What’s In A Label?
514 words.
A SWAC Blogger implied in a comment on his blog that I was “throwing out” words like bigot, xenophobe, and Islamophobe, perhaps suggesting that I was “smearing” them or had no sense of what the words meant. Vince mentioned something similar in a comment here. So I want to go back to my earlier post for a minute, where I wrote, referring to the SWAC bloggers: ‘Just about every word out of their mouths offers further proof that they are quite deserving of the harsh labels “bigot,” “Islamophobic,” and/or “xenophobic.”’
I actually checked the definitions on Wikipedia to make sure they applied before I posted that, because I know plenty of partisan blogs sling negative labels around whenever they feel they can score some political points against the opposition (a timely example relating to Frank Hargrove’s humiliating General Assembly comments appears on West of Shockoe). I personally try to be more thoughtful about writing the right words on the right occasion. I don’t use these particular words in everyday conversation, so I don’t take them lightly (except maybe Islamophobia, which I think is a funny-sounding word).
So in my defense, here are the actual definitions. The American Heritage dictionary (via. dictionary.com) defines a bigot as “one who is strongly partial to one’s own group, religion, race, or politics and is intolerant of those who differ.” It defines a xenophobe as “a person unduly fearful or contemptuous of that which is foreign, especially of strangers or foreign peoples.” Islamaphobia isn’t really a word, but Wikipedia says, “Islamophobia is a controversial neologism defined as the phenomenon of prejudice against or demonization of Muslims, which manifests itself in general negative attitudes, violence, harassment, discrimination, and stereotyping (particularly vilification in the media).”
Obviously there is room for interpretation, but I can’t think of any other words that would be more fitting to describe the posts and comments about Muslims and immigration by the SWAC Bloggers (minus the violence and harassment, of course). Intolerant would be appropriate, but that’s already a negatively charged, redefined political word. I guess I could start describing their views with a politically correct label like Stauntonism, but that wouldn’t convey any real meaning to anyone.
I should probably insert a small existential note here on bigotry: I believe it’s natural human behavior to shun people who are “different,” and group with people who are “alike,” so I imagine every single person on Earth has some urges toward bigotry. For example, I’m not at all comfortable around people who don’t speak English very well, so I could well be considered “xenophobic” myself. One part of the human struggle, and I think a major difference between me and the “Stauntonists,” is how one deals with those urges and that discomfort.
Anyway, I can see why someone would get defensive because of the strong negative connotations of the words bigot, xenophobe, and Islamophobe. But I stand by my vocabulary in this case. There’s a good reason they have negative connotations.
Thomas Krehbiel writes The Krehbiel Strikes Back, a generally centrist commentary on news, media, politics, and culture.
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