The Language of Power

A student asked why it was important to teach the "language of power" rather than acceptance. I would like to be neive and tell you that everyone is always accepted, but unfortunately, that is not always the case. Perhaps in many ways, the lanuage of power is closely related to acceptance. I am not suggesting that everyone conform to other cultural beliefs, or ideals, but to be functional in society, you must understand the "language of power". Without this language, people might find it hard to communicate, find jobs, and prosper. It is not simply minorities who must conform either. Everyone conforms. It may just be more aparent when the cultural differences are significantly more obvious. Within most cultures and nationalities, there are factors that divide society-- The rich and the poor, the blue collar and the white collar, the atheists and the religious. Each subgroup speaks differently to eachother. It may be due to educational background and a variety of other factors, but when faced with other subgroups, it is important to be able to have a unified way of communication. Many people may accept others for their differences, but if communication was not unified to a proper language, the "acceptance" would only further divide the groups, making communication difficult. I am upset that this discussion usually only focusses around minorities, because the majority faces the same dilemas in different ways. Are there differences between how you may speak in slang compared to how your parents speak amongst their business associates? Can you hear the difference between a poor city kid and a wealthy suburban one? I don't understand why it has become such an ongoing topic that minorities are so different from us. Their skin may be a different color, they may wear different clothes and speak differently, but isn't everyone different? Acceptance is the key for everyone, but everyone needs a unified way to communicate in society to succeed.