Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones: How Racial Linguistics Can and Do Hurt Me

It’s funny how that mid-19th century phrase “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me” still has a place in our memory today. Although meant to explain how physical harm is real and name-calling does not have the same impact, the idiom over time has been altered and often dismissed as being inappropriate and out of touch with societal mores. I never gave the expression much thought until I began my deeper journey and analysis into racial equity education. I didn’t pay that much attention to the power of language until I realized how actual words, not just tone and inflection, can be dehumanizing, confusing, and inappropriate when addressing matters of justice.

My first major wake-up call began when I was learning how to fit in as a new professor at an historically White institution of higher learning. (Note: “Fit” is the new “F” word for many people of color trying to navigate white spaces.) Yes, I was intentional in not describing these universities as PWIs. This nomenclature is an example of how words can dismiss accuracy and meaning. The phrase ‘Predominately White Institutions’ imply that Ohio State, UCLA or Yale and others were at one point in their history open to all races and ethnicities, when in fact they were exclusive to white people. We refer to historically Black colleges and universities as HBCUs, so why not fully describe their White counterparts as HWCUs?