My mother taught me to say what I mean and mean what I say. She emphasized the strength and livelihood of words, reminding me of the way they could hurt others if used thoughtlessly.
To a child, this made sense. But now that I am older, I understand we must consider everything we say, because words and expressions are figures charged with energy, history and endless connotation. Words are what make people jump off the proverbial bridge. They are visceral and profound and an impetus for change. So, say what you mean and mean what you say.
This advice proves incredibly important in light of our political figures, or the people in theory, who represent the heart of our beliefs. So, when we consider public policy in America, which unquestionably involves racial politics, we must look at their rhetoric.
Who is speaking for us, about us and to us? If you are raising your eyebrows about racial politics, I beg you to consider recent histories like redlining and Norplant. In Mississippi, unfortunately, Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith speaks for us.
She made a particularly disturbing comment on Nov. 2, in which she praised a cattle farmer, stating, “If he invited me to a public hanging, I’d be on the front row.” 
Hyde-Smith stands by her statement, dismissing it as a joke, as if joking about the public execution of a human being is ever in good taste. But it is not simply the idea of death on display that is disheartening here. It is the truth that in Mississippi, lynching has absolutely everything to do with race. In fact, Mississippi holds one of the highest percentages of lynchings against black bodies between 1882 and 1968, according to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. 
Born in 1959, Hyde-Smith spent the first 10 years of her life in the era of this statistic. Violence against black people built the socio-political framework of her childhood. So surely, she was not deaf to the echoes of black lives lost. Surely, she was not unaware of her privilege. Surely, she knew she held the upper hand in racial politics.
Perhaps it seems a bit harsh to speak of her this way. After all, everyone says something inconsiderate from time to time, right? But it is not harsh. She had the privilege to reprimand her statement and acknowledge its impact for black bodies. No one called her to martyrdom or demanded she call herself racist. People simply asked for an apology, a nod toward healing historical wounds. And she failed this minor task. She called people ridiculous for interpreting it as racist. Worse, even Senator Phil Bryant supports her refusal to apologize.
We cannot consider Hyde-Smith without considering one of her allies and higher-ups, President Donald Trump. It would be impossible to list off all of the racist, thoughtless and base things he has uttered. For example, according to Elise Viebeck of The Washington Post, he recently said a journalist asked a ‘racist’ question, even though the inquiry was about the reality of white supremacy in America. In other words, Trump commits a classic case of victim blaming.
Furthermore, let us not forget that earlier in the year he called an African country a “shithole” country, as stated by Brian Naylor and Domenico Montanaro of NPR. These, too, are not accidents or misinterpretations. They are imbued with racial meaning.
These images of Trump are critical because they represent racial politics. This man, a policy maker and a game changer, will not acknowledge the impact or severity of his words. And in doing this, he denies history its breathing room. Trump and Hyde-Smith have abundant opportunities to speak with grace, consideration and empathy.
They have had plenty of press conferences and interviews in which they could have apologized for their boorishness. Their refusal to do so is a clear portrait of their values and of the people their policies will support, policies that will add to the well-being of certain bodies and the detriment of others.
So, say what you mean and mean what you say. Say you are sorry when you do not, and know that your words, however thoughtless or thoughtful, will inevitably hold incredible meaning.