The Insidiousness of an Idea

[madimpossibledreamer]

Posting what I have right now...which happens to be Wizard Xander musing on racism.  (Technically also a commentary on the White Council/Black Council choice by Jim Butcher, which is...unfortunate.)  Generally, people other than me should be (and have been!) talking about this, because I'm definitely not the expert, but I liked the explanation and symbolism, so.

Main Points:
Buffy/Dresden Files Crossover
Chapter Summary: Controlling language means controlling ideas.
Word Count: 320
Rating: Teen
Warning: Discussion of racism.

         There’s a magic in words.  A reason why so many magicians and wizards are depicted using spoken magic.  Non-spoken magic exists, but it’s a lot harder—to pull up the force in the first place, to control it, even when you’re talking inside your head, there’s something about the spoken word, too.
         But I’d—okay, reluctantly, for class—read the book 1984, and wizards aren’t the only ones using their words to shape reality.  Take the words ‘black’ and ‘white’.  Those directly impacted by it have known about it forever, while the rest of us don’t even realize until someone points it out to us, and that’s the insidious way words can shape our reality.  The High Council has been known as the High Council since forever, but some enterprising probably Nazi-sympathizing American wizard in the late 1930s tried to rename it as the White Council.  Lately, some nefarious (probably equally guilty of bad sympathies, possibly even the same person given wizard lifespans) suggested we name the newest pain in our collective butts the Black Council.  And while none of the Vampire Courts are in any way, shape, or form good (I feel safe saying this about the Jade even if I have no clue what they do), I’ve run into more than one American wizard with the quaint notion that the White Court is better than the Black Court (spoiler alert, they’re both stone-cold monsters and both would be more than happy to see you dead).
         The worst part of it is that you can’t kill an idea, and tying symbology and connotation to humankind’s old fears of night and the predators that can hide within is powerful.  The only way to fix it is probably counter-symbology.  Take obsidian.  A ‘rock’ forged through the hottest fire of all, lava, with protection and stability and power.  White quartz, on the other hand, absorbs everything.  The good, the bad.  It’s unpredictable.