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This paper aims to argue whether it should matter how people phrase things. It comes as a result of Adam Serwer’s writing, “The Fight Over the 1619 Project is Not About Facts.” Serwer’s writing shows how the historians criticizing the project demonstrate that their problem is more with the manner things are said in the project than with what is said. Nowadays, most people use words and phrases that commonly blur and soften what they mean. The main concern of this paper is whether it matters how things are said. A disagreement between a small group of historians and the author of The New York Times Magazine’s topic on slavery represents a significant dispute over American society’s trajectory (Serwer). The words we choose to say or how we choose to express ourselves matter; both our nonverbal actions and words matter. It matters how individuals phrase things. The 1619 Project, named for the time of the first arrival of Africans on American soil, pursued to place “the outcomes of slavery and the contributions of black Americans at the very center of the national narrative.”
From the reading of Adam Serwer, one thing is that the way we phrase things matters since our words hold a lot of power more than we probably realize. There are numerous reasons why the way we phrase words is important, particularly when it comes to talking about things that concern society, for instance, racisms. One of the main reasons is that they can either add or decrease the stigma associated with outcomes of ancient racism or slavery. It is not what we say that matters; it is how we say it to them that matters. The way we phrase words matters a lot. Perception matters when presenting the way we say things. Rather than saying “Violence is bad,” saying “I am afraid of the use of violence to resolve conflict” matters a lot. The 1916 Project is a leading initiative from The New York Times perceiving the 400th anniversary of the commencement of American captivity (Konnikova, 11). It purposes to reframe the nation’s history, comprehending 1619 as the actual founding, and putting the outcomes of slavery and black Americans’ contributions at the center of the story we recount about who we are (Hannah, 15). In her first writing of the 1619 Project, Nikole Hannah Jones did not lie when she said that “Anti-Black racism runs in the very DNA of this country.”
Another reason why the way how we phrase things matters is because they can shape how individuals actually view themselves. People will start to believe they are only what other individuals label them in a certain way. For instance, saying that someone is “a bipolar person” rather than “he does not behave a normal way” impacts how people view themselves. Such phrases are extremely demeaning since there is a good chance that individuals will begin to believe that is what they are. It is good to phrase things in a certain perfect way because we are people who have goals, dreams, and aspirations. Stocked with excellent writing and equipped with the latest scholarship, the lead writer of the 1619 Project commenced with a frontal attack on the traditional notion of 1776 as the commencement of American history of exceptional liberty. Adam Serwer, in his writing, argues that The First Over 1619 Project Is Not About the Facts in response to some controversy because several eminent historians published a strong critique of the 1619 project. From Serwer’s argument, the 1619 project is not a work of academic but a form of writing that exists to engage and reorient the perspectives, questions, and direction of the broader discussion. He took the facts to focus on the bigger picture. From his writing, I think that it should matter how people phrase things. So, while individuals phrase things in their words or sayings, it is significant to focus on making sure that they are doing so while avoiding making comparisons, making demands, and engaging in moralistic judgment.
The matter how we phrase things matters a lot. We should all prioritize how we phrase things since they have some impact on people. It is significant to make a conscious effort when it comes to how we communicate because the manner we phrase things sets the tone of the setting we are in. The important thing is to ensure positivity flows freely between each person involved in the hearing or reading the things we say. Nonviolent communications something that results when we perfectly phrase things. All the way through history, we have seen that the way people phrase things and how they communicate can either destroy people or inspire them. Something that is phrased well creates real, emotional, and personal connections, executed through empathy and humility. A good communicator is one who is vulnerable, demonstrating his/her fears, sincerity, and challenges. Phrasing things in this manner is so impactful and have meaning and substance behind their words. Phrasing things in a certain way makes such words organized and conveys information with clarity. In the instance of Adam Serwer’s writing, the fashionable glossy intellectual magazine set is always going to close-ranks against academic nerds. It’s a matter of professional interest and honor.
From the reading of Adam Serwer, the United States history is normally educated and understood through its great men’s eyes. Perceived from the perception of those historically deprived of the rights enumerated in America’s founding document, the story of the nation’s great men necessarily looks differently (Hannah, 19). It is phrased in a different way, impacting individuals differently. The traditional attitude is on the wane. The reality is more and more facts exist only in the service of polemic. The fervent reaction to the 1619 Project surpassed even the prospects of the magazine. Teachers publicized plans to use the essays in schools, and tens of thousands of extra copies sold out instantly. It is evident that the way we phrase things really matters. We tend to think that communication is a verbal and intellectual exercise but the way we phrase our words and sayings really matter to a great extent. Given the amount of effort put into articulating our words for the most significant presentations, the way we phrase them is what matters a lot.
Works Cited
Hannah-Jones, Nikole. “America wasn’t a democracy, until Black Americans made it one.” The New York Times Magazine (2019): 14-26.
www.nytimes.com.
Hannah-Jones, Nikole. “America wasn’t a democracy, until Black Americans made it one.” The New York Times Magazine (2019): 14-26.
Konnikova, Maria. “How People Learn to Become Resilient.” The New Yorker 11 Feb. 2016. www.newyorker.com.
Sewer, Adam. “The fight over the 1619 project is not all about the facts.” The Atlantic, 23 Dec. 2019.
www.theatlantic.com
