Language is both a blessing and a curse. Without it, we would not be able to share and receive information vital to our existence. Language not only develops in conjunction with the historical, economic and political evolution of society, but also reflects the attitudes and thinking of that society. It surrounds us, shapes our thoughts and shapes itself in turn. But are we its masters or its slaves? Whether we like it or not, we live our lives under the spell of language. Language is how we communicate and understand the world around us. The possession of language is powerful and unconscious in the human brain. We wield the power of the word with nothing more than mere nonchalance. Even thousands of years after discovering language, we still unconsciously feel that if a thought is expressed or put into print, it somehow takes on greater meaning (Sletto). In Tony Morrison's Nobel Prize acceptance speech, she “explains her work as a writer within the context of a well-known African folklore about a wise woman who is confronted by two children who want to know whether a bird that one of them holds in hand is alive or dead. In all her interpretations, the bird represents language, the older women represent a writer, and the children represent members of a culture addressed by the writer (Austin). The answer the old woman gives to the children, “It's in your hands,” underlines the great responsibility we have towards the language that has been entrusted to our care. Morrison states that “oppressive language does not just represent violence; it's violence." (541). It is the language that drinks blood, laps at vulnerabilities, tucks fascist boots under crinolines of respectability and patriotism as it moves inexorably towards profits and... at the center of the paper... any interference in the lives of Black, African peoples they were reconditioned through severe techniques. The Europeans, the whites, brought these definitions and symbolisms with them when dealing with this race. This led to a sense of superiority in the European race, which also led them to justify their violence with their race. Carina Ray observes that “colonial regimes were quite astute in creating and then institutionalizing “tribes” composed of groups of people who were externally perceived as sharing fundamental attributes that justified their grouping. Maulana Ron Karenga observed: “Only slaves are defined by or in relation to their masters.” Thus, Black Americans unconsciously encouraged a slave mentality in White Americans and a slave mentality in themselves by allowing, for a day, such a degrading designation to continue (Wright).