Words exist only in theory. And then one ordinary day you run into a word that exists only in theory. And you meet it face to face. And then that word becomes someone you know. That word becomes someone you hate. And you take that word with you wherever you go. And you can’t pretend it isn’t there.
There are certain kinds of words, slurs, hate speech, prejudices, and mockings that people have called one another with the knowledge that it hurts the other person. You want them to hurt, you want them angry, and react because if they do that means those hurtful words you've said have in some way broken them, impacted them, and made them feel less than human.
