How Words Matter

Words matter (or they should).

They are the meat in the social media sandwich which appears to be one of the main sources of the energy fueling our ever-crazier world. Remember the school playground chant; “Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones but Words Will Never Hurt Me”?

Wrong! They can and they will.

The origins of the word ‘woke’, now being tossed around like a hot potato at a barbecue is being aware or well-informed in a political or cultural sense. Its use often describes someone who has “woken up” to issues of social injustice. One would expect that this awakening would be viewed as a positive step forward in a world too anchored in prejudice. Being well-informed was certainly a virtue when I was growing up.

But it is anything but virtuous if the likes of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ have their way. Claiming, falsely, that Florida citizens have moved past racial prejudice, DeSantis, with his eyes clearly focused on replacing Donald Trump as the kingpin of the Republican party, and with a shot at the White House’s Oval Office temptingly down the road, has made it his mission to ‘Stop WOKE’.

He has passed legislation that among other things, according to the NY Times, “targets what DeSantis has called a “pernicious” ideology exemplified by critical race theory — the idea that racism is systemic in U.S. institutions that serve to perpetuate white dominance in society.” The law, among other things, prevents businesses from forcing workers to attend diversity training sessions that would, “make them feel uncomfortable or guilty about their race because of historical events”.

In other words, DeSantis wants to give racists a free ‘get out of mental jail card’ absolving them of any discomfort for the actions of their progenitors. It is not too surprising he has a lot of takers.

Put simply, the Florida law seeks to ignore the First Amendment giving the freedom of speech and to determine how all sorts of organizations, including private businesses, can address race, gender, and nationality. It seeks, as its ‘Stop Woke’ name makes clear that ‘woke’, being aware and well informed, is dangerous and should be eliminated.

Fortunately, a U.S. District Court judge has temporarily stopped the law from taking effect. But we haven’t heard the end of it.

Weirdness in Florida must be contagious.

DeSantis is no weirder, than a fellow Republican, Florida state House candidate Luis Miguel who seriously suggested on his social media accounts (from which he has now happily been banned): “Under my plan, all Floridians will be able to shoot FBI, IRS, ATF, and all other federal troops on sight. Let freedom ring.”

If that’s freedom, I don’t want any part of it.

Advocates of free speech (and I am certainly one of them) put different limits on what constitutes ‘free’ speech and where speech should be restricted. Words matter and calling for the shooting of federal agents as his patriotic response to the FBI recent search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence seems to me a bridge way too far.

Oft quoted is the famous Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes opinion: “The most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man in falsely shouting fire in a theatre and causing a panic.”

What if Luis Miguel’s plan caused some federal agent to be shot? Would that be any different from the possible panic of ‘falsely shouting fire in a theater’ and shouldn’t he be prosecuted for the incitement of violence?

If he were the only one to propose this violence, he might be written off as an unhinged ‘nutter’. But he is not. The New York Republican Carl Paladino running for a U.S. House seat has said that the Attorney General Merrick Garland “should probably be executed”. Are these the same voices who wanted to hang Mike Pence? How many other ‘patriots’ may be building gallows and loading up their weapons is scary.

And they have supporters like Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, the third most powerful House Republican. As NBC News reported, she praised Paladino as an “inspirational” leader, a “doer,” and “the kind of leader we need today.” That endorsement came just days before it was revealed Paladino in 2021 had called Adolf Hitler “inspirational,” and “the kind of leader we need today.”

For the most part, these are just fiery words intended by the speakers to make headlines and notoriety whether they believe them or not. But because words do matter – they matter a lot – it’s about time we stopped using them irresponsibly.