Dictionary.com has announced its word of the year: xenophobia.
Unfortunately, this is not at all surprising.
The word of the year is determined by the amount of look-ups on a word, though it is unknown to the site whether they are looked up for spelling, to ensure correct usage or due to a previous lack of knowledge of the definition.
However, each year, these words also tend to sum up the year’s Zeitgeist rather aptly. Last year’s word of the year was “identity,” which made a lot of sense given the amount of weight given to each person’s individual definitions of self, especially in politics.
The word last year was sort of uplifting. I wrote last December that the captivation with identity was binding people together rather than tearing them apart — people were using words and labels to describe to each other, how they felt and who they were. It was progress.
This year, we have regressed.
Instead of letting different identities become things to celebrate and enrich communities, our country has taken to fearing them.
According to dictionary.com, we first saw a surge in ‘xenophobia’ look-ups June 24, shortly after the Brexit decision.
In a not-so-subtly-xenophobic decision, the United Kingdom decided to leave the European Union in response to a fear of immigration surge and refugee arrivals in the UK.
Since then, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance has noticed a rise in anti-foreigner and xenophobic sentiment, according to an October article in UK’s Independent.
The other United States-based source for this uptick in searches for the word xenophobia should be pretty clear to you by now. Hint: It rhymes with ‘fondled rump’ and is president-elect.
Donald Trump’s early comments about Mexicans being rapists and criminals evolved into vows to build a wall, which evolved into a lot of anti-Muslim sentiment, which evolved into a potential Muslim registry.
In 2015, Trump was enough of a joke that no one took his comments seriously. Sort of like your drunk and racist great-uncle, except entirely more dangerous because he was running for a position of immense power.
In 2016, however, it was clear his candidacy was no joke, and his polling numbers indicated a large amount of Americans actually agreed with him.
His words empowered the racism and — yes — xenophobia in this country. These sentiments have existed here for a while, but now those who have them are encouraged to act on them. For them, Trump acts as permission and protection.
Groups like the alt-right, who have traditionally hidden in the trenches of Reddit and 4chan, have shown themselves in real life. They vandalize public schools with anti-black rhetoric and hoot threats to Muslim women on the street.
2016’s word of the year is grim, y’all, but we can change it.
We have to love each other, yes, but that isn’t enough. We have to speak the up when we witness or experience hatred.
Don’t let the 2017 word of the year be “genocide.”
meickhof@umail.iu.edu
