Jami Michie

Fiona Harris-Ramsby

English 1050

February 3, 2017

Othering

"Othering" is a term used loosely as a verb to describe the way that we see people who

don't fit into the same mold that we do. I was unable to find an exact definition for the term, so I

would liken it to the word clique. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the word clique as, "a

narrow exclusive circle or group of persons; especially: one held together by common interests,

views, or purposes" (www.merriam-webster.com). As human beings, we do this every single

day. Even if we don't intend to. It can be as simple and innocent as seeing someone who dresses

differently than you and thinking they may live in a nicer home than you do, or it may also be a

negative thought such as thinking a person is probably a drug user and on state assisted welfare

programs. America has a long history of intentionally othering. We have gone from slavery in

the days of Frederick Douglass, to defining the way someone should act which is evident in one

of Barak Obama's speeches, to the "Linguistic Terrorism" experienced by Gloria Anzaldua, as

well as seen in the way that children other one another in high school by either including or

excluding them from their group.

 Frederick Douglass broke many of the stereotypes of why people "othered" one another

in slavery's days. Frederick was born a slave, but was also extremely well spoken and cultivated

at a time when blacks were not allowed to be get their education. Douglass was asked to give a

Fourth of July speech in 1852, and in his speech he stated, "...I hear the doleful wail of fettered

humanity, on the way to the slave markets, where the victims are to be sold off the highest

bidder. There I see the tenderest ties ruthlessly broken, to gratify lust, caprice and rapacity of the

buyers and sellers of men" (469). This is one of the earliest manifestations of othering in

American history. Othering does still occur today in the form of racism, unfortunately. We can

see it more modernly in the experiences of former President Barak Obama. Obama gave a speech

in 2008 called, "A More Perfect Union." In this speech, Obama stated "...some commentators

have deemed me 'too black' or 'not black enough'" (477). This is the judgment of his own people

as against him as well as judgment from other groups of people. This is a way in which othering

effects us today. It happens everyday in instances where cliques occur.

One such instance would be the way the Mexican American students acted when I was in

high school. In the Mexican-American community, if you act too American and not Mexican

enough, you are not allowed to hang out with the Latino kids. If you are accepted to their group,

you are expected to act a certain way by both the group you are in, as well as by people who are

outside of your group. This brings me to a passage written by Gloria Anzaldua. Anzaldua wrote

"How to Tame a Wild Tongue" in 1987, and in it she explains the way Latinos try to fit in with

one another through the way they dress and speak to another, each as well as how they interact

with those outside of the Latino community. Anzaldua expresses this with, "...because we

internalize how our language has been used against us by the dominant culture, we use our

language differences against each other" (524). She uses the term "Linguistic Terrorism" to
describe this type of othering. I have actually seen this in my own family. I have an "old school"

Mexican grandmother who is an immigrant. When I was a child, I once attempted to speak to her

in Spanish, but because the Spanish I had learned was the type they taught in school, it was the

"wrong kind" of Spanish. She was therefore very hard on me and refused to even speak to me for

a few days. I have seen this occur with many Mexican-American families and and is a way that

othering in your own racial group occurs today.

I can also relate to Margaret Mead's passage of "We are All Third Generation." Mead

tells stories of how immigrant families become more Americanized as the generations go on. In

her passage, Mead describes that when people of other cultures see Americans they are easy to

pick out because of their dress or their mannerisms (95). Again, with my family as an example,

when I am with my grandmother it is imperative that I dress in clothing that looks more

traditionally Mexican, cook food that is traditionally Mexican and speak with a Spanish accent.

However, when I am with my Scottish mother, we make Scotch eggs and have blood pudding for

dinner. I have learned that it is all about pleasing whoever you are with at the moment if you

want to fit in. Even if that's not necessarily who you really are.

In an article called, "Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal," which

was published to http://scholarcommons.usf.edu, and written by Anthonie Holslag, Holslag

writes, "Gerd Baumanns The Multicultural Riddle deals with the contextual nature of identity

or, in fact, identities. He claims that individuals adapt different identities throughout the day

according to the situation that an individual is in." This claim holds true in my family with the

above mentioned examples and I know I see it in my school classes, in my children's schools,

and even in many of my peers homes as well.

 This essay has presented evidence through both readings of others' experiences of

othering as well as through my personal experiences, as an ethnic woman that while slavery is

gone, othering still occurs, and has also extended into families as well as into your own social

groups. In conclusion a statement that one of my classmates, Brandon Fowler, made in the week

3 discussion put it rather eloquently when he stated, "How then, can this age old rift be removed

if people do not treat others as living, thinking, breathing, and feeling human beings and

disregard the thoughts of racism entirely? The laws have been created, the pleas have been plead,

it is now time for the individuals to abolish slavery of the mind and remove the thoughts of

racism." My favorite part was the words "Slavery of the mind"...this is exactly what othering one

another does to us. I hope to abolish this in myself. I will always know when I encounter

someone who is different than me, that I cannot escape. I can, however, choose to make it a

strength and foster good relationships rather than it being a weakness and invoke a false need to

other them.

Works Cited:

Douglass, Frederick. What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?. Reading Culture: Contexts for

Critical Reading and Writing. Diana George and John Trimbur. New York: Longman. 2012. 464.

Print.

Obama, Barack. A More Perfect Union. Reading Culture: Contexts for Critical Reading and

Writing. Diana George and John Trimbur. New York: Longman. 2012. 467. Print.
Anazaldua, Gloria. How to Tame a Wild Tongue. Reading Culture: Contexts for Critical

Reading and Writing. Diana George and John Trimbur. New York: Longman. 2012. 522. Print.

Mead, Margaret. We Are All Third Generation. Reading Culture: Contexts for Critical

Reading and Writing. New York: Longman, 2001. 95-101. Print.

Holslag, Anthonie (2015) "The Process of Othering from the Social Imaginaire to Physical

Acts: An Anthropological Approach," Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International

Journal: Vol. 9: Iss. 1: 96-113. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5038/1911-9933.9.1.1290