Linguistic racism

Short description: Use of language resources for discrimination

In the terminology of linguistic anthropology, linguistic racism is the use of language resources for discrimination. The most evident manifestation of this kind of racism are racial slurs, however there are covert forms of it.[1]

Overt linguistic racism may be expressed in the form of mocking, teasing, laughing, joking, ridiculing, and interrupting.[2][3][4] Covert linguistic racism, on the other hand, is expressed through indirect and passive-aggressive acts of social exclusion.[2] In the U.S., covert linguistic racism plays a role in a lack of diverse participation in large studies or political participation as sufficient access to translations is often excluded. [5] Counties with higher than average minority population percentages and counties with lower percentages in English-speaking residents have lower participation rates in survey participation due to lack of accommodation or outreach.[6]

Andrea Moro in his essay "La Razza e la lingua" ("Race and Language") shows that there are two ideas which look innocuous if considered as separated but which are extremely dangerous if combined: first, that there are languages which are better than others; second, that reality is perceived and elaborated differently, according to the language one speaks. He highlights that this linguistic racism was at the origin of the myth of Aryan race and the devastating results it had on civilization.[7]

The works of Jane H. Hill on "mock Spanish",[8] of Barbara A. Meek on "Hollywood Injun English",[9] of Ronkin and Kan on parodies of Ebonics,[10] of Elaine Chun "Ideologies of Legitimate Mockery" on "mock Asian", etc., demonstrate how parodying or re-appropriating non-English languages contributes to presenting certain cultures as inferior to European Americans by disparaging their languages.[1]

## See also

* Mock language
* Linguistic imperialism
* Linguistic discrimination

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Paul V. Kroskrity, "Theorizing Linguistic Racisms from a Language Ideological Perspective", In: The Oxford Handbook of Language and Race
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Tankosić, Ana; Dovchin, Sender (7 April 2021). "(C)overt linguistic racism: Eastern-European background immigrant women in the Australian workplace". Ethnicities 23 (5): 1–32. doi:10.1177/14687968211005104. ISSN 1468-7968.
3. ↑ "Ask the expert: Linguistic Racism" (in en). https://msutoday.msu.edu/news/2021/linguistic-racism.
4. ↑ Ro, Christine. "The pervasive problem of 'linguistic racism'" (in en). https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20210528-the-pervasive-problem-of-linguistic-racism.
5. ↑ Link, Michael W; Mokdad, Ali H; Stackhouse, Herbert F; Flowers, Nicole T (2005-12-15). "Race, Ethnicity, and Linguistic Isolation as Determinants of Participation in Public Health Surveillance Surveys". Preventing Chronic Disease 3 (1): A09. ISSN 1545-1151. PMID 16356362.
6. ↑ Link, Michael W; Mokdad, Ali H; Stackhouse, Herbert F; Flowers, Nicole T (2005-12-15). "Race, Ethnicity, and Linguistic Isolation as Determinants of Participation in Public Health Surveillance Surveys". Preventing Chronic Disease 3 (1): A09. ISSN 1545-1151. PMID 16356362.
7. ↑ Moro, Andrea (2019). La razza e la lingua. La Nave di Teseo. ISBN 978-8834600238. http://www.lanavediteseo.eu/item/la-razza-e-la-lingua/.
8. ↑ "Review of Jane H. Hill's "Mock Spanish: A Site for the Indexical Reproduction of Racism in American English"". https://language-culture.binghamton.edu/reviews/symposium2/collins.html.
9. ↑ Barbara A. Meek, "And the Injun goes “How!”: Representations of American Indian English in white public space", Language in Society, 35 (1), pp 93-128, JSTOR 4169479
* Abstract: This article describes linguistic features used to depict fictional American Indian speech, a style referred to as “Hollywood Injun English,” found in movies, on television, and in some literature (the focus is on the film and television varieties). Grammatically, it draws on a range of nonstandard features similar to those found in “foreigner talk” and “baby talk,” as well a formalized, ornate variety of English; all these features are used to project or evoke certain characteristics historically associated with "the White Man's Indian". The article also exemplifies some ways in which these linguistic features are deployed in relation to particular characteristics stereotypically associated with American Indians, and shows how the correspondence between nonstandard, dysfluent speech forms and particular pejorative aspects of the fictional Indian characters subtly reproduce Native American otherness in contemporary popular American culture.
10. ↑ Ronkin, Maggie; Karn, Helen E. (1999), "Mock Ebonics: Linguistic racism in parodies of Ebonics on the Internet", Journal of Sociolinguistics 3 (3): 360–380, doi:10.1111/1467-9481.00083

## Further reading

* International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, Volume 23, 2020 – Issue 7: "Linguistic racism", doi:10.1080/13670050.2020.1778630

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