In a lethal voice, packing a gun loose in its holster, the Virginian tells him, "Smile when you call me that."
Indeed. The contempt resonating in our labels can be polarizing and demeaning.
You can call me lithe; you can call me slim; but please don't call me skinny. There's the fire of ridicule in at least one of those descriptions.
And so it is with words that, of themselves, suggest no more and no less than their meanings. I'm a liberal arts major, for instance. That means I've studied a broad range of courses in culture, language, literature, philosophy, and other subjects.
I'm pretty proud of being a liberal arts major. It's a description I like. But the word 'liberal' itself is much maligned, I fear.
In its purest sense, liberal means tolerant of different viewpoints, open-minded, progressive politically or socially. In its purest sense, conservative means favoring traditional values and customs, cautious and restrained, careful. Depending on who you are, there's something to admire in either, whichever way your inclinations and beliefs lead you. There's room for common ground if we happen to be of different minds.
Surely there's more room for dialog instead of diatribe. Surely we all have, buried somehwere deep inside us, just a little of the liberal arts instinct to analyze, weigh evidence, and see the possibilities for more than one interpretation.
But if not, I beg you this: whatever label you affix to me, smile when you call me that.
In our every increasing hate-peddling world of "Us vs. Them", this insightful commentary on civility should adorn opinion pages in culture and political publications throughout the United States and elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteReading this piece, I recall words that have seared me since childhood. Inside my room on a summer day, I remember my father's look of disgust when he entered my room after working on Mama's car in the the trailer park where we lived. "Boy you better hope you get an office job," he said with contempt, not understanding why I would choose to read books.
I didn't consciously realize it then, but the book held in my hands served as a time machine and a globe-trotting device, helping me transcend the Marion, Mississippi.
While my father remains in his limited world, I continue to visit numerous places, peoples, situations, and learn new perspectives through books, friendships, physical travel, the Internet and beyond.
For years, I had bitterness inside my heart when I thought about his "office job" comment. Through lots of work trying to make sense of the life I was born into, I have moved many steps toward finding peace with it.
While technically I do have an "office job," I also have many other labels people affix to what they know me to be. I don't especially mind labels anymore. With each one assigned to me, I often find ways to shake them off.
When I was a younger woman, I was a guest of Joy Bishop for a brunch. The others assembled for this meal were of varied backgrounds, politics, faiths and professions. I can remember the viseral feeling from that conversational exchange. I watched the conversation moved from topic to topic. As these table mates expressed various views the others listened and allowed for each person to comment without being interupted. When I left this encounter, I knew that each of us had a larger world view. How I yearn for more opportunities like this.
ReplyDeleteI too am a liberal arts major and I am thankful to this course of study for providing me with the critical reasoning skills and love of the arts and literature.
Lovely post. I used to edit Westerns [they're now called "historical novels"] for a living, and Owen Wister and THE VIRGINIAN are both so revered among the Western Writers of America that their highest honor is called the Wister Award.
ReplyDeleteIt's so refreshing to read your musings. It's like falling backwards into a cool lake. I always used to joke that since I went to college in Mississippi, I went to a "conservative arts" school. We both know that isn't true [it's only a laugh line], and that taking sides these days is nothing more than venting: it may make you feel better for about ten seconds, but the serious issues you need to face are still there. I'm guilty of that too. My entire college education was made worth it by two simple Logic courses: I'd never thought about argument that way before. My mind was forever blown and remains so. You did read Jon Meacham's NEWSWEEK piece about the liberal arts, right?
Tom: Thank you so much. Because of my particular bent of mind, I seem to fall backwards into fire and brimstone much of the time. I like your simile much better.
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