I think one of the issues in reconciliation is how we talk.
I was struck by a story of the genocide in Rwanda. During the genocide 800 000 Tutsi 's were killed by their countrymen. Part of the pre-genocide way of thinking and therefore talking was to dehumanise the Tutsi's by calling them names such as cockroach.
How often do we do that- in our thinking or talking?
I think one of the ways we do this is by talking about them...
How often do we use the term them without even thinking? And who is "them"?
Is them the people who are different from us? People we feel superior to? People we don't relate to? People we consider less than us?
We talk of "they did this" or "they do those things" or "they stole it"...
Again I ask- who is they?
I want to try for myself to be careful of how I think and therefore how I talk. Especially not falling into a trap of talking about them indiscriminately.
Thanks for your honesty Kathy! Can't agree more!!!! When being contronted with the Us and them way of talking I have started asking myself and others so " when you say them who are you actually referring to?" In my opinion WE (we being all of us who want to make our beautiful country a better, free and lekker place to live in for ALL South Africans) WE absolutely have to start thinking - I mean really thinking how we speak! Lets speak the language of reconciliation!
ReplyDeleteThanks Sonja chicken. I think you are right we need to be brave about confronting people... I am not very good at this and sometimes just nod and smile, like i agree, when i am actually disagreeing with their point of view and especially their way of talking!
ReplyDeleteHeres to being more courageous...