The Importance of Word Choice
A reflection on racism, language, and how a diverse linguistic worldview can help frame the importance of precise word choice
Background
The realization and inspiration for this article came from an uncanny angle. I happened to be studying some Japanese Kanji because I wanted to reboot my Japanese language skills. In both Korean, my native language, and Japanese, Chinese characters serve almost like Latin does to romance languages and forms the root base of many words. Chinese characters used in Japanese are called Kanji and in Korean we call them Hanja. We have many words in our respective languages that may be pronounced the same verbally, but where the underlying characters are different, have a completely different or sometimes nuanced meaning. This made me reconsider how important word choice actually is, especially in the context of current events.
In light of COVID-19 and the racially charged rhetoric over the last couple of years, hate crimes have been on the rise. We have seen major movements like Black Lives Matter come to life in response to this unprecedented increase in hate and the biased portrayal of many of these incidents by people in positions of power (e.g. media, police, politicians, etc.).
In particular, anti-Asian hate crimes, including against the elderly, have seen a significant rise as words like “the China virus” have been used to describe current events. It was one incident in particular, however, that gave me further reason to reflect. I am referring to the murders of 8 people here in Atlanta in businesses where Asian women commonly work. 6 of the 8 victims were Asian and half were Korean, like me. It suddenly hit home that the country that I immigrated to was no longer physically safe for people like me. I had faced racism and sexism before, especially in the workplace, but the feeling of knowing I could be targeted and killed completely based on my skin color and gender was a new revelation.
One of the most frustrating things about this has been how the murders are not explicitly framed as hate-crimes, how the killer is not described as a domestic terrorist, and how people in power describe the domestic terrorist’s actions as a result of “having a bad day.” I began to think about why this was so frustrating.
Word choices: A perspective from the Korean language
In Korean, regardless of what we are talking about, it is important to be very precise, intentional in our word choice, and consider the context or intent carefully to apply specific words because of the history we have with Chinese characters (Hanja) and how specific our vocabulary is. As an example, let’s take a look at three words in the Korean language that can all be translated generically as “hate” in English:
- 싫어하다 — The most commonly used word for “hate” and can be closer to meaning ‘dislike’ in some scenarios e.g. “I hate the color purple.” This does not necessarily imply a deeply rooted hate or stronger intent from the speaker.
- 증오 — This also means “hate,” but is a much stronger, deeper type of hate than the first example. This could be a type of hate rooted in abhorrence or detestation and would not be used lightly.
- 분노 — This word can sometimes be translated in English as “hate” or “outrage,” but has a nuance of the person being described as having strong hate and anger rooted in resentment.
We have a common linguistic understanding on the scenarios these words should be used to describe the appropriate sentiment, severity, and formality of a given situation or topic. For instance, I would never use the first word to describe the perpetrator’s level of hate or express even my own dislike about the anti-Asian shootings in Atlanta. It does not do justice to the situation and would demean the severity of the incident.
So what?
Many ethnolinguists have purported that language perpetuates a language user’s worldview. When we adopt another’s language, we continue to perpetuate their intent or beliefs. If we tone down the way we describe someone’s extremely inappropriate and harmful behavior, in some ways we condone that behavior and draw attention away from it.
As an example that ties back to the Atlanta murders targeting Asian women, a police officer was quoted, saying of the domestic terrorist:
“Yesterday was a really bad day for him.”
While I am certainly glad the domestic terrorist was caught, using this kind of language, especially from a position of power, provides a level of acceptability of what the domestic terrorist did and diminishes the severity of the issue. We need to address this as what it is: a level of systemic racism so deep that it is embedded in our language.
There are instances where this behavior may not even be intentional because it is so systemic. When we read articles or listen to the media, it may be natural for us to mimic what we hear or copy the same words others use, but this puts us at risk of assuming and spreading the original speaker’s worldview, framing a problem and embedding someone else’s bias in the way we even discuss a topic.
We must be more intentional in the word choices we all make to facilitate transparent dialogue and address issues for what they are. We must be consistent in the way we use words as well, e.g. using “domestic terrorist” and other words to describe not only minorities but perpetrators from the majority too, otherwise we risk losing focus on addressing the real societal inequities at hand.
Michelle is a technology leader that specializes in artificial intelligence and machine learning. She is passionate about diversity, STEAM education for our minority communities, and using technology to innovate for a better future. She is also an avid language learner and speaks 6 languages.
