A common sound in all language, unfortunately, is ignorance. It is a dissonant sound that is far reaching and resonates throughout our history. Ignorance has many faces and many more listeners. The word itself has a specific definition and a significant meaning with many ramifications. It means lacking knowledge or intelligence, unaware, uninformed and uneducated, yet many of the people who perpetrate this idea are none of these things and stand in the periphery of the very place they wish to condemn. So why do we listen and put up with this sound? We listen because it has assimilated into all aspects of each class of all societies. Woman are subjected to the full throttle of ignorance. Especially women who are double others. Fortunately, there are many people who ignore ignorance and set a high example of what we should follow that it creates change not only in our language but in our culture. According to Ferdinand de Saussure in "Course in General Linguistics," "Language is not a function of the speaker; it is a product that is passively assimilated by the individual. It can be localized in the limited segment of the speaking-circuit where an auditory image becomes associated with a concept." Unless individuals are willing to take a stand within their groups and shout out new meanings for us to hear, which drown out the old sounds of an obsolete language, then the words we invoke to make change will never replace ignorance.
One such individual that ignored ignorance is Condoleezza Rice. She recently wrote a book titled: "Extraordinary, Ordinary People- A Memoir Of Family." She is an inspiration to both her gender and her race. She tells an exceptional story of her family history and the unique circumstances that created an individual who was able to rise up above social constraints associated with "a concept" (Saussure). She was the first black woman to serve as Secretary of State. She was able to accomplish this because her parents strongly believed in education. Her parents grew up in a culture where, "white people had all the power and blacks had none. "The White Man," controlled politics and the economy" (Rice).
Her ancestral journey began in the South amidst animosity and racism in Birmingham, Alabama and Baton Rouge, Louisiana in the early 1920's. Her parents were teenagers during the Great Depression. They refused to idly be controlled by the people who deemed themselves, erroneously, as someone from above. Her parents refused to be obsequious and sought reform and instilled important moral messages, along with strong support systems, to their daughter. The benefits of their actions outweighed the consequences and a mutual respect grew out of the atrocities of discrimination. The differences they had with the dialogue between themselves and their daughter and that of the outside world weighed very heavily on who their daughter was going to become. They measured their words very heavily when speaking in public but used a different ideological language inside their home. Their understanding of "sound images" (Saussure) did not match the current trend. They would not accept the disrespectful words thrown at them and they would not resign themselves to the vernacular that was inferior to their intelligence.
Since the ideas that language represent slowly seep into our subconscious then it must be correct that we cannot willfully alter our ideology without actively seeking out new words to conceptualize our own individual and personal culture. Her parents were able to separate what is social form from what i individual by realizing they had to create ideals within their own community that were distinctive from the world in which they lived. Her grandparents, as well as her parents, did not accept the language of their oppressors and worked within their framework to create a new voice. they visualized a concept and changed a negative connotation by making psychological reversals within their own family structure and extended family network. They demonstrated that, although one class ruled over another, they were not going to be dominated. Their family, as well as future generations, was going to aspire to greatness.
Literature, theatre, movies, the media, and the advancement of technology all have potential to change the world. Not enough emphasis is put on the effects of these cumulative industries and the people who are writing, reading, performing, watching, discovering, and participating in these different forms. The common denominator that all these forms and people have is language. Whether you agree or disagree with the message you are sending of receiving you are still responding to an issue that the language creates. It has a cause and effect forcing us to interact with the issue and we can either choose to ignore the message altogether or respond to the message with change. Either way, the form we use is of little consequence if we do not choose our words wisely.
Works Cited
Rice, Condoleezza. Extraordinary, Ordinary People. A memoir Of Family. New York: Crown
Publishing Group, 2010
Saussure, Ferdinand de. Course in General Linguistics.
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