One of my favorite opinion writers is John McWhorter, a linguistics professor at Columbia, and author of many books and articles. In addition to linguistics, he writes about race relations and the evolution of cultures.
Like me, he is very skeptical of the Radical Left and the Radical Right. While he self-identifies as a Democrat, he is also very critical of the "woke" ideology that has dominated academic and activist spaces. He can critique the "woke" without resorting to the juvenile antics of right-wing nutcases like Candace Owens. Anybody who can do that is my hero!
But I have a respectful difference of perspective on McWhorter's recent article in the New York Times, titled "If You Have Something to Say, Then Say It"
John McWhorter, “If You Have Something to Say, Then Say It,” New York Times, November 12, 2021, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/12/opinion/writing-spoken-argument.html.
In that article, he states that schools should spend more time encouraging students to become better public speakers rather than become better writers. He also stated this
A lot of people really hate writing. It’s an unnatural activity, as humanity goes.
As a blogger, I have some feelings towards that statement. Not because McWhorter is totally wrong, but because I feel that the power of writing is under-appreciated.
And when I mean "the power of writing", not only the power of writing on the reader but also the power of writing for the one doing the writing. Especially for me, being that I have speech impediments.
I wrote the following letter to John McWhorter
Dear John McWhorter,
I'm a huge fan of your writing and your thinking. I love the way you dismantle the "woke" cliches of the Radical Left without resorting to the tired cliches of the Radical Right. I really wish your works are recommended in academic spaces as often as the works of Ta-Nehisi Coastes and Ibram X. Kendi to showcase true diversity of thought.However, I do have a different perspective on writing vs speaking.You see, when I started blogging back in 2003, I assumed that more people would take up blogging. (shameless plug: check out https://pablowegesend.blogspot.com) When I started using social media, I assumed that former classmates who were so vocal in person would be writing their thoughts on a regular basis in their facebook posts, but oddly, I find very few did. I assumed maybe they have become more private as they got older. Or maybe that they were so traumatized by having their writings corrected so brutally as students when they were in school that they never wrote again once their school days were over.But your article helped me understand The Why that more people aren't blogging or writing their thoughts on social media posts. Writing doesn't come naturally to most people.Whereas for me, writing is more natural to me. I started talking late (at the age of 5) and have a speech impediment that makes it hard to speak clearly, even though that didn't stop me from being a substitute teacher (from 2005 to 2018).
Writing is also more natural to me because I have some time to think of what to add (or subtract) from the final product before submitting it to be read by the reader. I also love writing because I can express myself without being interrupted like I would in a spoken conversation.
I can also express myself more clearly in writing about very emotional topics without breaking down into a crying fit or a loud rage like I would in a spoken conversation.
Writing has been a major miracle in expressing my grievances towards my parents and have actually helped them understand my side of the story that they wouldn't have gotten in a spoken conversation that tends to get a lot of interruptions. By writing those letters to my parents, it had made follow-up spoken conversations much easier. On the other hand, my father, for whom English is a second language and hasn't learned to type has a harder time expressing himself and I do feel bad for him.Now, I do realize not everyone likes reading like I do, so I do have a YouTube channel (another shameless plug:https://tinyurl.com/ydfdep3a ) to reach out to those who don't like reading blog posts. Some of my learning disabled friends have mentioned about seeing my videos but haven't mentioned about reading my blogs.
But as you might hear in my videos with my speech impediments, and compare it to the clarity of my blogs, blogging and writing is me in my more natural element compared to my YouTube videos.Anyways, I apologize if this letter makes you feel like a trauma dump, as if you're a therapist dealing with a stranger's problem. I just wanted to share a different perspective from someone who prefers writing over speaking. I hope that more students can embrace writing as it can bring wonders to their mental health like it did for me.
Maybe we can improve the teaching of writing by having teachers more gentle in their corrections, that way students aren't so traumatized that they no longer write after finishing school.I look forward to reading more of your writings and I hope more people can rise up against both the "woke" left and the Alt-Right like we do :)Sincerely,Pablo Wegesend
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Now I do worry that if I could no longer write, type, or see, it would cause a major disadvantage for me to communicate and express myself!
I fear becoming the character in "Johnny Got His Gun", a novel and film about a veteran who loses his limbs, sight, voice, and hearing, and now has a hard time communicating with others. This inability to communicate and express has caused the character to go insane.
(note: the story also inspired Metallica's classic song & video "One")
But as long as I'm able to write, type, and speak, I will continue to use my voice to express myself and give my insight to the world.
