Name-Calling on Social Media: Call Me "Crazy," But Don't Call Me "Ignorant"!
A few weeks ago, I joined a discussion of wits and fools on the Linked/In site. Some English teachers were trying to interpret a Shakespeare quotation that compared a witty fool to a foolish wit. Since I've always enjoyed discussing Ralph Ellison's clown/fool motif and thought the Shakespeare quotation was similar, I offered my interpretation. I argued that a fool couldn't be witty because wit requires intelligence, but a foolish wit might be someone who shares her wit at the wrong time, in the wrong place, and with the wrong audience. On Friday I became a foolish wit.
Someone that I follow (and who follows me) on Google+ wrote a comment about why blacks shouldn't celebrate July 4. Since I agreed with that comment and, in fact, wrote a blog post on the topic last year, I joined the discussion. But instead of offering an "amen" or "right on," I decided to become Jonathan Swift or Stephen Colbert. After agreeing that we were not free in 1776, I pointed out that we had white ancestors who were free and suggested that we shouldn't hold a grudge against them just because they enslaved and raped our black ancestors. I threatened to have Barack Obama (who didn't sing as well as some people seemed to think he did) sing "Amazing Grace" again to remind them that we are the people who are supposed to turn the other cheek and meet hate with love.
Well, at least I was amused by my comments, but everyone else posting on the topic seemed to take me seriously. One person didn't address me but wrote disparagingly of black people loving white folks too much. Then a woman asked why we have to always turn the other cheek, which, of course, was my point. But the person who had me laughing harder than I laughed at my attempt at wit was a guy named Mark. He said, "Mary F. Sisney, so ignorent (sic), and enslaved. I have no words." When I stopped laughing, I became annoyed. And when I become annoyed, I can be quite snarky. I always have words. I decided not to go after the "no words" comment because I'm biased. Mark is clearly black, so I treated him more kindly than I would have a white man who called me ignorant. But I had to call him on the misspelling of "ignorant." In fact, I make a point of calling social media posters on their grammar, punctuation, diction, and editing errors only when they call me or some other poster ignorant, stupid, or an idiot. As I told Mark, before you call someone "ignorant," learn how to spell or edit more carefully. Anyone who is going to question another person's intelligence needs to write competently and carefully.
I also told Mark what I've told many other Googlers that the most ignorant logical fallacy is name-calling, attacking the person instead of her arguments. Instead of calling me ignorant, he should have found the words to explain the error of my ways; he should have shown me why I was ignorant and tried to help me be less ignorant.
I think "ignorant" is one of the worst cyber-bullying slurs. I'd prefer to be called crazy because we can't help being crazy. We were either born that way or something happened (spending too much time on social media, for instance) that caused us to be crazy. Besides, geniuses are often crazy. In fact, some of our greatest writers--Poe, Pound, Plath, Hemingway--were crazy. Even being called an idiot or moron is less insulting because we are also born with our I.Q.'s, or we can have something happen to our brains that cause us to be "idiots." But even the learning disabled can slowly learn if they try. However, people who are ignorant are at least partly to blame for their ignorance. Our parents, teachers, and the biased, spinning media can contribute to our ignorance, but we have to work at being so blind that we cannot see.
While ignorant people might not be as obviously dangerous as crazy people, they are very dangerous to themselves and others. The Republican voters who have made Trump #2 in the early presidential polls, for instance, are ignorant, which is why they think he's telling the truth when he scapegoats Mexicans. The young Americans who join ISIS are also ignorant, which is why they can be tricked into fighting against their own country. The ignorant people who vote against their own interests because some demagogue has appealed to their basest instincts--fear and prejudice--have caused much damage to our country and our culture.
Those of us who are less ignorant know that we can always learn, so I have learned from my latest Google+ adventure to be a little more careful about where, when, and with whom I share my "foolish wit." But I will continue to try to educate my fellow Googlers because I believe my country needs me. When Mark asked me what I have done to help my people, I had an answer. I taught them. I'm still trying to teach them, even if they don't want to be taught, even if they think I'm ignorant, enslaved, and not funny.
Someone that I follow (and who follows me) on Google+ wrote a comment about why blacks shouldn't celebrate July 4. Since I agreed with that comment and, in fact, wrote a blog post on the topic last year, I joined the discussion. But instead of offering an "amen" or "right on," I decided to become Jonathan Swift or Stephen Colbert. After agreeing that we were not free in 1776, I pointed out that we had white ancestors who were free and suggested that we shouldn't hold a grudge against them just because they enslaved and raped our black ancestors. I threatened to have Barack Obama (who didn't sing as well as some people seemed to think he did) sing "Amazing Grace" again to remind them that we are the people who are supposed to turn the other cheek and meet hate with love.
Well, at least I was amused by my comments, but everyone else posting on the topic seemed to take me seriously. One person didn't address me but wrote disparagingly of black people loving white folks too much. Then a woman asked why we have to always turn the other cheek, which, of course, was my point. But the person who had me laughing harder than I laughed at my attempt at wit was a guy named Mark. He said, "Mary F. Sisney, so ignorent (sic), and enslaved. I have no words." When I stopped laughing, I became annoyed. And when I become annoyed, I can be quite snarky. I always have words. I decided not to go after the "no words" comment because I'm biased. Mark is clearly black, so I treated him more kindly than I would have a white man who called me ignorant. But I had to call him on the misspelling of "ignorant." In fact, I make a point of calling social media posters on their grammar, punctuation, diction, and editing errors only when they call me or some other poster ignorant, stupid, or an idiot. As I told Mark, before you call someone "ignorant," learn how to spell or edit more carefully. Anyone who is going to question another person's intelligence needs to write competently and carefully.
I also told Mark what I've told many other Googlers that the most ignorant logical fallacy is name-calling, attacking the person instead of her arguments. Instead of calling me ignorant, he should have found the words to explain the error of my ways; he should have shown me why I was ignorant and tried to help me be less ignorant.
I think "ignorant" is one of the worst cyber-bullying slurs. I'd prefer to be called crazy because we can't help being crazy. We were either born that way or something happened (spending too much time on social media, for instance) that caused us to be crazy. Besides, geniuses are often crazy. In fact, some of our greatest writers--Poe, Pound, Plath, Hemingway--were crazy. Even being called an idiot or moron is less insulting because we are also born with our I.Q.'s, or we can have something happen to our brains that cause us to be "idiots." But even the learning disabled can slowly learn if they try. However, people who are ignorant are at least partly to blame for their ignorance. Our parents, teachers, and the biased, spinning media can contribute to our ignorance, but we have to work at being so blind that we cannot see.
While ignorant people might not be as obviously dangerous as crazy people, they are very dangerous to themselves and others. The Republican voters who have made Trump #2 in the early presidential polls, for instance, are ignorant, which is why they think he's telling the truth when he scapegoats Mexicans. The young Americans who join ISIS are also ignorant, which is why they can be tricked into fighting against their own country. The ignorant people who vote against their own interests because some demagogue has appealed to their basest instincts--fear and prejudice--have caused much damage to our country and our culture.
Those of us who are less ignorant know that we can always learn, so I have learned from my latest Google+ adventure to be a little more careful about where, when, and with whom I share my "foolish wit." But I will continue to try to educate my fellow Googlers because I believe my country needs me. When Mark asked me what I have done to help my people, I had an answer. I taught them. I'm still trying to teach them, even if they don't want to be taught, even if they think I'm ignorant, enslaved, and not funny.
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