Labels, when abused, are licenses to be desensitized. When labels are all we use, we stop understanding. We reduce someone people to a single phrase.
“Mary is an engineer.” What if she quits tomorrow? Does that fundamentally change who Mary is?
“Tony is wealthy.” We see mansions, fancy cars, and lavish parties. How about his hopes, his struggles, and his love?
“Jimmy is Chinese.” What does being “Chinese” represent? Bruce Lee? Kung Pao chicken? Good at math? Eats bats? Can’t write English? I am none of the above*.
If we believe in a label, it becomes a fixed lens we use to filter the world. In many cases, facts no longer matter. Existing assumptions prevail. Disapproving information, even right in front of us, changes nothing.
As Søren Kierkegaard said, “Once you label me you negate me.”
* I do enjoy Panda Express once in a while