Labels are not what things "are." They are imperfect symbols we use to communicate what we think they are. The act of putting a label on a person is, itself, a hostile act. I know this well, because that is what I do as a lawyer. If I am not trying to get you to pay money, do or not do something, be put in jail or executed, I need to put away my armory of labels.
If we are trying to get people to behave better, then labeling them is counter-productive. This is the humanistic psychology which is the basis for the school I sent my youngest son to - Play Mountain Place. (See link below). They believe "that children develop self-regulation, responsibility, and empathy by experiencing the effects of their own words and actions on others and, in so doing, learning to respect the feelings and limits of others" and try to "facilitate peaceful conflict resolution and problem-solving by helping children learn and practice listening and negotiation skills."
These same principles apply as well to adults. In fact, Play Mountain had the parents attend workshops to this effect - although we adults did not respond as well as our children did, being too set in our ways.
These principles apply especially to discussions about race. Isn't racism itself the placing of labels on other people? In the current climate, it is easy to despair of any hope. But if there is hope, it lays in understanding and solidarity. Solidarity, as Ricardo Flores Magon put it, "is the consciousness of the common interest, and the actions which follow from that consciousness."
