Vocabulary and word choice. I’ve been thinking about the meanings of words and phrases.

I was talking with someone who said black people cannot be reasonably expected to continue to put up with disrespect. I understood his use of “disrespect” to be synonymous with racism, white supremacy, violation of human dignity, inequality, It was a serious conversation so I gave the word “disrespect “ a very serious meaning.

I hear complaints about hyper-aggressive, woke, cancel culture, and I wonder if this feeling of being pushed too far is related in some way to vocabulary and word choice. I wonder if white men were a little more loosey-goosey as they interpret and translate messages about this subject, would they be more amenable to the core concepts? Would there be more common ground?

Do certain words and phrases jar you? Does reading about “white supremacy math” bug you? Does the phrase “math teaching styles that are disrespectful to human dignity” bug you? They are the same thing.

I have not been particularly bothered by the phrase “defund the police” because I understand it to mean reallocating resources and duties for nonpolice work away from police to people who should have the work and resources. It doesn’t seem objectionable, but I know plenty of people do find it objectionable. Why do they object?

How comfortable are you letting someone else define a word or phrase? (“Excuse me, I’m speaking.”)