In the NYTimes Opinion section, a fascinating comparison of the language politics of early Friends and today’s pronoun expansionists. By Teresa M. Bejan:
Modern practitioners of pronoun politics can learn a thing or two from the early Quakers. Like today’s egalitarians, the Quakers understood that what we say, as well as how we say it, can play a crucial part in creating a more just and equal society. They, too, were sensitive to the humble pronoun’s ability to reinforce hierarchies by encoding invidious distinctions into language itself.
Yet unlike the early Quakers, these modern egalitarians want to embrace, rather than resist, pronouns’ honorific aspect, and thus to see trans‑, nonbinary and genderqueer people as equally entitled to the “title” of their choosing.
I should note that while Bejan’s discussion of Friends ends in Herman Melville’s time, many of us are still very aware of how language can liberate and oppress. Friends Journal uses the singular “they” upon author request, for example.
The one place we do have tensions is around honorifics. The Quaker testimony has been clear against using them — in a manner Bevan describes as “leveling down” but there are instances in which honorifics have been used to level up. The most common occurrence is the use of titles for Black clergy. I understand the arguments on both sides but in the end the reason we still talk about Martin Luther King Jr. is his bravery, clear-sightedness, and stirring words. His doctorate degree contributed to his development I’m sure, but as Friends we know that his academic record is not the source of his moral authority.
I asked not to be called Sir in a Quirky Quixotic Quaker Question at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia arguing that SIR is an acronym for Slave-I-Remain systemic racism and that no Black, Indigenous & People of Color (BIPOC) ☻ should have compelled speech to call a white man sir because of the Loyal White Knights of the KKK corrupting the British honorific for a knight. Especially after the Unite the Right Rally in Charlottesville sparked by iconoclast Vice-Mayor Wes Bellamy voting to remove Lee & Jackson statues.
Natal Male Trans Female Virginia Delegate Danica Anthony Roehm Bring Your Ideas to the Table.
Trump Article III Constitutional appointee 4th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Quattlebaum asked why there was NO Evidence in the Arrest of Jules Bartow USMC Code Red Herring 🐠 Quandary putting a ☻ negro in a Mayella Ewell 🥒 pickle.
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