Changemaking and Discourse: The Power of Labels

The following reflection was written and shared by Dr. Kate DeConinck, Teaching Professor, Department of Theology and Religious Studies.

In 1943, the political philosopher Hannah Arendt published an article entitled “We Refugees” in a small Jewish periodical. Like many Jews, Arendt had fled Nazi-occupied Germany in the mid-1930s, and her article describes the discomfort that those who had recently arrived in the United States felt at being labeled “refugees.” She begins the article: “In the first place, we don’t like to be called ‘refugees.’ We ourselves call each other ‘newcomers’ or ‘immigrants.’[…] A refugee used to be a person driven to seek refuge because of some act committed or some political opinion held. Well, it is true we have had to seek refuge; but we committed no acts and most of us never dreamt of having any radical political opinion” (69). The stigma that came with being labeled refugees had deep psychological and existential consequences for the Jewish American community, as evidenced in a story that Arendt shares about a man named Mr. Cohn, who goes so far out of his way to assimilate to his new country that he loses all sense of who he is.

This past spring, I taught FYW 150: Rhetorics of Fear, Hope, and Belonging in the U.S., and one of the first readings that I assigned to my students was Arendt’s article. To be honest, I was not sure how our class discussion surrounding this piece would unfold—this was my first time teaching a course geared exclusively toward first-year students, and I wondered if they would grasp the meaning of Arendt’s prose or find her claims interesting. To my delight, what unfolded in our classroom was a meaningful dialogue about the power of labels. We talked about the challenges that Jews coming to America in the post-World War II era faced and how conventional ways of framing identity and inclusion (which were—are often still are today—derived from the concept of nationhood) only contributed to their hardships. We also read the late Eddie Ellis’s “An Open Letter to Our Friends on the Question of Language” aloud together. Ellis was an activist who spent 25 years in New York’s maximum security prisons before going on to co-found a think tank that advocates for the formerly incarcerated. In this letter, he writes about the damage that labels like criminal, inmate, prisoner, felon and so forth can have upon men and women who are trying to forge new paths forward in their lives. Ellis claims that terms like these are “devoid of humanness” and only serve to portray the formerly incarcerated as “things,” or embodiments of their crimes, rather than people (1). He encourages his audience to reconsider the language that they use, writing: “[we believe] that if we can get…publications, organizations and individuals like you to stop using the old offensive language and simply refer to us as ‘people,’ we will have achieved a significant step forward in our life giving struggle to be recognized as the human beings we are. We have made our mistakes, yes, but we have also paid or are paying our debts to society” (2).

Our conversation about these readings highlighted how the discourse we use in our everyday lives has real implications for the ways in which we imagine the world around us as well as our relationships with others. “Changemaking” can be a big concept to wrap our minds around, often conjuring notions of large-scale activism or fearless dedication to empowering underserved communities. But, as our dialogue in class revealed, Changemaking can also take form at a more mundane level. The ways in which we speak about other people in our everyday lives can also serve to effect change and promote social justice.

To follow up on this conversion in class, I asked my students to complete a short writing assignment for inclusion in their weekly writing portfolios. Students were tasked with picking one word that is commonly used to describe a group of people in the United States today and then write a short response to unpack the weight that word carries. With their permission, I share some “snapshots” from their work here:

●      One of my students wrote his response about use of the word “slut” in America today. He observed that the way this word is commonly deployed is wedded to the idea that women’s sexuality is shameful and should not be visible in the public sphere. He wrote that use of the word slut “discourages women from being comfortable in their own bodies” and only serves to fuel “cycles of oppressive patriarchy” in our country today.

●      Hailee Litchfield wrote about the connotations that the label “widow” carries in the United States, as reflected in her own mother’s experiences after losing her husband. Instead of empowering and supporting her mother, many people tended to assume that she was fragile, needy, and helpless. “Women like my other do not want pity from others,” Hailee wrote. “They want others to believe that they can get through this difficult time so that they feel empowered to move forward with greater confidence.”

●      Shelby Little reflected on the phrase “illegal alien.” This terminology cultivates a certain perception of immigrants in our society today, she claimed, by generating both fear and distance. She wrote: “if we continue to talk about undocumented humans traveling to the United States as ‘illegal aliens,’ [we will perpetuate the notion that] these people are not actually people, but are creatures from another planet that are dangerous and a threat to public safety.”

●      Two other students in my class reflected on labels that carry more subtle but equally significant baggage. Hannah McIntosh wrote about the term “dropout” and the common assumption that a dropout is someone who has willingly left school because of “a lack of intelligence, use of drugs, or unexpected pregnancy.” These stereotypes overshadow more complex realities. In fact, many people are forced to abandon school due to their families’ economic situations, situations of abuse, or other serious obstacles—which is not to say that these individuals are incapable of earning their degrees. Another student wrote about the label “handicapped/disabled,” which often lumps people with diverse life experiences and histories under a broad term. This label also says a lot about the sorts of “abilities” that our society sees as valuable or normative.

