Weaponizing and De-weaponizing Antiracist Discourse

Abstract

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and Trump’s branding of the virus as the “China” or “Wuhan” virus, anti-Asian sentiment has swept through the United States, resulting in developments involving antiracist discourse. Our commentary draws upon these events and other recent incidents in the United States to demonstrate the power that words have when weaponized for particular ideologies or groups. Adopting McConnell-Ginet’s (2020) notions of semantic authority and semantic mastery, the commentary further delves into how racist discourse, when successfully weaponized through social media and political groups, creates tensions for teachers and administrators in the language classroom. Next, we highlight two examples of anti-Asian racism to show not only the psychological but also the physical harm that comes from weaponized language. Our commentary concludes with a call for students to be more critically aware of prevalent discourse through antiracist pedagogical resources (Anya, 2021; Baker-Bell, 2020; Flores & Rosa, 2019) in language and literacy education, and the role professional organizations have in supporting antiracist ideologies through their own form of countermeasures via statements of support.