Author Archives: sblack

American/ Ugandan Accent Challenge (by Madison Tolleson)

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While scrolling through my Twitter feed at 3 a.m., having given up on any attempt at getting a full night’s sleep, I came across a video clip featuring a white man and a Black woman, entitled “Ugandan/ American Accent Challenge.” Before watching the video, I glanced at some of the comments it received, including one that read “But for real we need to save her” and others that insinuated the video was racist. Despite forewarnings of a cringe-worthy clip, my curiosity got the best of me and I pressed play.

The video begins with the white man, who is the one holding the camera and filming, introducing himself as American and then the woman introducing herself as Ugandan. The man proceeds to say various English words in an American accent, and the Ugandan woman repeats the words in a slightly different-sounding accent, but in English nonetheless. At various points throughout the video, the man responds to her pronunciation of a word with a confused look, a mocking remark, or a flat-out “no.”

What authority does this man have to determine what is or is not correct speech? His smug, condescending demeanor is deeply rooted in ideologies about language, race, gender, and nationality. His expressed disapproval of her accent reflects a belief in one’s own language/accent (in this case, Standard American English) as the only normal, authentic way of speaking. Although Standard American English is a myth that doesn’t exist in reality, it still influences the way we think about language and leads to the subordination and discrimination of other language varieties.

In this clip, language also intersects with race and gender. The condescending response to the Ugandan woman’s accent is linked to, and consequentially reproduces, gender and racial discrimination and inequality. The effects of these responses are multifaceted and complex due to the woman’s non-white, non-male status. Women often struggle to be heard and taken seriously when speaking, and being a Black woman makes the struggle that much harder. By criticizing the Ugandan woman’s “unfamiliar” way of speaking, the white American man (unconsciously) exercises hegemonic power and reinforces linguistic, gender, and racial prejudices.

This video serves as a reminder of the importance of being aware of our linguistic biases. With so many native and non-native language varieties, what does it even mean to sound “normal?” We must reject the notion that there is a single true, authentic way to speak in order to become more inclusive and less judgmental of language varieties.

Managing Your Blackness with Deon Cole (by Omari Thurston)

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Linguistic profiling is using someone’s dialect, accent, or other cues from speech to make judgements or assumptions about other characteristics this person may have. Whether we like it or not, we are all guilty of linguistic profiling. John Baugh at TEDxEmory teaches us that we all come from unique linguistic heritages, but there are commonalities we can use to understand each other when using language. While we use these things we share in common, we are often using language to place people on a spectrum between similar to us and different. This starts as early as we can understand language and diversity. Baugh tells a story of growing up in class as a child with many non-native English speakers and straying away from them and even making fun of them. Then Baugh moved to a predominantly white area and was on the other side of this profiling fence.

While everyone is capable of linguistic profiling, those who are more likely to be victims are hyperaware of this profiling and where they may encounter it. Black American comedy keeps social issues at its center and has become a place for healing where people can laugh about these harsh realities. Deon Cole is a very popular African-American comedian and actor from my home town Chicago, Illinois, who stars in the hit TV show Black-ish and often uses comedy to talk about the reality that a man like him lives in America. In his stand-up special, Cole Blooded Seminar, Cole jokes about this awareness in a segment titled, “What it means to manage your blackness” (starting at 3min 12sec–explicit language). Cole makes a smooth transition into this social commentary by giving us the familiar setting of sitting on a plane while passengers board, hoping to keep passengers away from the middle seat next to him. He is going to “turn his blackness up.” he says to the crowd, “See white people, y’all can be white all day long. Black people can’t be black all day long. Society don’t play that.” He does not mean this in a literal sense, but black people cannot live their comfortable reality all of the time because we are aware of how we will be perceived. He tells a lady in the crown that the Black man she works with does not really act like that. Cole says that when you go into a job interview you “cut that Black sh*t off,” then he codeswitches into what would be considered a proper tone with enunciated words and jokes about using words he does not know such as behooves. So as passengers board the plane, Cole puts his headphones in and sings his rap music aloud to ward off passengers.

Similar to Cole’s statement on job interviews, Baugh uses a scene from the classic movie Westside Story where a Hispanic woman aspiring for a terrace apartment is told that she’d better get rid of her accent. The way that people sound is very much a tool or a barrier in achieving certain things in life. Baugh himself experienced this when his professional tone escaped linguistic profiling when calling to see about an apartment only to be turned down, when the renters saw him in person. Due to experiences like these, minorities are always conscious of the way we speak in certain situations, whether it be a job interview, applying for housing, school, or interacting with the police. This awareness makes it hard to live an authentic life. As Deon Cole said, “Black people can’t be black all day long.”

