There is something natural about using labels for people. For example: “He’s a go-getter” or “She’s very sensitive.” These descriptive terms condense observations about someone into something meaningful. But, labels can be misused. When a label is attached before having sufficient knowledge of an individual and their motives, we can easily “pre-judge” them or, in other words, become prejudiced.

Indeed, this is at the heart of much racism and other forms of bigotry, when someone pre-judges someone based on a single characteristic, such as their race, sexual orientation, political party affiliation, hair color, etc.

A label is useful if there is sufficient knowledge about the person to support it. Yet, over the years, I have seen this newspaper use labels to arouse emotions or to influence readers, in a selected way, without the benefit of adequate information. Labeling someone as a “felon” conjures up an unsavory image of an individual, even though they may have completely reformed their life, after a terrible mistake.

Or, as in this week’s article using “racist” to describe an Indiana politician because of his stand in the complex issue of illegal immigrants. If you are going to use a label, then give us enough information so we can judge for ourselves, rather than pre-judging for us.

Kevin Luksus

Anderson