Your Life
Not only are we still self-quarantining due to COVID-19, outrage and racial tension are rightly peaking due to the murder of George Floyd. Worried about saying the wrong thing in such a volatile time in our country? People are getting angry at other people for seemingly innocuous but well-meaning words.
Why?
It’s all not really understanding the full magnitude of the situation while writing well-intentioned words. Mollie Mitchell, a passionate education reformer and President & Founder of the K12 Search Group (an executive search firm specializing in public education) wrote, “Here’s an example of how white privilege sounds. You keep saying, 'It’s horrible that an innocent black man was killed, but destroying property has to stop.' [Instead] try saying 'It’s horrible that property is being destroyed, but killing innocent black men has to stop.' This is called “people-first” language and is one of the first things I learned as a project officer in one of the biggest discretionary mental health programs in the US targeting children with serious emotional disturbance and their families."
People-first seeks to place importance and focus on the individual as a person, not as a diagnosis or a part of a larger situation. By using “people-first” language, you are showing respect for the most important part of the situation—the person. People-first postulates that a person should always be respected and never defined first by their diagnosis or situation. So, you can well imagine if someone says, "That cancer patient died yesterday, but lots of people die of cancer." While the statement may be true, people who have lots loved ones to cancer are hurt by the lack of focus/respect for their loved one that died.
On the example above, Mollie places the main focus on killing of innocent black men with damaging personal property as secondary. People in pain want others to understand, not drown their suffering with other distractions, related or not. See what I mean? Here’s a great article. Although it focuses on people with a disability, it can easily relate to everything.
People First Language
I’m not saying that every person and every organization will do it correctly. I’m saying that it starts with one person doing it right and goes on to teach others. That’s how positive is created. #StaySafe #KeepLearning #BeRespectful #UnderstandingWhatsMostImportant
|