Traditions of Racism (by Tami Lynn Ross)

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I’m sure a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. Just as I’m sure a team by any other name would play the same.

The land of the free and home of the brave continues to argue over what is considered racism, as if the recent activities to remove confederate statues and change the traditions of sports teams is a 2020 creation. It isn’t. For example, almost 30 years ago hundreds of Native Americans protested outside the World Series games about the Atlanta Braves’ use of the tomahawk chop. It has only been in recent years that the activity has been truly addressed, most notably after St. Louis pitcher (and Cherokee Nation member) Ryan Helsley was reported saying, “I think [the tomahawk chop is] a misrepresentation of the Cherokee people or Native Americans in general.”

That the tomahawk chop is offensive was something I’m embarrassed to say I didn’t realize or think about when I moved to Atlanta and participated in the ritual. The chanting and the activity felt like a way to support my new team and be part of the culture of the game. I never thought about the culture of Native Americans. In my listening this year I learned a lot about the traditions and language of racism in America, and a lot more about how we often refuse to acknowledge or change our behavior because we believe ourselves not to be racist, and therefore can’t see how our actions could be considered racist. Our justifications are often deep and wide and incredibly self-centered, but the knowledge to counter this is readily available.

A quick internet search shares many stories of offensive branding in sports. If you look up the “R” word in Websters it is defined as an insulting term for American Indians. And has been considered such since the beginning of America. The use of this language would not be considered acceptable in public conversation and yet a football team with its home in our Nation’s Capitol has only recently decided to change its name. The significance of this comes with capitalism offering its two cents when companies like Walmart and Target have stopped selling the team’s merchandise. And with hundreds ofmillions of investment dollars urging companies such as Nike and Pepsi to drop sponsorship of the team. This is a call to action on racism and the discrimination of an entire group of citizens.

A 2008 study clearly outlines “that the stereotyping of Native American’s in sports was associated with depression (study 2) and decreased feelings of community worth (study 3)”. But are we asking the right questions? Why would someone be offended by changing a racist name or tradition? Doesn’t the very message not for “them” to take it personally, mean we are in fact, taking it personally? If the calls to change a racist name create division, are we truly addressing the structural and cultural systems (including language) that are blind to the real issues of social justice?

Important shifts of awareness and responsibility happen in language. And it is in truly seeking out understanding of a word’s meaning (such as the “R” word) that makes the difference in communication. Just as knowing the difference between equality and equity means we can have actionable conversations about social justice. It means we can change words from slaves to enslaved and learn why it is important. Language is a living and movable tool that can help us understand perspectives even as the system itself seems to fight against equitable access. In my lifetime I’ve seen the shift from postman to postal worker and fireman to firefighter. And while not all name changes have been embraced or wanted, the activity has created space for conversation and awareness.

Understanding there is racism, sexism (and a lot of other isms) embedded in language and using it anyway is like knowing the forest is there but choosing not to see the trees. We can change the meaning and even our perspective, but choosing not to see the history, context or details means people end up standing and fighting for symbols and words that have become more important to them than citizens. And while the fighting continues and no common ground is found, language, ever so slowly, finds its way through the cracks in the wall, and changes anyway.

Bilingualism, Schooling, and Native American Languages (by Stephanie Robledo)

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While some Americans may be rejoicing with their family and friends this Thanksgiving, Native Americans are reminded that they have been ostracized from a land that was once theirs. Not only have their cultures and traditions been ridiculed as lousy Halloween costumes and mascots, but also they have been forced to assimilate to Euro-American ways, including adopting English.

The North Carolina Language and Life Project (NCLLP),documents the experience of Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians as they fight to keep the Cherokee language alive. The NCLLP documentary, First Language-The Race to Save Cherokee, interviews a man named Jerry. He recalls, “We were not allowed to speak our language in our school, we were banned from it”. Cherokee children in the U.S. education system were forced to speak a language some had never heard. As a bilingual speaker in the U.S , I had the privilege of learning English in a safe environment where I was not punished for speaking my first language. However, Cherokee children were not granted that privilege.

The following transcription depicts how The Cherokee were coerced into adopting English:

01  Davy: Growing up, I heard stories from my grandparents
02  about the boarding school and the push for assimilation.
03  Grandpa said he learned enough English in the first six
04  months to keep from getting a whipp::ing every day?

