see beyond, to a better life. We have the ability to dream but we choose to be enslaved. "Where there is no vision, the people perish" Proverbs 29:18.