What is the difference between H and h? Half of a line.
I wrestled with this concept for a while before giving in and looking up the definition of humanities. To my surprise, a very broad and potentially misrepresented definition popped up on my screen. Lowercase humanities refers to the quality of being human and humane. Words like “passionate,” “benevolence” and “dignity” flooded my screen but left me with more questions than before. humanities is a collective being that influences the world and allows the world to influence “it.”
Is humanities an “it?” Yes but no.
English grammar school tells me that humanities can be an it but I found it degrading. To characterize the quality of being human into two letters almost seemed demeaning. I found myself refusing to refer to humanity as a single entity. To do so would inadvertently condense the spectrum of human nature into three pen strokes and a dot– something I am not in the position to do.
What defines humanities? What does humanities define?
The longer I search to define humanities, the more I am left with what if’s and but this and that’s. What if someone is humane but has a slip up that destroys their future. Are they still humane? Who gets to determine whether or not an individual is still intact with their humanity? Is playing God humane? Ultimately, human nature defines humanities. Lowercase humanities accentuates the inherent qualities of individuals. This relationship produces a set of morals and a universal understanding of humane qualities. I find it interesting that religion often harps on staying intact with your humanity but organized religion tends to look away when religion-based altercations emerge.
“To save humanity!” Can it be saved?
Often times, superheroes justify their actions because they are protecting and serving the human race. Superman’s level of humanity praises his actions but depictions of The Joker, a misunderstood individual caught in systemic oppression, are often negative and villain-ized. Not to invalidate the violence that The Joker inflicted on his community, but that’s the issue with systemic issues– it often goes unnoticed until the branch snaps. Our world is full of oppression, full of villains, and full of branches. To save humanity will take more than protecting a city from aliens when individuals in the city feel alienated already. The true villain in humanities lies within the individual: the brain and in the soul.
Protect and serve. Where is the humanity in police brutality.
Growing up, policemen were my superheroes. Now they have become villain-ized in my narrative. I distinctly remember one memory during the midst of the Black Lives Matter movement during pandemic summer. I watched a small, beat up white car pull over on the side of the road. An ‘FVPD’ cop car with blaring lights stopped behind it. The heavily tinted window of the white car rolled down to reveal a teenage Black body. I recognized him as a student from my old high school. His hands slowly left 10 and 2 and he slowly stretched his arms outside his window. I remember thinking to myself please don’t let me hear — name on the news. Please don’t kill this boy. The white cop, one hand on his belt, the other hanging loosely beside him, approached the car cautiously and talked to the boy.
His story ended up better than others: a ticket. The cop pulled him over for his tinted windows– a tune up that almost every teenage boy in my town has but cops typically look the other way. Reminiscing on how badly things could have turned out, I question the humanity of cops that take lives. Thinking about humanity in acts of police brutality opens up a new conversation of whether or not humanity is judged by society, self, or both.
Capital H Humanities
Humanities refers to an academic discipline and is taught at Davidson College through multiple lenses. These lenses, brought about by professors in their discipline, provide a deeper understanding between self and world through the interpretation of the body. The art of Humanities is that there is no boundaries, no rules, and no limitations as to what the academic principle can be. At Davidson College, Humanities revered and respected by distinguished scholars and professors. Humanities includes, but is not limited to, the investigation of philosophical studies, gender and sexuality studies, religious observations, socio-historical accounts, language studies, and can even include expressions in movement.
