Words Matter

By Hank Silverberg

      Each semester in the first meeting with my Public Speaking class, I tell my students that the theme for the class is “Words Matter.” How they speak, the words they use and how they use them can make them effective public speakers, or someone who no one wants to listen to.                                               This week I find myself wondering if that message needs to spread to newscasters, pundits, celebrities and politicians on a national level.                         First, there was Roseanne Barr. Her comments about Valarie Jarret were clearly racist.  Any other interpretation simply doesn’t hold up. You can argue whether the punishment, losing her ABC show, fits the offense, but you can’t argue what the words meant. Her follow-up about being on Ambien when she tweeted was as ill-mannered and as ignorant as the original tweet.                                                                                                                          Next came Samantha Bee, with her use of a word most people 

(Samantha Bee)

find offensive in her criticism of First Daughter Ivanka Trump. Bee’s comedy has always pushed the envelope between funny and crude.  But she could have easily have made her point less offensive and actually funny with a better choice of words. I doubt most people would have even noticed Bee’s crudeness if it hadn’t been the same week as Roseanne. But the words mattered.        The twitter-sphere and broadcast pundits went crazy over all of this. Among the more interesting exchanges was the one I copied below between someone named Cameron Stocker (he has a whopping 44 twitter followers) and former First Daughter Chelsea Clinton.

	Chelsea Clinton (@ChelseaClinton)
5/31/18, 10:22 PM Hi Cameron- 1) It shouldn’t be used to describe anyone, including my wonderful mother. 2) For decades, people, often older men, have called me ugly, a donkey, a dog. I’m far more upset thousands of Americans died in Puerto Rico post-Maria because we failed them. Blessings to you.

Cameron S‏ @cameron_stocker

Replying to @shannonrwatts @ChelseaClinton @NRA

Such a nasty nasty word. If anyone could be the "C" word it could only be Hillary! I don't remember anyone making fun of Chelsea while she was 'The First Daughter ' and there was a huge amount of subject matter. Probably the ugliest child to have ever been in the WH!

7:03 PM - 31 May 20

     Clinton, who apparently doesn’t use her married name on her tweets, hit the nail on the head. There are surely more important things to talk about. And she did it politely, without name calling, crude language or an ad-hominin attack on the tweeter.                                                                          The question we should all be asking now is how did we get here? Is it the instant availability of Twitter, Facebook or other social media? I don’t think so. Is it a breakdown of the basic moral values of America? Most Americans are still good, moral, civilized people who rarely lose their basic good nature and civility.                                                                                                                    Racism has been a plague on our Republic since it began and was common on the streets though the 1970’s, and still is on some streets today. The media has played a key role in changing attitudes in a positive way. But not always. In the 1950’s, conservatives called Rock and Roll “race music,” and the "devil’s work," but it helped narrow the racial divide among baby boomers. Movies like “Rebel without a Cause,” were labeled radical or subversive but in the long run spoke about personal freedom and coming of age for an entire generation.      

(The Kiss)

      An interracial kiss between William Shatner and Nichelle Nichols on an episode of “Star Trek” in 1968 raised an outcry from southern NBC affiliates, but it is looked back on now as a breakthrough in race relations. It came the same year George Wallace ran for President openly espousing his racist views. He finished a distant third and got shot in the process.                                                            Shows like “All in the Family” and “Maude” broke new ground on civil rights and sexism in the 1970’s, though in some ways those lessons didn’t stick.                                                                                          There were other media kerfuffle’s-- things that shocked some people. Remember 1990 when Rosanne was crucified in the media for her horrible screeching rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner at a baseball game in San Diego? That performance included what was supposed to be a comical crotch grab that ended up looking just plain crude.                                                      Through all this the public expressed some dismay or laughed. But our leaders had more important things to do. President George H. W. Bush did call Rosanne to rebuke her actions, but that was the end of it. People made fun of her, but she didn't get fired.                                                                          For the most part, our leaders ended the war in Vietnam, and then declared a war on poverty, and a war on drugs. Those home grown wars may have failed as badly as Vietnam, but they were trying. The government also made moves to save our planet from unhealthy water and air pollution and save our children from deadly diseases. That policy was working until President Trump started dismantling it this year.                                                        Over the last few decades job creation was a mission, not a political score card. Sports were a national diversion, not an expression of patriotism.           Our intelligence services were there to monitor international threats and act on any clear and present danger. Sometimes they succeeded, sometimes they didn't, but they didn't sway from the mission.  The FBI was there to catch bank robbers and track down international spies and J. Edgar Hoover failed in his effort to turn it into something else.  Our military was there to defend the homeland, not act as a prop for our civilian leadership.  

      Republicans and Democrats differed on how to solve many of these issues. The debate, though sometimes heated, was rarely nasty. 

     To me a seminal change in the general nature of our public discourse started in October 2016, centering in on the release of the infamous Billy Bush tape. The actual incident on the tape was years old, but the Republican nominee for President was heard using these words. 

"I'm automatically attracted to beautiful [women]—I just start kissing them. It's like a magnet. Just kiss. I don't even wait. And when you're a star they let you do it. You can do anything ... Grab them by the p***y. You can do anything."  

     There were also the debates, when Donald Trump went after the personalities of “Little Marco,” “Cryin’ Ted,” and “Crooked Hillary,” with personal attacks adding little of substance. Social media made it all easier. 

      Today there is tweet after tweet after tweet coming from the man in the Oval Office who seems to respect no one, and attacks anyone who rubs him the wrong way. 

     The bully pulpit which used to produce leadership lines like JFK’s “Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country”, has turned into this:

	Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)
6/2/18, 1:43 PM There was No Collusion with Russia (except by the Democrats). When will this very expensive Witch Hunt Hoax ever end? So bad for our Country. Is the Special Counsel/Justice Department leaking my lawyers letters to the Fake News Media? Should be looking at Dems corruption instead?

   Once again, words matter.

    I advise my students that in each critical point in their lives they will have a choice to make. They can lead, they can  follow or they can get out of the way and the words they choose will help them or hurt them along the way.   

    Our nation is at a critical point in its life, perhaps as critical as it was on the eve of the Civil War in 1861.  The question is:

   Which path will we take?   

                                             (Your comments and suggestions on this blog are welcome)

  

   

                 (You can order my new book at Amazon.com, BN.com or  hanksilverbergbooks.com. Or send me a direct message and I will tell  you how to order a signed copy at a bargain price)