Davy’s grandfather had to learn English to avoid physical abuse from teachers for speaking his native language. As a result, many of the parents in his community decided to stop teaching the Cherokee language to their children to avoid further discrimination. The newer generation is growing up speaking English, while the older generation (majority Cherokee- speaking) are slowly passing away, taking their language with them.

So how can we help? We can help by creating an environment that is accepting and appreciative of diversity. The Cherokee are battling to keep their language alive as it plays a huge role in their culture. Native American heritage is American heritage. They have been marginalized for their culture, race, and language for so long. This must stop now! We can begin by raising awareness and having these conversations with our communities! Next, we can advocate for structural changes to the educational system, including funding programs that enable Cherokee language revitalization.

 

TikTok Discourse: White Saviorism, White Privilege, and Symbols (by Perri Olton)

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Video: Tiktok stitch by user @rynnstar
Run time: 60 seconds
Video starts:Images of young white woman on screen with captioning

User @ oopsie.its. Sydney: Get the worker to turn it on. Wow, did her black friend just get shot?
((video cuts to user @rynnstar))
User @rynnstar: So who’s going to tell the white kids that um our lives are not an opportunity to play act like they’re in some kind of YA novel. Like this is not cute, this is not cute. These little white savior mini movies y’all are making where you literally make black people the props to your own heroism it’s- stop it. And then she like made an apology where she was like you know someone helped me realize this was kind of offensive and I’m sorry bout it but I’m not gonna delete it because I think I’m using my platform for good. Girl, you literally have like only white people praising the video and only people of color and black people telling you that you need to delete, it and you’re ignoring them because the white people told you you were good. And you’re calling yourself a good activist. This is peak white savior. Peak. This is what I mean with y’all saying we need to respect black voices but you don’t actually listen to them.

Depending on how much time a user has spent on Tik Tok this year and which social networks they are a part of, they might be familiar with language and discussions that surround Black Lives Matter (BLM), leftism, liberalism, civil unrest, and white savior complexes. In the past months, people have begun to be more open when grappling with what it means to be Black, indigenous, a person of color, (BIPOC) and white in the United States. On TikTok, Generation Z is creating content about these topics at lightning speed. There is an overarching, and socially constructed idea that Gen Z teenagers make up the most powerful generation the United States has seen (Belle, 2020).  Recently, teenagers have been at the forefront of social justice issues in the United States, from the Parkland shooting survivors to Greta Thunberg, to countless organizers of Black Lives Matters protests (Wang, 2020). You may have even heard of some of these famous Gen Z TikTokers even without the app. Claudia M. Conway, Kellyanne Conway’s daughter might have shown up in your news feed in recent months. All this is to say that Tiktok and its creators have a large user base (about 1 billion people internationally) that creates and discards cultural trends within weeks or even days (Business, 2020).

This rapid creation and dismissal can be entertaining, but it may also be detrimental in several ways. After the death of George Floyd, the Black Lives Matter movement became globally known, and TikTok content mirrored that. There were montages made, white allies giving their platforms to BIPOC, and the start of discussions regarding performative activism and true allyship for white people. With this, the door has opened to discussions of white privilege and white saviorism. From the Black Lives Matter marches to the election, many people have begun to understand that beloved movies like The Help and The Blind Side are representations of the classic white savior trope. As the year has progressed and discussions in videos and comment sections did as well, the effects of such microburst trends are becoming clear. ACAB, F12, and BLM were all symbols that referred to the fight for racial justice and equity in the United States. Since June when the protests began to peter out, these symbols have since become appropriated by ‘alt’ communities, creating phenomena like ‘ACAB Hello Kitty’ and ‘Revolution Manny’ aesthetic symbols used by mostly white teenagers to symbolize rebellion against the police and revolution within the United States (Bhat, 2020). The creation of a rebellion aesthetic and symbols has led to an entire group of people being able to identify themselves at a glance. These symbols are now on stickers, flags, and even in people’s Animal Crossing homes (Merrilees, 2020). However, the creation of these aesthetics raises the question- how is the creation of rebellion aesthetics for the mainstream a white privilege? This is most exemplified in the recent trends of #civilwar point of view (“POV”) videos.

