Sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me

Earlier today I over heard my daughter playing with a group of her kindergarten friends on the playground. One little girl called another a "big meanie" to which the second replied "sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me." At first I had a slight chuckle to myself remembering all the times as a child something similar was said. Then I realized that in all seriousness words can be quite hurtful because of the meaning given to them.

For years once hated words have been replaced and reclaimed as highlighted in the Hilliard's reading. Unfortunately the removal or definition altering done to these words has not eliminated the innate racism or hatred that accompanies the thoughts and actions of the ignorant masses. For every reclaimed word there is always a new term flavor of the month word that will be perverted into the next best racist term. Until we as a society can end racism or any "ism" there will always be hateful terms and the attempt to reclaim them.

I think though the question of who should be included in the Black Liberation Movement that was posed by the discussion leader was of more interest. There are as many similarities as there are differences in any racial or ethnic group. Unfortunately there is no one answer to this question. I feel that in order to get proper representation and respect towards each individual set of issues and circumstances that face any minority group there has to be separate but interconnected movements. There can be the general banner of Black Liberation Movement but then sub section movements in relation to sexual orientation, gender, socioeconomic status, etc. My fear is that if each subsection is not properly represented then their issues as a group will not be addressed.