by Mary Fahnestock-Thomas, Hamilton
In commenting on a letter I wrote to the Star recently, a friend said yes, she had to look up “BIPOC” and “LGBTQ+” (as I suggested) to understand what was meant. She said something like, “Why can’t we stick to good old English?!” (To be honest, I had to remind myself as well, and that’s very much to the point.)
They stand for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) and – becoming ever more inclusive – Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual and more (LGBTQIA+), and these acronyms are in common usage in communities that are more diverse than ours here in Montana.
Not knowing such terms is a bit like all those pre-World War I English novels that never mention the servants, on whom the whole culture was so dependent. Or like assuming that everyone in the world speaks English.
Or that the astonishing, continuing prosperity of our own country could have happened without the unpaid work of millions of slaves. Or that ALL of the land we live on wasn’t taken from the many tribes of Indians who had lived on it for centuries before. Or that everyone thinks of sex and identity the same way we do.
It’s not about guilt, because what’s past is past. It’s about openness and awareness, because we’re here now and the future is ours to form. The alternative is willful blindness.
Remember that bewitching song in the movie “Cabaret” (1972!)? A beautiful young man at a community gathering in Germany sings “Tomorrow belongs to me!” in a clear, ringing voice. The tone seems to become more urgent, and he is gradually joined by the surrounding crowd of holiday-makers. Somehow the tone becomes almost rabid, and the camera pans out to show the singer’s Hitler Youth uniform and, finally, his Hitler salute. Oy!
The future does indeed belong to us, but to ALL of us, including BIPOC and LGBTQIA+. I read the Declaration of Independence to mean that the more inclusive and aware we are, the more American we are.
Besides, if you’ve ever been to Great Britain or Australia or New Zealand or any of the many African nations where English is the native language, you’ll realize there isn’t just one “good old English.” Even there, we have to try to understand.