As the election in the United States drew closer, content on TikTok began to reflect the various possible outcomes of the results. There was a defined uptick in ‘Civil War’ and ‘Anarchy’ point of view videos. In most of these videos, the creators would usually be seen in bloody or dark makeup and acting as though they had just stormed the White House. Though many of these videos had the intention of being empowering in light of the general political chaos, several BIPOC creators came forward stating that this perspective was a point of privilege, and that in perpetuating these imaginary narratives, content creators were disregarding the actual violence that non-white people face, and would continue to face, despite the outcome of the election. In considering these videos, and the language associated with both sides of this discourse, we can being to understand that though white creators may have had good intentions in producing videos that discuss the fall of the current socio-political environment, the narrative of enacting violence to fulfill some type of savior narrative is damaging; not only for current BIPOC viewers, but for future generations as well. Not only does it romanticize the idea of war, but it negates the real work that needs to be done on a societal and cultural level to work towards equity, justice, and understanding within the current confines of our systems. These POVs and the discourse that surrounds them ultimately disregards the hard work it takes to understand the nuances of problems- and in that way, reeks of white privilege.

How white privilege is discussed is crucial to understanding how white privilege is maintained, and white savior complexes are formed. In the case of TikTok and other social media platforms, it is important to address who is doing the talking. In most cases, it is BIPOC that are calling out white people for creating this content. Not only is this work taxing, but it takes away the responsibility of white people to check their racist ideals. Moreover, this lack of accountability allows for people to stay silent on topics and a lack of discussion is just as harmful as violence and discourse. Thinking about the future of these POVs, the stickers that declare ACAB and BLM, and the signaling that occurs with their use, white allies must evaluate their value. Do these symbols actually do work to promote racial justice? Further, how do white allies begin to check their own use of symbols and justice terminology in order to truly ensure that they’re doing their part of the work? I’m not sure that those questions will be answered anytime soon but understanding symbol use in content creation and the discourse that follows seems like a good place to start.

References

Belle, Elly. n.d. “Claudia Conway Isn’t Here To ‘Save Us’ — & Neither Is Gen Z.” Accessed November 16, 2020. https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2020/10/10074517/claudia-conway-trump-response-gen-z-activist-hero.

Business, Sherisse Pham, CNN. n.d. “The Company That Owns TikTok Now Has One Billion Users and Many Are Outside China.” CNN. Accessed November 16, 2020. https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/20/tech/tiktok-bytedance-users/index.html.

Columnist, Nicole Winthrop Statement. n.d. “It’s Time to Abandon the White Savior Narrative.” The Michigan Daily. Accessed November 16, 2020. https://www.michigandaily.com/section/statement/its-time-abandon-white-savior-narrative.

Bhat, Rema. “Hello Kitty ACAB: The Aestheticization of Politics.” n.d. Accessed November 16, 2020. https://www.34st.com/article/2020/10/hello-kitty-acab-memes-prison-industrial-complex-woke-infographics.

Jackson, Ronald L. 1999. “White Space, White Privilege: Mapping Discursive Inquiry into the Self.” Quarterly Journal of Speech 85 (1): 38–54. https://doi.org/10.1080/00335639909384240.

Leonardo, Zeus. 2004. “The Color of Supremacy: Beyond the Discourse of ‘White Privilege.’” Educational Philosophy and Theory 36 (2): 137–52. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-5812.2004.00057.x.

Merrilees, Kristin. 2020. “How a Character From Diary of a Wimpy Kid Became a Symbol of the Revolution.” Medium. June 24, 2020. https://medium.com/swlh/how-a-character-from-diary-of-a-wimpy-kid-became-a-symbol-of-the-revolution-ded2ec064f74.

#stitch with @oopsie.Its.Sydney Cease-and-Desist. n.d. Accessed November 16, 2020. https://www.tiktok.com/@rynnstar/video/6891334770018487557?_d=secCgsIARCbDRgBIAIoARI%2BCjySGvz9nhNX8bUjdX7HVYiPqui7GKsd8IJRv6QqH93qLkF3zXhobbV%2BSd6BWG4sXD5cnIvygFDTRdJLroEaAA%3D%3D&language=en&preview_pb=0&sec_user_id=MS4wLjABAAAAi_OeeLaufnR8F5yM57A04_eWiohc6-DaQ45kh5reWiaXM_roJecHrR5KoPWy0A0z&share_item_id=6891334770018487557&share_link_id=91E54B61-62C4-4E02-9D51-89CE48DA7A42&timestamp=1605045087&tt_from=email&u_code=dakd17hef681hl&user_id=6791216098680751109&utm_campaign=client_share&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=email&source=h5_m.

Wang, Arriana McLymore, Echo. 2020. “TikTok Has Its Arab Spring Moment as Teen Activism Overtakes Dance Moves.” Reuters, June 2, 2020. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-minneapolis-police-tiktok-idUSKBN2392WX.

