& not your grammar.
years ago, my mom bought me a desk plaque that says, “i’m silently correcting your grammar” because i was overly concerned with “fixing” double negatives, making sure people weren’t combining past & present tenses, and pointing out people’s misuse of the word “aesthetically”. my freshmen year of college, i took an introduction to linguistics course and we learned about the prestige of certain language norms established and enforced by people in power. in another class, i learned about how privileged people often use their power to diminish the validity of what others are saying, not based on what they are saying, rather, based on how they are saying it.
linguistic prejudice can take many forms, but here’s an example. it is very common for african americans to code-switch between african american vernacular english (aave) and what has been inherently classified by those in power as “standard” english. both dialects of english are made up of complete sets of sophisticated rules, yet a person is much more likely to face discrimination for using aave. studies show that speakers of aave are often stereotyped as less educated & less credible than those speaking a more “standard” variety of english. when an aave speaker is applying for a job or testifying in court, these stereotypes can be life-changing.
it will take a really long time to change the system, ensuring that these forms of oppression are no longer possible, and i don’t have all the answers, but we can start by learning about the inaccuracy of negative stereotypes of “nonstandard” english.
harmful stereotypes about a person’s dialect, begin in the american education system when students are taught that there is only one correct way to speak, and for many children, it’s not how they communicate with their own families. children need to grow up learning that language differences do not mean language weaknesses.
it’s not just a problem for teachers, though. people who grew up learning “standard” american english have no right to devalue or judge people who grew up on other, equally complex language systems.
