White Language Supremacy

The Harm Caused from White Language Supremacy

        Throughout the years in schooling, every year felt like re-learning how to write properly. I would move from one teacher to the next throughout middle and high school, and of course there was sometimes a little overlap in the general rules of writing. However, every teacher would always have to teach me what their designation of ‘good writing’ is and what the ‘correct’ method is to write. On top of that, many of my teachers, such as Mr. Howe, didn’t like the way I wrote because it was atypical. This was largely due to the fact that I was born and raised in France and didn’t begin to learn the ‘rules’ of writing until I was older. But I am obviously not the only one faced with this barrier of writing and overall communication that falls outside the norm. The people that tend to be affected the most are minority groups and people of color because they also communicate the way natural and comfortable. Since the style of communication of these individuals also mostly falls outside the norm, this has resulted in an environment where they are affected by white language supremacy. This is a problem because the individuals affected are forced to succumb to the norm of standard English which is a form of discrimination. The more that the acceptance of this language supremacy continues, the more we continue to allow a system that is set to be at a disadvantage for minority groups and people of color. So I wanted to explore in what ways is language supremacy continuing to cause harm?

In almost every language that is spoken in the world, there are often more than one way to communicate. In other words, a language contains many different dialects, accents, or styles that the language is spoken. Personally, I grew up speaking German with a Central Bavarian dialect(Munich). There are certain dialects of German that are so incredibly different from the way I grew up speaking German that it is sometimes just thought of as a different language altogether. Although the map at left is in German, every color you see in the map is a different dialect in just southern Germany. Even in France, where I was born and raised, people from the south have such a thick accent that I almost could not comprehend it. So is that any different with the English language? Absolutely not! There are so many different dialects and accents that exist in the English language. As someone who grew up speaking Bavarian German, I wouldn’t criticize or tell someone who spoke Berlin German that their method of speaking was flawed or incorrect. Yet in almost all facets of communication in the U.S., there is implicit bias that dictates how people ‘should’ be communicating. White language supremacy continues to be such a pervasive problem in English-speaking countries that people of color and minority groups oftentimes automatically face disadvantages just for talking the way they do. 
        Vershawn Ashanti Young is an author and professor in the departments of Communication Arts and English Language and Literature at the University of Waterloo. According to his biography page on the University of Waterloo, he primarily works in three areas of African American studies - gender studies, language studies and performance studies. In his work “Should Writers Use They Own English?” He states “folks dont get no jobs or get fired or whatever cuz they talk and write Asian or black or with an Applachian accent or sound like whatever aint the status quo. And Fish[Stanley Fish, the writer Young is criticizing] himself acquiesce to this linguistic prejudice when he come saying that people make theyselves targets for racism if and when they dont write and speak like he do.” (2011, pg. 61). Young goes on to talk about meshing these dialects together thus introducing his point of code-meshing. Young describes code-meshing as “ it blend dialects, international languages, local idioms, chat-room lingo, and the rhetorical styles of various ethnic and cultural groups in both formal and informal speech acts.”(2011, pg. 67). The most important part of that explanation is the fact that all of these aspects of communicating fall into the formal category of communication. 
        Currently what is being done is students who tend to have an alternate method or style of speaking or writing are being told that their methods are wrong. This is again discriminatory against mostly different people of color because a good portion of the dialects that we have in the English language stem from minority groups. Two examples of this are the use of Jamaican Patois and African-American Vernacular English. These two examples both have their own unique vocabulary, grammatical, and accent features that differ from what other individuals are accustomed to. Young in this instance would suggest that these people code-mesh and communicate in a way that is normal or comfortable for them. However, due to the ongoing white language supremacy in the U.S., these people are forced to incorporate code switching rather than code-meshing.

        Forcing people to alter their style of communication depending on context is a concept called code switching. Now you might wonder why people code switch in the first place? Code switching is done to appeal to the receiver of the information or idea, essentially meaning that the communication from the source is not authentic. Young states that " there be more than one academic way to write rite...He say, leave the way they say it to momma on the board and put the standard way on paper. This is wrongly called code switching” (2011, pg. 67). Nothing about using code switching is authentic or allows the communicator to feel comfortable in their method of communication. Unfortunately, code switching stems from the exact idea that there is a correct or better method of communication. In an article written by Melissa Hogenboom, an award winning science journalist for the BBC, she explores the effect of having an accent and how that alters people’s perception. In the article, she states “A study led by Ze Wang showed that US participants trusted British accents more than Indian accents… For instance, she found that those with Mexican or Greek accents were perceived as less intelligent or professional than those who speak standard US English.”(Hogenboom, 2018). Individuals part of certain minority groups have a negative bias associated with the way they communicate and are therefore forced to alter the way they communicate, hence, code switching. 
As we explored before, there are many different dialects and accents with the English language. People should be encouraged to communicate with the English they grew up with and not restricted. Did you know that according to Tarjama.com, it is estimated that there are over twenty-five different dialects of Arabic? Imagine you grew up speaking one of these dialects, and all of a sudden, people are telling you the way you speak or write, keeping in mind that people tend to write the way they would speak, is wrong or flawed. One method of encouraging people to communicate the way they grew up and comfortably is through the translingual approach. This idea is introduced by Bruce Horner et al in an opinionated writing piece about language differences in writing and what strategies we as readers can use to keep a more open mind about the writing or method of communication. He introduces the concept of the translingual approach which can be understood as, “The approach encourages reading with patience, respect for perceived differences within and across languages, and an attitude of deliberative inquiry… asks of writing not whether its language is standard, but what the writers are doing with language and why”(Horner, 2011, pg.304). The critical part that Horner brings up is not asking ourselves if the language is standard and what we are familiar with, but rather how the language is being used to communicate an idea and why. Incorporating this method allows the source not to have to worry about the style of communication and can strictly focus on what the message is for their audience.
Rather than diminishing these differences, we need to start promoting them and end this notion that there is only one way to communicate in certain contexts. Being more open minded about language use will reduce the discrimination on minority groups and is the first step at chipping away at the implicit biases against non standard accents. It is necessary to recognize this ongoing problem and create a system where all people can be successful and not just those that fall into the parameters of the norm. Since thinking about my own experience, I have since learned about the concept of code-meshing and how I feel as though that is something that relates to me heavily because of my diverse cultural background. Despite all of this however, the question that still remains for me is where do we as a society draw the line for formal communication? Being open minded about the diverse accents and dialects will help with the implicit bias in the U.S., but should there be a more inclusive set of rules when it comes to formal communication? Being able to answer this question I think is very beneficial due to the fact that it benefits both sides of the argument: the people who think we need a set of rules for formal communication and those that don’t communicate in a way that most of us are accustomed to.

Work Cited

“Arabic Dialects: Different Types of Arabic Language.” Tarjama, 1 Apr. 2022, https://www.tarjama.com/arabic-dialects-different-types-of-arabic-language/#:~:text=Even%20though%20Arabic%20is%20mainly,of%20Arabic%20are%20spoken%20globally.

Hogenboom, Melissa. “What Does Your Accent Say about You?” BBC Future, BBC, https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20180307-what-does-your-accent-say-about-you.

Horner, Bruce, et al. “Language Difference in Writing : Toward a Translingual Approach.” ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository, https://ir.library.louisville.edu/faculty/67.

Young, Vershawn A. “SHOULD WRITERS USE THEY OWN ENGLISH?” Shibboleth Authentication Request, 2011, https://www-jstor-org.ezp2.lib.umn.edu/stable/j.ctt4cgk6s.7?seq=6#metadata_info_tab_contents.