words matter

Yesterday I went to my favorite English used bookstore to sell some books (and get some new ones).  I was chatting with the gentleman who was working (let´s say 50 years old, proud owner of a nice dog that was cuddled up in the chair).  Said gentleman started telling me about some work he did about an hour outside of Colomba (a county here in Quetzaltenango), ´there we were in this little village...´ I sort of zoned out at that point.

The word village is such the wrong word.  Why?  Well, because it has implications.  People tend to only use the word village when referring to the developing world.  Someone who visits rural midwestern America will find lots of ´villages´ but when recounting to friends later, they´ll use ´oh and then we went to this cute little town called _____´.   So when I hear the word village, I hear, this poor little godforsaken group of shacks.  A village is a community.  A rural community.  Our words have power and we keep maginalizing people by labeling them with something out of date and offensive. 



Type ´Guatemalan village´ in google images and this appears.  The original caption was ´A sacred hill and Maya village, Guatemala´.  http://www.mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/calendar/december-21st-2012-2


Frankly, village isn´t the only word that gives me this reaction.  The word ´tribe´, really gets me riled up.  Tribe is an ethnicity.  Only when we refer to groups of people in Africa do people use the word tribe.  Why?  Racism?  Possibly.  The truth is, I don´t know why people haven´t figured this out yet.  Please, if you use the word tribe, stop. 

I´m on a roll.  The label, ´Maya´.   Oh the Maya.  After three years of living with the Maya in a rural village (typing that hurt!).  The Maya were an ancient civilization.  The indigenous people of Guatemala might claim Mayan roots, they might wear clothing rooted in Mayan tradition, they might speak language derived out of Mayan languages, BUT that does not mean they are Mayan.  To put it in persective, you speak English.  Let´s pretend your ancestors were from Scotland.  Your clothes are shockingly similar to those warn by your ancestors (pants and shirts and kilts, hello!).  Are you Scottish?  Are you the modern Scottish?  No, you are you.  Yes, you have an ethnicity.  Yes, you have a nation.  Yes, you have a language.  Yes, you have roots and ancestors and a history.  But no one comes to visit your suburb and say, WOW LOOK AT THESE PEOPLE, THE MODERN SCOTTISH IN A VILLAGE IN AMERICA.  Okay, I know, a little drastic?  Perhaps, but I think you get my point.   

Am I crazy?  Maybe, but for me it´s a great litmus test to understand people.  How about you?  Do the words village/tribe/maya make you cringe? 

You may disagree, but I think you might agree that words matter and have power.  When we use words that marginalize, we are creating injustice.