Speaking Up and Taking Space: Women Resisting Gendered Workplace Bias one “Mr. Vice President, I’m Speaking” at a Time (by Pauline Matthey)

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As of this month, for the first time ever, a woman, and a woman of color at that, has become Vice-President elect of the United States. Without a doubt, Kamala Harris is making history and is now inspiring and empowering millions of women and girls all around the world to dream a little bigger. But her success is also being met with the type of backlash that only women are familiar with. Gender disparities in the workplace are nothing new and they directly impact women and our families as they prevent us from earning salaries that matches that of our male counterparts while they also keep us from certain opportunities. But gender inequalities also hurt companies and their productivity.

When workplace gender inequities are discussed, the glass ceiling, gender pay gap, and representation are often the issues being discussed. What is less frequently addressed is the sexism women face due to the biased ways in which we perceive gendered language and women’s voices. But attributes typically associated with feminine speech and language, such as a higher pitch for example, can play a role in workplace discrimination. During the presidential campaign and since the election, Kamala Harris has been been the target to such discrimination as she was attacked about not only her name but her voice as well. One of those attacks came from Trump adviser Jenna Ellis who compared Harris’ voice to Marge Simpsons’, to which Marge promptly responded. Harris was also criticized after the vice-presidential debate with Mike Pence during which she stopped him from interrupting her with a simple “Mr. Vice President, I’m speaking,” a quote that has now become famous and been reclaimed as a symbol of empowerment.

Harris is not the first woman politician to be criticized for her voice. During the 2016 US presidential election season, Hillary Clinton was also often targeted for how she speaks and sounds. Some argued that her voice could even have been the reason she lost that year. Clinton’s speech is sometimes described as shrill or aggressive. The fact remains that male politicians like Bernie Sanders, whose voice suffers some similar issues, are not subjected to the same scrutiny.

Politics is not the only industry where women are being discriminated against because of their voice and speech. In fact, women’s voices are not only being policed but we are also being silenced or “manterrupted.” Entertainment media has long shown the ways in which women are being silenced. In this episode of Girlfriends, the men at a law firm continuously speak over Joan Clayton, one of the only female lawyers at the company, during a meeting and treat her differently when she tries to adapt and starts acting like them. The show used humor to depict a very serious issue. And while the episode aired in 2000, not much has changed, at least not culturally. However, research shows that women’s voices have changed and become deeper over time due to the dynamics of men-women interactions. While this finding highlights women’s ability to adapt, this finding is alarming.

Now 20 years after that Girlfriends’ episode, if our voices sound deeper, it’s only to match the depth of workplace sexism. This past October, Claire McDonnell, a young TikTok creator, posted a video that illustrates just how deeply anchored into their habits and how natural it is for men to speak over us. As a young woman in STEM, this college student shared her experience being silenced by her male counterparts while working on a project to her TikTok account and while it is wildly similar to Joan Clayton’s experience, it is far less funny. The video went viral and while many expressed that they could relate and offered support, others attacked the college student and tried to discredit her experience.

For every person denying the validity of McDonnell’s experience, there are just as many lists of tips focusing on traits that are typically masculine as being successful, articles on how women can change their voice and speech in order to better match the needs and culture of the workplace, and podcasts designed to help women make themselves heard at work. These tools are marketed as helpful and described as bridging the gender gap when they in fact perpetuate the oppression of women in the workplace. The underlying assumption that men’s speech is neutral is ludicrous and arguing that women need to sound more like men is not only unrealistic but it is harmful and discriminatory. Deeply engrained, our society holds the belief that women should sound elegant, as this 2019 post reminds us, and that belief prevents women from being as successful as men in the workplace. Simply because men’s voices are not being questioned does not mean that women should have to learn how to speak like men in the workplace to be heard. No matter if we are in a boardroom, at a podium, or on a COVID-19-imposed Zoom call, the gender bias lens through which speech is being used as a weapon to minimize women’s contributions is just as problematic today as it ever was.

It is indeed “time men stopped telling us what to say and started understanding what we mean.” Women do not need advice or strategies on how they can be heard at work. Women do not need to speak up. Women do not need Gmail Plug-in like “Just Not Sorry” to help us craft emails. Women do not need to find our voice. We do speak up. We know how to draft emails. And we already have a voice! What we do need, though, is a workplace culture where masculine and feminine attributes are equally recognized and valued. So, stop telling us to speak up and stop forcing us into adapting our speech. Whether we sound like Marge Simpsons, Kamala Harris, Hillary Clinton, Joan Clayton, or Claire McDonnell, we have a voice… and men would know that if they would take a seat, shut up, listen to us!