I share these selections from my students’ work with the hope that their ideas might inspire further critical reflection and dialogue about how to promote Changemaking through small but intentional changes in our everyday discourse.

Sources

Hannah Arendt, “We Refugees,” in Altogether Elsewhere: Writers on Exile, edited by Marc Robinson (Boston: Faber & Faber, 1994): 110-119.

Eddie Ellis, “An Open Letter to Our Friends on the Question of Language,” Center for NuLeadership on Urban Solutions, 2007, https://cmjcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/CNUS-AppropriateLanguage.pdf

Changemaking Starts Here

September 3, 2018

2018 Orientation presentation by Dr. Mike Williams, Professor of Political Science and International Relations, Director of the Changemaker Hub

As we have celebrated Aretha Franklin’s life this week, we have been reminded of how her music is related to social justice and social change.  How she used her skills, passions, and gifts to make a difference in the world.  While she did not solve the issue of civil rights with her songs, she was in the arena of the struggle – seeking to create positive social change.

At USD, we want you to practice changemaking– both while you are here and after you graduate.  To do this will be challenging and “solving issues” with respect to social justice is a long, difficult journey.  But still, we ask you to join our campus efforts.

My name is Mike Williams. I teach in the PS/IR department and I am the director of the Changemaker Hub.  Welcome to USD!

We know that many of you chose USD because it is a Changemaker Campus.  I am here to tell you what this actually means.

First, let me start by saying that I graduated from USD in 1992 and I started teaching here in 1999 – so I have been around this place for a while.  Well, as a junior I traveled to South Africa and the trip changed my life.  I was in SA in the summer of 1991 – 18 months after Nelson Mandela had been released from prison – and I met many people my age who did not know if their country would become a democracy or descend into civil war. 

I came back with an idea – to offer scholarships to young South Africans to come to USD to study.

I talked to a few faculty and staff about this idea and one person told me that what I needed to do was to raise one million dollars to endow a scholarship.  One million dollars?  I had no idea how to do this. 

I admit that this may not have been the best or most feasible idea but it still makes me sad that there was not more support for me to pursue it.

The campus today is different than it was then.  It is a place where everyone is encouraged to come up with ideas that might have a positive social impact.  Now, I am not saying that we have one million dollars for every idea but we are committed to supporting you in other ways.

In other words, you have opportunities to engage in social justice issues in ways that previous students could not even imagine.

What will you do with these opportunities?  What matters to you?  Not in terms of a job or a career but in terms of what kind of person you want to become.

Think about it for a moment.   What do you want to learn about the issues that matter the most to you?  What do you want to learn about the communities that you live in or the ones you want to visit?  What do you want your friends and family to say about you and your life on your 23rd birthday?

I know these are big questions.  These are difficult questions.  But we do not expect you to tackle these questions on your own.  More than anything, the fact that USD has been designated a Changemaker Campus means that we, as a community, are dedicated to provide you with the support you need to build the foundations for a more purposeful and meaningful life.  One office that you can visit to discuss these opportunities is the Changemaker Hub – but as you will learn there are many others

Okay, so a lot of you chose USD because we are a CM campus – so, what does this mean?

We believe that students are not born Changemakers, and there is not one definition, one box or mold that you need to fit in. You will become changemakers through practice.  And we believe that everyone can practice changemaking in their own way.

So, think about the practice of changemaking as you might think about learning a sport, or an instrument.  In each of these endeavors, you bring your own skills, values, and knowledge.  It is the same with practicing changemaking. It requires you commit time and effort - all while enjoying a process that is self-reflective, critical and humble.  We are not saviors at USD, nor do we want to be.  We do not have all the answers.  What we do have is a campus that is committed to asking questions and looking for solutions in ways that can address the world’s most urgent social issues in collaboration and solidarity with the community.

There are three basic steps to practicing changemaking: 1) learn; 2) connect, and 3) engage.

           

The first step in practicing changemaking is to learn about the social issues that you are most interested in.

You will start practicing changemaking on Wednesday in your classes – like it or not.  Don’t be fooled if your professor doesn’t mention the practice of changemaking – you are still beginning the process.

Why?  Well, one of the most critical aspects of practicing changemaking is that you have knowledge about the social issues you are interested in.  And don’t worry if you don’t know which social issue that you care about right now or if you care about many.  Before you graduate, you can explore all of your passions, and also, get the kind of deep knowledge you will need that is necessary to make a difference.  It is what professors do best at USD – we introduce new ideas, topics, and concepts until you at last find the ones you love the most.

