Silence or Words

Silence or Words

"There is no reply to the ignorant like keeping silence" (Proverbs). There are times when staying quiet speaks louder than any word spoken. Yet, silence and words go hand-in-hand. It is just a matter of knowing when to speak, and when to remain quiet. This tends to be difficult for people to determine. When being confronted by ignorance, do we speak or walk away? In the presence of danger, do we speak or remain silent? When we are taught to use our words, do we use them in a negative or positive way? No matter what the situation is, we have to determine when silence speaks louder than words.

In "What's in a Name?" by Henry Louis Gates Jr., this story shows an inside view of a child dealing with a racial remark towards his dad without realizing it. When he hears Mr. Wilson say "Hello, George", he waited for his dad to correct him with his "real" name (Jr.). When he did nothing, he asked his dad, "Doesn't he know your name, Daddy?", and the response from his dad made him realize he was in the middle of "one of those things" (Jr.). His dad knew what Mr. Wilson was implying when he called him George, he chose to remain silent because his family still held some respect by "white" people. He knew if he responded negatively that could affect the lifestyle his family was accustomed to. This is a situation in which remaining silent was the best recourse.

What if you had no choice but to be silent? This was the case in "Words Left Unspoken" by Leah Hager Cohen. Leah's grandfather left a lasting impression on her and her siblings, and he never had to say a word. She tells us of the grumbling noise her grandfather would make when they guessed wrong while playing three-card Monte. Her most favorable memory was when they were walking home from a coffee shop. She had walked behind everybody so she could hold her grandfather's hand. She said, "That was the longest conversation we ever had" (Cohen).

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