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I aim to inspire people to suppress language and practices that oppress people. I engage with scholarship to advocate for learning from suppressed communities. I call for rhetoric and composition scholars to recognize how the existence and progress of oppressed communities require suppressing language and practices that oppress those communities.
While the word "suppression" is commonly paired with words like "voter" to explain the ways Black people and non-Black people from communities who have been historically marginalized have been disenfranchised at the polls where their votes are suppressed, when I use the term "suppress," I am using it to call people to suppress language, practices, and ideologies that create oppressive practices like voter suppression. As we maintain an awareness of the harms that voter suppression causes, we must work to be energized by considering the potential outcomes of suppressing racism, inequality, and speech that results in inequalities like voter suppression.
According to Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary, suppress, is a "transi- tive verb," which means:
1. to put down by authority or force . . .
2. to keep from public knowledge: such as
a. to keep a secret
b. to stop or prohibit the publication or revelation of . . .
3. a. to exclude from consciousness
b. to keep from giving vent to . . .
4. obsolete: to press down
5. a. to restrain from a usual course or action . . .
b. to inhibit the growth or development of
6. to inhibit the genetic expression of ("Suppress").
When considering the Merriam-Webster definitions of suppress, I believe that as a society, we should hold ourselves accountable for considering what it means to see, hear, and experience racism, homophobia, sexism, Islamophobia, transphobia, antisemitism, anti-Palestinian, anti-Hispanic and anti-Black attitudes and not be invested in making those things obso- lete-even if the goals for obsoletion of these -isms only involves eliminating the ways we engage in them. While some may view it as impossible to create a society without racism and racist language, I would rather work to envi- sion such a society than to maintain a mindset that such a society cannot exist. In this article, I hope to encourage people to consider the contribu- tions they can make to create a society where racist...