I’m tired of labels. I think labeling people is the main thing that is troubling our society today. I believe the very act of labeling is both subversive and a cop-out. It subverts what we, as a civilized society, are trying to overcome which is racism, bigotry, and all forms of phobias. In short, we are trying to ensure equal treatment of every individual. EVERY individual. Now some would yes, I agree, we should treat each other the same regardless of race, color, religion, sex, etc. And that is where we are failing. Why add the labels? Because we have been programmed for a very long time to look at each other as white, black, gay, straight, christian, atheist, white-collar, blue-collar, northern, southern, etc. We’ve become lazy. We prefer to reduce a person to a label rather than take the time to find out who that person really is. It’s a cop-out and it’s wrong.
Here’s the only label I prefer: human. Get rid of the rest.
Appropriate labels are just a hair above non-appropriate, or offensive labels. Consider our society during WWII. War propaganda was everywhere: our music, our movies, our advertisements, even in our cartoons. And this propaganda portrayed our “enemies” with labels. “Get those japs!” “Stop the nazis!” And this is not by accident. This is by design. Social psychologists will tell you it is easier to hate another person or group of people if you strip them of their humanity. Assigning labels is an easy way to accomplish that. Once the humanity is gone, then a society effortlessly views a labeled group of people as animals, monsters, demons.
The beauty of this country is the right of everyone to have their own opinion. I acknowledge that fact in everyone I know and meet. You disagree with me? Okay. That is the wonderful diversity of our country that invites and respects differing viewpoints. Just don’t force it down my throat. And don’t tell me that I am wrong just because I disagree with you. And don’t label me.
Are we so selfish in the use of our time that we refuse to get to know another person? Why are we so slow to love and so quick to hate? Hatred should not be the default setting of a person, or a society, for that matter. I can’t even say we are guilty until proven innocent. Why? Because no one cares enough to even find the proof. Black or white? Guilty! Gay or straight? Guilty! Republican or democrat? Guilty! The moment we embrace our propensity to call another person a monster based on a label, is the moment we become the monsters. Ironically, in our self-righteous ignorance, we lose our own humanity when we strip the humanity from another by the use of labels.
We all have fears and aspirations. We all love. We all have a level of brokenness to bear. In short, we are all human. We are the highest form of biological life in the universe. And that alone deserves dignity and respect.
If you must label me, do it in private. If you are too selfish talk to me as a person, then don’t bother me with your short-sighted opinions. You won’t care what I think of them anyway.
