Daily Illustrations

Once a few months ago I tried to explain my dissertation topic to my Mother-in-Law. I tried to explain to her that I wanted to explore the way the language the media used influenced the way we think about immigrants. She heard language and thought I was talking about the increase in Spanish language media. Eh...I tried.

Today, unwittingly she provided me with the perfect illustration of the influence/power of language. Unfortunately, it's an example I could never tell her about. She'd been talking about Sarah Palin's speech yesterday. My MiL is in love with Sarah Palin. Then she went on to say something about the Democrats. I can't remember the exact sentence because she didn't say, "The Democrats blah, blah, blah." She said, "The Enemy blah, blah, blah." Well, actually the construction was, 'Blah, blah, blah The Enemy." And, yes, there were capitals in her voice.

My MiL listens to local conservative talk radio and watches Fox News. It's a running joke in the family about how liberal I am, but it must not really occur to her what that means. I don't really think she believes I am the enemy, but it's how she's learned to think about political opposition. That bugs me for everyone involved. I don't hate Republicans or Conservatives or Libertarians. I know, and really admire, lots of people with political views that are different than mine. I'm not saying it's only Fox News that promotes this kind of language. The Media (big "M" and all inclusive) is responsible and so are we, as a nation, because we like a good fight. But, what we need to realize is that it matters.

The true lesson here, the one that I can never really tell her about, is that although I know this woman loves me, I know she "Didn't mean it that way," it still stung.