Transcriber: Mia Tran Reviewer: Carol Wang
Male, Female.
Christian, Jew, Muslim, Atheist.
White, Black, Asian, Caucasian, Arab.
Liberal, Conservative, Libertarian, Progressive.
Cisgender, Transgender, Heterosexual,
Homosexual, Queer, Non-binary, Agender.
All of these are labels, some of which I have,
and some of that you yourselves may have.
But what exactly are labels?
Merriam-Webster defines the label as a descriptive or identifying word
or phrase.
Since the dawn of human language,
we have come up with terms to categorize ourselves and each other,
from simple things such as ‘us’ and ‘them’,
‘family’, ‘tribe member’,
‘citizen’, ‘foreigner’ and ‘enemy’
to more complex labels describing political ideologies,
religion, or even personal interests.
‘Geek’, ‘jock’, ‘soccer mom’ and ‘workaholic’ are in widespread use.
Some labels that I use include ‘female’, ‘Asian-American’,
‘parent’, ‘daughter’, ‘sister’,
’transgender’, ‘pansexual’, ‘nerd’, and ‘airman’.
Labels have a greater power
than what a simple definition can describe.
Looking at today’s world,
labels have increasingly led to more division, marginalization, hatred.
According to the FBI,
hate crimes are at the highest level they’ve been in 10 years.
People have been attacked for being Asian.
Victims of misinformation spread during the rise of COVID-19,
or used as a scapegoat for a young man’s inability
to control his sexual urges in Georgia this past March.
When I was six years old, I attended kindergarten,
I was first exposed to a variety of racial slurs and bullying
due to my mixed Asian-American ancestry.
As I discovered computers and I did well on math tests.
I was harassed because of stereotypes.
To this day, I struggled to escape those that want to use this label for harm,
simply because I was born with it.
Others, like Jews, have been attacked for their religion.
Anti-Semitism has existed for thousands of years,
from the ancient Greeks and Romans to the expulsion of Jews,
from multiple nations in the Middle Ages to more recently, the Holocaust -
Nazi Germany's final solution.
The Pew Research Center
has studies indicating a growing partisan divide in politics.
The number of Democrats and Republicans willing to compromise and work together
is at its lowest in modern history.
The LGBTQ+ community has faced legislative attacks around the globe
from so-called “LGBT-free zones” in Poland
to over 80 anti-transgender bills introduced here in the United States.
Those that are part of this community have been particularly vulnerable.
Transgender military members such as myself
have experienced the back and forth in policies -
traded off like we’re a footballer trading card,
and not human beings that want to serve our country.
And, as we saw last year,
despite the gains in legislative equality
stemming from the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery,
and the Civil Rights Act of 1964,
we all have a long way to go in addressing systemic racism
and centuries of inequities in the United States.
From integral parts of identity such as our gender, gender identity,
sexual orientation, race and ethnicity,
to those groups that we choose to be a part of,
such as political parties, political alignment or religion, peace labels,
these groupings have divided us to an alarming degree.
Labels can separate us.
They can help foster an ‘us versus them’ mentality,
leading to unhealthy competition.
They can lead to harassment, discrimination, bigotry,
assault, and even murder.
Labels used incorrectly can be dangerous.
And yet, our labels are entirely without benefit.
When I was seven years old,
I discovered that my gender identity didn’t match what I was assigned at birth.
While my birth certificate said Male,
every part of my being said that this was wrong,
that I was actually a girl.
But when I made this realization all the way back in 1989,
I had no idea what this feeling meant for me.
I was confused.
I was scared.
I thought something was horribly wrong with me.
I had no internet to search for clues.
There was no representation in the media
that I could turn to for inspiration and guidance.
I was alone.
I struggled with these feelings for almost 20 years
before I found the word ‘transgender’.
Suddenly, what I was and who I was became clear
for the first time in my life.
In addition to that, I discovered that I was part of a community:
the LGBTQ+ Community.
I found mentors, friends,
and people that I now consider to be family.
I can go to any major city,
and in many of the smaller ones,
and with a quick search on the internet,
I can find community centers and social places that are focused
on making my community safe and welcome.
This label, one that has become so controversial in our country,
became a way for me to accept who I am
and to feel a part of something larger than myself.
So, too, can other labels.
Members of a particular religion can find fellowship with each other.
Street signs, social media pages, google searches can help anyone
from evangelical Christians, Catholics, Baptists, Muslims
to faiths like Rastafarianism, Zoroastrianism and Wicca
find places of worship in new locations.
Those that adhere to specific political parties or ideologies
can more easily connect and find common ground.
Places such as Reddit have communities for people
that follow nearly every political system and ideology that has ever existed.
Professions have their own labels.
One that I earned in my life is Airman.
I enlisted in the United States Air Force in 2004,
and having that label has tied me
to a group of individuals with many shared goals and common interests.
I have been able to connect with currently serving service members
and veterans,
and we find support through those others
People with shared cultures, shared histories
can come together and celebrate that which makes them unique.
Major cities host cultural days and weeks
where all members of the local area can gather and enjoy music, food,
clothing, dance, and other aspects of many different cultures.
Labels, at their worst, can drive divisions between us
when they foster an ‘us versus them’ mentality,
when they turn into a categorization of people like me are good,
but people not like me are the enemy.
Labels lead to negative, such as harassment and discrimination.
They separate us
and lead us to live lives that are empty of the good,
that different perspectives spring,
But at their best,
labels describe those things that connect us to one another.
When we work as a team, when we adopt the label teammate,
we are capable of accomplishing things greater than we can when we're alone.
My own transgender label has connected me to a community that has accepted me,
given me mentorship, and helped me to acknowledge who I am.
Being an Asian-American, and more specifically a Korean-American,
ties me to a deep and rich culture that broadens my own perspectives,
and allows me to teach my own children about their roots.
Labels allow us to bind together in groups
and communities that allow us to grow
and become more knowledgeable about our histories, our cultures,
and how to develop strategies on how to be more successful.
Labels are not all good or bad.
Like any tool, they can be used to build and create wonderful things,
highlighting what I consider to be one of the greatest things
that humanity has developed:
community ties.
But, misused,
they’re also capable of causing a great deal of destruction.
If we, as individuals, choose to use labels responsibly,
we can achieve greater things together than we ever could on our own.