The Language of Climate Change (by Shelby Anderson-Badbade)

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In 2019, at the UN Climate Action Summit, Greta Thunberg gave an impassioned speech which rippled through the world, imploring people to take a critical look at the current climate change discourse.

“You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words. And yet I’m one of the lucky ones. People are suffering. People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction, and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you!,” Thunberg stated.

Her speech called attention to an often-overlooked aspect of climate action: how we choose to talk about it. Linguistic Anthropology claims that language is social action, or, as Laura Ahearn (2001) states in her article “Language and Agency,” “people do things with words” (p. 111). The words that one uses to discuss climate action directly impact the way the world responds to, acts upon, and considers climate change and its impacts.

Choosing to discuss climate change as a distant issue takes away from the immediate nature of the crisis. In media and political discourse, climate action conversations are typically focused on economics, the future, and the potential for disaster. This discourse is built by global authority figures from powerful nations who see climate change as a distant disaster, in both location and time. However, as Thunberg points out, climate change is already wreaking havoc in communities across the globe, costing lives, damaging communities, and altering ecosystems. With global discourse focused on the “far-off” devastation of climate change, it de-centralizes narratives of the communities that are seeing real and devastating impacts everyday and calling for action.

Sinking Islands Call for Action

Current scientific research indicates the Pacific Islands are the most impacted by the effects of climate change, suffering from ocean acidification and rising sea levels. These rising sea levels encroach rapidly inland as many of the islands are low-lying and small. Kiribati, a nation of 33 low-lying atolls, is grappling with these rising sea levels and trying to come up with a plan of action for its people. Every island in the nation is no more than 4 meters above sea level, and every inch of sea level rise has immediate effects on the residents.

In the UN’s Development Programme video Kiribati – A Climate Change Reality, they interview residents who convey their struggles and fears as the sea encroaches on their homeland. One resident, Boobu Tioram, explains how rising sea levels have forced him to move is home three times in the last ten years. Ending his interview with a tired phrase: “but what can we do?” Other residents discuss their fears and apprehensions about migrating off the island, as rising sea levels will make the nation uninhabitable in the very near future.

 

In an interview with Anote Tong, President of Kiribati, he discusses the importance of action.

(2:32)
01 “One thing that I want and I’ve always emphasized is that
02 W-we never wish to be refugees (1.8) and we would be
03 refugees if we don’t do anything now because a refuge::e
04 is a-a response to an ex-an unexpected event. Okay? but
05 we know it’s coming. so we should be acting accordingly,
06 beginning from now. And then we would have o::ur
07 people if they need to migrate, to mi::grate with dignity
08 not as refugees.”

Here, Tong is expressing the subtle distinction between having the agency to do something about their crisis versus having to sit back and wait for complete devastation for any outside assistance. With his emphasis in line 03 on “now,” he is calling for immediate action from the world to help mitigate the crisis of sea level rise as it is happening, not in the future. He is careful to focus on the action and agency of his people, rather than the eventual victimization a refugee would experience. Tong’s distinction echoes a study on the representation of Pacific Islands and Climate change in newspaper reporting from Shea, Painter, and Osaka (2020). In their work, the authors discover an overemphasis on the vulnerability of Pacific Island communities, positioning the Pacific, “as a site for climate catastrophe, rather than climate justice.” The depiction of Pacific Islander communities as vulnerable and victimized, focuses the discussion away from what could be done and instead toward the sad story of climate change.

Climate change is a well-accepted scientific theory and many parts of the world are already feeling the impact of it. The current narrative of climate change is often focused on economics, distance, and vulnerability, but climate change is impacting communities directly. Climate action and discussions should centralize human-forward narratives from indigenous and directly impacted communities, shifting narrative away from victimhood, building focus on regional actors and voices. Environmental discussions centering indigenous and locally centered narratives, focuses on the nexus of the issue for these communities- what they are actually experiencing and how they want to take action.

References

Ahearn, Laura M. 2001. “Language and Agency.” Annual Review of Anthropology 30 (1): 109. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.anthro.30.1.109.

Malin, Becky Alexis-Martin, James Dyke, Jonathan Turnbull and Stephanie. 2019. “How to Save a Sinking Island Nation.” August 15, 2019. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20190813-how-to-save-a-sinking-island-nation.

