Spring Break
Understanding the silence
Laura Alix
Issue date: 4/13/05 Section: Commentary
It's nothing more than a simple little card. It reads:
"Please understand my reasons for not speaking today. I am participating in the Day of Silence, a national youth movement protesting the silence faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and their allies. My deliberate silence echoes that silence, which is caused by harassment, prejudice and discrimination. I believe that ending the silence is the first step toward fighting these injustices. Think about the voices you are not hearing today. What are you going to do to end the silence?"
But maybe you still don't really get it. After all, why be quiet all day? What difference does it really make? Does my silence really help end injustice? The short answer: yes, it does. However, this is a little bit complicated, so let me explain. Let's use a racist joke as an example as this is usually a little bit easier to understand. I recently read an article in which the author, a black lesbian college professor, discussed how a colleague of hers had told her she shouldn't get upset at racist jokes. Instead, he had explained, she should just laugh it off so as not to appear too uppity or politically correct. In other words, you shouldn't let it bother you. This strategy shouldn't make sense, but I'm afraid it does to many American college students. I can't think of anybody who wants to look uptight and overly politically correct, but maybe the person telling the joke doesn't realize the weight of the words. Often enough, these jokes are told by someone who doesn't consider him or herself racist, sexist, homophobic or likewise, but nonetheless, this person unknowingly perpetuates the harmful stereotypes that keep prejudice alive. Creating awareness is the first step to eliminating prejudice, and silence on a college campus could certainly do the trick.
Most college kids probably don't even realize the importance of those issues addressed by the Day of Silence. This silence represents fear of discrimination, of being ostracized by friends and disowned by family and fear of being the target of a hate crime. And if you think for a moment this is nothing more than the routine teasing all kids endure at some point or another, consider this: the highest number of deaths among queer youth results from suicide. That is a consequence of this "teasing."
"Please understand my reasons for not speaking today. I am participating in the Day of Silence, a national youth movement protesting the silence faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and their allies. My deliberate silence echoes that silence, which is caused by harassment, prejudice and discrimination. I believe that ending the silence is the first step toward fighting these injustices. Think about the voices you are not hearing today. What are you going to do to end the silence?"
But maybe you still don't really get it. After all, why be quiet all day? What difference does it really make? Does my silence really help end injustice? The short answer: yes, it does. However, this is a little bit complicated, so let me explain. Let's use a racist joke as an example as this is usually a little bit easier to understand. I recently read an article in which the author, a black lesbian college professor, discussed how a colleague of hers had told her she shouldn't get upset at racist jokes. Instead, he had explained, she should just laugh it off so as not to appear too uppity or politically correct. In other words, you shouldn't let it bother you. This strategy shouldn't make sense, but I'm afraid it does to many American college students. I can't think of anybody who wants to look uptight and overly politically correct, but maybe the person telling the joke doesn't realize the weight of the words. Often enough, these jokes are told by someone who doesn't consider him or herself racist, sexist, homophobic or likewise, but nonetheless, this person unknowingly perpetuates the harmful stereotypes that keep prejudice alive. Creating awareness is the first step to eliminating prejudice, and silence on a college campus could certainly do the trick.
Most college kids probably don't even realize the importance of those issues addressed by the Day of Silence. This silence represents fear of discrimination, of being ostracized by friends and disowned by family and fear of being the target of a hate crime. And if you think for a moment this is nothing more than the routine teasing all kids endure at some point or another, consider this: the highest number of deaths among queer youth results from suicide. That is a consequence of this "teasing."