Words

Thea deGroot, one of the members of our Centre for Social Justice Advisory Committee, wrote a guest column for today's Sarnia Journal. You can read her column, called "The words you use do matter," here.

Thea reminds all of us to think about the implications of the language we use. Thea writes, "Easy labels allow us to differentiate ourselves from those who differ from us in one aspect, and thus make all kinds of judgments about them and keep our distance." Even (and sometimes especially) when we're not thinking about the power our words hold, they can be used to reinforce hierarchies and stereotypes. 

The words we choose to use have power both to harm and to help. 

http://thesarniajournal.ca/guest-column-words-use-matter/