McCarthy, Joe. 2020. “Why Climate Change and Poverty Are Inextricably Linked.” Global Citizen. February 19, 2020. https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/climate-change-is-connected-to-poverty/.

NPR Staff. n.d. “Transcript: Greta Thunberg’s Speech At The U.N. Climate Action Summit.” NPR.Org. Accessed November 23, 2020. https://www.npr.org/2019/09/23/763452863/transcript-greta-thunbergs-speech-at-the-u-n-climate-action-summit.

Shea, Meghan M., James Painter, and Shannon Osaka. 2020. “Representations of Pacific Islands and Climate Change in US, UK, and Australian Newspaper Reporting.” Climatic Change 161 (1): 89–108. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-020-02674-w.

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). 2009. Kiribati – A Climate Change Reality. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIG7vt1ZPKE.

AOC, AAVE, and Code-Switching (by Savannah Martin)

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Language, race, and social justice is a multidimensional issue that can be found in everyday media and dialogue – whether it’s explicitly acknowledged or not. In this particular example, Chris Cuomo and Don Lemon from CNN are discussing the backlash Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) received for using African American Vernacular English when speaking at an event in New York to a mostly Black audience back in early 2019. Those criticizing AOC claimed her use of a “blaccent” was a form of verbal blackface due to the fact that this is not what her “normal” voice sounds like. Conversations around appropriating and stealing black culture – from culturally appropriative hairstyles to actually using blackface – have been an incredibly relevant topic of conversation over the past few years within mainstream media. While the rise of this conversation has been very empowering, informative, and simultaneously has held white people accountable, the critiques and claims against AOC for using “verbal blackface” are problematic in this case.

AOC openly addressed this backlash in a tweet saying that she was simply code-switching – as one usually does when they are in a comfortable environment or, as she claimed, “fired up.” In the video example, Don Lemon supports her claim and makes the argument that this is likely her natural accent due to the fact that she is a Latina from the Bronx who was probably surrounded by AAVE her entire life. Lemon also makes the point that when somebody like Cuomo code-switches from an American English to English with an Italian accent, it seamlessly slides without any critique. While this should be the same case for somebody who code-switches with AAVE and has done so their entire life, it’s typically met with criticism because of the negative connotations associated with AAVE. As John Baugh explains, African American Vernacular English is and, for a long time, has been a legitimate dialect of English, but it, unfortunately, has a long history of being coined as improper English due to racist undertones. As Lemon hinted at with his Italian accent example, this presents a notably problematic double-standard. Because AOC is an educated Latina politician, her use of code-switching is criticized for being performative; in reality, this criticism heavily reflects the negative and racist stereotypes that some people have of AAVE. This, in turn, sheds light on the fact that code-switching in the manner and environment AOC utilized should be encouraged rather than condemned. Again, a Latina politician publicly using this dialect she’s very comfortable with gives AAVE more representation and can show that AAVE is not an “improper” or “uneducated” way of speaking. 
 
1 AOC: I’m pro::ud to be a bartende::r. (1.0) ((smiles and shakes head)) Ain’t nothin’
2 wrong with tha::t. There’s nothing wro::ng with working retail folding clo::thes for other
3 people to bu::y. (1.0) ((crowd cheers)) There is nothing wro::ng with preparing the foo::d
4 that your neighbors will eat. There is nothing wro::ng with being a working person in the
5 United States of America.
6 Cuomo: Affectologist?
7 Don Lemon: ((laughs)) Aa::aa ((deep breath in)) So. (1.0) Here’s what we’re talking
8 about. We’re talking about code-switching (0.5) right? 
9 Cuomo: Little // bit
10 Lemon:          [Everybody- you do i::t= 
11 Cuomo: =N//o ((shakes head)).
12 Lemon:      [We all do it. Yes you do, when you say when you’re ((inaudible)) oh this is
13 for ga::zey. That is sort- that is co//de switching.
14 Cuomo:                                           [That’s Italian. ((head shakes)) You do//n’t own that. 
15 Lemon:                                                                                                      [But still you’re, 
16 talking ((gestures closed palm with finger tips touching in the air)) Ita::lian when you do 
17   tha::t, it’s// code switching.
18 Cuomo:    [But I am Italian=
19 Lemon: =Yeah bu//t
20 Cuomo:                 [How’s it code-switching?=
21 Lemon: =She’s from the Bronx, ((eyebrows lift)) you don’t think that she’s been with pe-
22               bl//ack people?
23 Cuomo:     [But the allegation is shes effecting a blaccent is what they’re saying=
24 Lemon: =Well are you saying all black people speak southern? ((tilts head forward,
      furrows eyebrows)) //No?
25 Cuomo:                    [Me? No.
26 Lemon: I don’t think there’s anything wron- listen, there’s difference- there’s a difference
27 between mo::cking (0.5) someone, or a group of people (0.5) a::nd knowing your
28 audience.

