When I was 10, my sister made a mockery of my sensitive self. I was a subject of amusement to her because she loved to make me cry. It did not understand why it was that when I reported her abuse to my mother the response was always ‘sticks and stones’.
In a paradoxical account, my cousin, a rather crude individual would take some pleasure in making use of eroticism to harass people until they did the same to him, after which…he would leave them firmly alone.
The above accounts for the two most effective ways to deal with abuse. But the single approach is this:
Sticks and stones
Face it, if a person comes up to you and calls you be a derogative term: Chink, Paki, Negro, Baboon what ever. You have to come to some realization. An emotional response to name calling gives the other person some power over you. Would you REALLY want to give another the satisfaction of say…hurting you with words?
Lets consider the following; in today’s white supremacist world, we must acknowledge that the person who coined ‘Monkey’s uncle’, was a white man. An antagonist actually of the Darwinian theory of evolution. And that the original Monkey’s uncle was a white man;Darwin himself. That aside, ARE YOU A MONKEY’S UNCLE?
And third, do you honestly take a person you don’t know’s opinion of you to heart? They don’t actually know you. It stands to reason then, that the best approach is to let the other person be. Simply shrug and move on. Say ‘Ok’ if you have to…and walk away. A reaction to a racial slur is an acknowledgement and an endowment of that slur. Don’t give it power.
The ONLY time one should react is when a physical act of violence has been acted upon them. Defend yourself if and when you have to but never over a name.
Remember Sticks and Stones may break your bone, but names may never hurt you.
Movies about racism: Mr Peabody and Sherman
#Gugism