In each of the classes in your LLC, the Core, and your major, you will learn about yourself, about other communities, and about the world in ways that are new and exciting.  You will find that the stereotypes you once had in your head about a particular group or place will be challenged.  And with each new story you learn about these groups or places, your insights will expand.

Your new insights will motivate you to want to connect even more with the people, places or ideas you have discovered in classes.  You will want to connect in a deeper way.  I have learned that this forces us to look up from our phones and begin to make the relationships that will define who we are.

We do not practice changemaking alone.  We need to work with others. 

Yet, we live in an intensely individualistic society.  We are taught to think about our own passions.  We are taught to write about our own dreams and passions in college admissions essays.   To practice changemaking, you will need to shift the perspective from Me to Us. 

You will find at USD that many people who have been here before you have already started to address the issues that you find important.  Meet these people and take note of the progress they have made and join with them.  The efforts that others have made are your starting point - but they need not be your ending point.      

Some of the students that we meet in the Changemaker Hub want to skip the first two steps – learning and connecting – and move right to engagement.  The reason is understandable.  There are urgent, pressing issues at USD and in the broader community and our students desperately want to act.  I think this is a wonderful instinct.  It is okay to want to act – but when you engage, you must be ready.

You see, engaging has its own possible pitfalls.  First, it is scary to engage – even when you have the knowledge and the connections.  What if others do not like your idea?  What if your idea doesn’t work?

But to practice changemaking means that you will have to overcome these fears.  You will have to take risks.

Also, effective engagement requires an approach that is rooted in empathy and not sympathy.  This is not always easy.  And don’t worry, if you are not sure of what the difference is between empathy and sympathy.  I promise you will “get it” after you hear the two accounts of USD students in the My Story presentation that is happening next.

So, practicing changemaking is not easy.  But I guarantee you that when you decide to act, you will find support at USD.  You will not be alone.  And if you engage once, you will want to do it again and again.  Why?  Because trying to make a positive impact in the world with others is fulfilling and brings happiness. 

And that is the goal – for you to graduate from USD having had the opportunities to get better and better at the practice of changemaking, so you can be an informed and engaged citizen.

You may have heard the story of Rosa Parks.  She is the woman who refused to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955 because her space was reserved for whites.

Here is what she says about her decision: “People always say that I didn't give up my seat because I was tired, but that isn't true. I was not tired physically, or no more tired than I usually was at the end of a working day. No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in.”

She was tired of giving in.  You see, she had joined a civil rights organization 12 years earlier.  And she was hesitant to join.  She did not, I repeat, did not, want to be involved in politics.  But while in this organization she realized that she had to take action.

To me, one of the lessons from Rosa Parks is that sometimes we are called to not follow our own individual desires or passions.  Instead, like Rosa Parks, we must ask: What does life want from me?  What are my circumstances calling me to do? 

Also, we should remember that Rosa Parks did not “solve” the battle against social injustices.  But rather, she did her part – knowing all along the odds of complete victory are difficult.

It took Rosa Parks many years to discover her calling.  But when she found it she was ready.

           

Don't worry.  We are not asking you to be Rosa Parks today. We know that your biggest challenge for Wednesday is to simply find your classrooms!  

Also, it took her 12 years and we only have four with you.

At the same time, do not underestimate yourselves.  You can accomplish quite a lot while at USD while you are here.  For example, faculty and students have created the USD Votes initiative – which provides opportunities for the campus community to learn about election issues, and more importantly, to get all of you registered to vote for the upcoming midterm resources. 

Another initiative on campus led by students and faculty is called Pee in Peace.  It is an education and awareness campaign focusing on the need for more all gender restrooms on campus.  This group is not only raising awareness about this issue but it is working to increase the number of all gender restrooms at USD. 

And while we have been ranked the most beautiful campus, our efforts with respect to sustainability are remarkable. We have already reduced our energy consumption by more than 20% since 2010 and water consumption by 38% since 2006. Additionally, we have solar panels that generate 7% of the university’s energy needs, making the system one of the largest solar energy producers among private colleges nationwide.  Students, just like you, have been central to these sustainability issues.

And finally, when it comes to supporting South African students with higher education – it turns out that it does not take one million dollars.  Rather, it costs around $3,000 to $4,000 per year for a South African student to attend university or college in South Africa.  Currently, there are 13 South African youth who are receiving scholarships from USD faculty, students, staff, and alumni that help to pay for their university education.  The South African students who receive these scholarships have formed a group called the Equalizers and they collaborate with USD every summer on a Youth Leadership Workshop.

Today you may or may not know your calling and this is okay.  But when you do, the entire campus will be ready to do what we can to support you and to join with you in your pursuits to make the world a better place. 

Thank you, and once again, welcome to USD!