The Impact of Silence

Power and the Absence of Language: The Impact of Silence

The absence of language, otherwise known as silence, is a tool that can be used for good or evil. Unfortunately, it happens that some groups abuse its power in return for security and comfort within their communities. For instance, for centuries now, silence has been passively and actively weaponized against people of color by white people in order to maintain the order of white power in societies like the United States of America. 

Silence and Race 

Articles like Angelina E. Castagno’s ““I Don’t Want to Hear That!”: Legitimating Whiteness

through Silence in Schools” examine the effects of teachers using silence as a response to discussions of race amongst students in urban Utah. The author studies the way children at a poor, primarily black/non-white school are mistreated in comparison to their white counterparts in another district. The author concluded, however, that silence was a form of legitimating Whiteness in both schools after she witnessed teachers forbid students from using “race words” in class. She calls this being “colormute” or using race words in private settings, but censoring people of color when they discuss topics of race. By placing white people in power and allowing them to choose who speaks, the system allows for some voices to be silenced while others push their beliefs. Often, the issue is that race words evoke feelings of guilt in white people, so we, as a race, make them taboo to avoid facing the consequences of our ancestor’s pasts.  However, doing this makes Whiteness a norm against which other races are judged, and according to the author, this maintains the system of oppression. 

References: 

        “I Don't Want to Hear That!”: Legitimating Whiteness through Silence in ... anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1548-1492.2008.00024.x.