Carefully choosing language that fits your slant is a powerful form of persuasion.

I try to teach my students to recognize and avoid biased language, which is a more difficult process than simply firing back with different biased terms that support your own slant (“You’re an anti-choice woman hater,” “No, you’re an anti-life baby killer!”).

But rhetorical fairness is not the same thing as uncritically giving equal time to “both sides” when the side with power denies the fundamental humanity of the side without power.

As a friend mentioned when I shared this on Facebook, this is also a lesson in why it’s important to read the whole article, rather than just react to the headline. (Often the creators of memes will repackage legitimate news stories under their own slanted headlines.)