Labels From Outside Miss Inner Details

Have you ever been called a word by someone attempting to categorize or label you?

I recall being called a 'spic' in a high school classroom in Texas.

I sensed the hate behind that word.

It came from a male classmate.

I guess we had gotten into some kind of argument over something, I don't recall what exactly.

The attempt of that student to make me feel less than them was recognized.

My response was dull and ignorantly along the same lines: 'you look more like a spic than me'.

Fail.

The kid bore a resemblance to me.

Olive skin, dark hair, dark eyes, and at first glance not the typical caucasian / white / anglo derivative he was, I assume, taking pride in.

Notice how no single person chooses to be born into any given family, or culture, or epoch.

It is an interesting phenomena how a man can take pride in something he had nothing to do with.

I had heard all kinds of names up to that point.

Four eyes (wearing glasses from 4th grade to 8th).

Dumbo (my ears stuck out).

Nerd (reading my blog, social media, or having a personal conversation with me, you know why).

Block head (sister's favorite).

Can't remember the rest of them.

But that 'spic', that was a new one.

It held a new dimension.

Previous names were interpreted as spoken out of spite, or jealousy, or teasing to ridicule.

They were childish and typical.

Sensing the hate in a new manner was a growing pain.

A term directed at me in despising an entire ethnic group sparked in me an immediate hate for that fellow classmate.

Eye for an eye.

It wasn't so much a choice, but a carnal response.

It started me wondering if, and if so how many, others felt the same way about me regardless of my words and actions.

I began thinking how I was being perceived.

Hating someone simply for how you identify them.

Hating someone for what you've heard about them ('these people').

Hating someone for only the stereotypes or negative things you've heard, ignoring who they really are.

That door opening had me now thinking, and at times feeling insecure, when measuring the interactions I would have from then on.

Was this person simply being nice to me because they believe I am inferior?

Why did they say that in that manner?

Was that a veiled insult?

Ignorant and superior attitudes are, unfortunately, typical in any homogenous society.

There doesn't need to be a majority to harbor ignorant or superior attitudes, but largely this is the usual case.

Subcultures hold their attitudes either out of fear, or self defense, or in response to whomever they have encountered.

Where I grew up as a chid, I held the same attitudes towards those not of my similar background.

Not that I wanted to hold such animosities, but it was almost like something in the water.

The teasing sparked vanity in me.

Needing glasses to see, I started using contact lenses so I can wear sunglasses and 'look cool'.

The ears I compensated for by growing my hair longer and having stylish hairdos.

But with that 'spic', that was the first time political notions trickled in.

What can I do to alter what others are beholden to in their hearts and minds?

If they perceive me as dirty, a villain, a whatever, there is little to nothing I can do... except turn into a chameleon... or go somewhere full of people that look like me.

It is sad and shameful thing, now me being an adult, when I hear a child or young adult repeat wordy weapons like that.

There are so many words that have poorly labeled others, helped ostracize them, and eventually led to much trouble and death.

Barbarians.

The term ‘barbarian’ was a label from the outside.

In one historical use, that label was collectively speaking to migrating Germanic tribes.

Those Germanic tribes eventually came to dominate the 'civilized' world they were infiltrating... and formed what Europe looks like today.

I heard in a documentary about this point in European history how some Germanic peoples desired to be just like the Romans.

They desired civilization, modernism, trade, and all the rest of it.

Not all Germanic tribes were the same, as no two people are exactly the same.

The Romans 'hated' the Germanic peoples and viewed them out of fear, spite, and ignorance labeling them all as 'barbarians'.

Over time some Germanic peoples came to serve in the Roman legions and became citizens.

The ethnic animosity persisted and prevented a unifying identity over the incoming Germanic people from taking root (the aim of empire and centralization).

Instead of their desire to assimilate and be accepted as Roman citizens, they were branded.

In due time, that attitude was what solidified a Germanic identity... an identity that came to influence military leadership.

This is what gave rise to a Germanic cultural influence and the various languages developing behind political lines in what came to be called Spain, France, England, Italy, etc..

All of these cultures and languages have Germanic origins.

The rulership from the top down came to replace the disintegrating western Roman Empire... and the Roman citizen was no more.

Thus prejudices made things worse for both citizen and non-citizen alike.

From across an expansive space any group of people could easily be labeled as indifferent or hostile or troublesome.

Such labels are utilized to appease a suspicious and ignorant minds.

The label 'Christian' actually began as a spite... but later that intention was turned on its head.

It takes work to get past homegrown prejudices or political instigations repeated on the nightly news.

Like a fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow, 

an undeserved curse does not come to rest. 

A whip for the horse, 

a bridle for the donkey, 

and a rod for the backs of fools. 

- Proverbs 26: 2-3

Just as not all Spanish speaking people are from Mexico, nor south of the U.S. border, not all human beings have been raised to be humane.

Before the Spanish language, there existed Latin.

Latin comes from the Indo European language family. (see map at link)

That is the same language family that English and so many other languages are derived.

Not all labels properly fit, and not all labels are actually considerate or respectful.

Am I a 'latino' or a 'hispanic'?

Am I a political label that some other man has conjured up in his mind in order to categorize me?

What if that categorization is out of spite or an attempt to label me inferior?

Am I actually inferior?

Perhaps if I did sprout out of the ground like a plant I could be labeled after whatever that ground is called (but that would be yet another ignorant assertion).

Man has also labeled dirt... and have derived intricate meaning, that is mostly meaningless.

Sadly these are labels when, looked at very closely, fail to correctly identify the human being.

What such ignorance does, in the minds of some, is cause dissonance and instigate dark moods.

There is a good argument behind the desire to be politically correct.

However, when that effort is taken to a logical conclusion, notice how that conclusion makes no sense either.