Mitákuye Oyás’iŋ: Translocalization and Notions of Interconnectivity in the Lakota Language (by Leonardo Maduro-Salvarrey)

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As theorized by linguistic anthropologist Bernard Perley in a recently published article, translocalization is the act of adapting non-Eurocentric ways of bernknowing into modern social contexts as a method of resistance against disempowering (usually colonial and imperialist) hegemonies. A salient example of such is found in the Lakota concept of Mitákuye Oyás’iŋ.

In Lakȟótiyapi, the language spoken by the Lakota people of the Sioux Nation, the prayer Mitákuye Oyás’iŋ can roughly be translated as “all my relations” or “all are related.” In English, is often used to describe a concept of interconnectivity that relates to the idea of one’s obligation to maintain proper relations with one’s relatives. It is important to note that historically this phrase has been the subject of cultural appropriation and has been misused as a greeting by non-Lakota persons.

Despite instances of the phrase being culturally appropriated, the concept it communicates is one with applications in other contexts: The idea that all is interconnected with all else in some way, a notion that has become increasingly accepted as humanity’s empirical understanding of the world we live in has developed, and our understanding of environmental systems has improved. In Lakota and neighboring Indigenous American societies, the concept of relations extends not just to familial relatives or other humans in general, but to features of the landscape that are not considered animate by wider society: Trees, rivers, mountains, plants and animals can all be referred to as “relatives”. That is to say, Mitákuye Oyás’iŋ is an assertion that all elements of our environment are interconnected, and that actions we take that affect part of our natural environment ultimately have the potential to affect everything in the environment. Because of its applicability to issues of environment, this phrase is intrinsically tied with social justice and has been used in the same activist contexts as mni wiconi (“water is life” in Lakȟótiyapi) and “Defend the sacred”, rallying cries for movements that have mobilized to fight the danger posed by the expansion of oil pipelines that would cause and have caused environmental damage to the surrounding ecosystems and communities they would traverse.

 

Blackness, Latinx Identities, and Social Justice (by Elizabeth Johnson)

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My example comes from a clip of an online Zoom forum hosted by the National Hispanic Media Coalition in which a group of scholars, activists, and celebrities were discussing the exclusion of black people from Latinx communities and ways that media should strive to be more inclusive. I argue this example evidences multiple concerns involving language, race, and social justice as all three are deeply intertwined in the conversation. After this conversation, Bedal received online backlash for being a Latina with anti-black beliefs because of her language in the clip. Throughout the conversation, she commits a number of microaggressions toward Simone. Not only does she speak in a passive aggressive tone, but also the word choice she uses is condescending (i.e. using the loaded word “mama” to address Simone).

((9min 37sec to 11min 57sec))

01 Simone: [Do you identify as a Black woman?
02 Bedal: I identify as everything.
03 Simone: But the thing is, I identify as a Black woman =
04 Bedal: = (unintelligible)
05 Simone: I speak on the Black experience.
06 Bedal: I hear you mama, I hear you. Let me just answer one question. I’m very
07 proud of my roots. Do I know the full history of my lineage? I don’t. I know some of it.
08  All I’m saying iswhen I say we are the same, as human race wise, we are people.

Second, Bedal also adopted a “blaccent” during the conversation as she tried to justify her self-identification as a Black woman. The appropriation of a “blaccent” in conversation is an interesting reverse implementation of racial profiling through affiliating oneself with a racial group that one many not otherwise be a member of. Third, her later statement “I’m not here to fight with you” plays into the stereotypical notions of the “aggressive black woman” even though Simone was not speaking with an aggressive tone. While Simone was attempting to critique how Bedal minimized and deflected attention away from the Afro Latinas (whose voices are often silenced), Bedal tries to redefine what blackness is and redefine what culture is, which often functions as a form of erasure. In this way, Bedal weaponizes a certain privilege as she continues to speak over the critiques from Simone, an Afro Latina woman. While both women participated in the forum to promote social justice and equity among Afro Latinas within broader Latinx culture, there was a fundamental disconnect between the privileges and experiences of the two women’s racial identities, as evidenced through the language of the conversation itself.