Linguistic identity is real. The cognitive burden of moving in and out of what is considered “standard” language is real. The burden is heavy and language is never neutral. Exploring what these words mean, and to whom, is important.
Thank you so much Abi for your precise terminology which makes distinct forms of experience very clear. I appreciate the energy you’ve put into educating me and have learned a new term “covering” that I’ve experienced in work situations. I have the privilege of being able to pass as straight but the constant hyper awareness of pronoun use describing partners takes a toll. AND in no way is my experience even remotely similar to black or brown queer women.
Hey, Abi. I am a mythology and English composition prof, and I taught at the Los Angeles Film School and Recording School about 10 years ago. I had Black student sent to me who had failed English three times. He could take it only once more. It is the was the last course required for his B.A. I was warned by the administration that he probably wouldn't pass and that I shouldn't feel bad about it. My immediate response was, "We are going to do this, and he's going to pass." When he came in, it was obvious he was sick. He had AIDS, and though he wasn't yet in the terminal stage, but he was very ill. He broke my heart. He handed me his late-entry permission to take the class, and said to me. "I've failed three times. If I don't pass, it's not your fault." ... I took the paper, looked at him, put my hand on his shoulder, and said, "We're gonna find a way." He beamed. ... So we set up private sessions every Saturday. On the first meeting it was clear that he was speaking Ebonics, which is a language of stunning complexity and fraught history, likely originating in the German dialects passed through German Dutch Belgian spoken in the Congo, introduced by Belgian King Leopold II, who is personally responsible for exterminating 20,000,000 Congolese by working them to death or exporting them as slaves. It has a grammar structure very similar to Belgian but running exclusively on English loan words--and/or it has a verb structure like Ibo--and/or it was largely taught to slaves by Hugonot indentured servants in the rice-growing Southern states, with a healthy dose of gullah (which is gorgeous, BTW). It is NOT a second-class language. The yardstick of a language is that it communicates. Ebonics is as beautiful language, and nobody should have to hide it. BUT my young friend wanted to run a recording studio that was so good it could play with the "big boys" in Hollywood studios, and for this, he wanted to become Barack Obama, the most fluid and fastest code-switcher on God's green earth. AND, he is remarkable. So as my student and I began our Saturday morning tutoring sessions--carried out at the hot dog stands, burger joints, and bars on Sunset Strip--the first lesson was: YOU ARE NOT SPEAKING A "WRONG" LANGUAGE. YOU ARE JUST GOING TO LEARN A CREOLE LANGUAGE. Because, Ebonics most resembles and un-creolized form of English spoken in Ireland and Scotland a long time ago. So we began. He would give me a sentence. I would change it and tell him exactly HOW I was altering it. Then I would give him a sentence in Ebonics that I'd looked up somewhere, and he would change it into Standard English. By week five, he'd conquered the problem. He made an A on the course with an essay on having dreams that was nothing short of brilliant. He got his B.A. He became the manager of a studio in the Valley and wrote to tell me his dreams had come true. ... I was happy for him, and I was VOLCANICALLY PISSED OFF. And here's why: Although I was willing to help him learn to code-switch, I was and AM furious this is asked of anyone. To be clear, IT TAKES A HUGE TOLL neurologically and socially and it demeans people to be required to "clean up" their language to suit some privileged white person who thinks they're doing it right and everyone else is doing it wrong. And when somebody like Donald Glover sarcastically says he gets along in Hollywood because he can speak "OLD WHITE GUY", I just cheer. Some years after my student left me, lived his dream, and then eventually died of AIDS, I found this article in Harvard Review counting the costs. Everybody should read this. I read it again every year on his birthday. He deserves to be honored that way. https://hbr.org/2019/11/the-costs-of-codeswitching
Linguistic identity is real. The cognitive burden of moving in and out of what is considered “standard” language is real. The burden is heavy and language is never neutral. Exploring what these words mean, and to whom, is important.
I love this! Thank you for your comment 🙏🏾🧡
Absolutely fantastic. I really appreciate the time and energy that's gone into this. Its crystal clear.
Thank you so much 🙏🏾🌼
Excellent work, Abi. Well constructed piece and great resource in itself.
Thank you so much 🩷
Thank you so much Abi for your precise terminology which makes distinct forms of experience very clear. I appreciate the energy you’ve put into educating me and have learned a new term “covering” that I’ve experienced in work situations. I have the privilege of being able to pass as straight but the constant hyper awareness of pronoun use describing partners takes a toll. AND in no way is my experience even remotely similar to black or brown queer women.
Thank you so much for your powerful and kind comment ♥️
Hey, Abi. I am a mythology and English composition prof, and I taught at the Los Angeles Film School and Recording School about 10 years ago. I had Black student sent to me who had failed English three times. He could take it only once more. It is the was the last course required for his B.A. I was warned by the administration that he probably wouldn't pass and that I shouldn't feel bad about it. My immediate response was, "We are going to do this, and he's going to pass." When he came in, it was obvious he was sick. He had AIDS, and though he wasn't yet in the terminal stage, but he was very ill. He broke my heart. He handed me his late-entry permission to take the class, and said to me. "I've failed three times. If I don't pass, it's not your fault." ... I took the paper, looked at him, put my hand on his shoulder, and said, "We're gonna find a way." He beamed. ... So we set up private sessions every Saturday. On the first meeting it was clear that he was speaking Ebonics, which is a language of stunning complexity and fraught history, likely originating in the German dialects passed through German Dutch Belgian spoken in the Congo, introduced by Belgian King Leopold II, who is personally responsible for exterminating 20,000,000 Congolese by working them to death or exporting them as slaves. It has a grammar structure very similar to Belgian but running exclusively on English loan words--and/or it has a verb structure like Ibo--and/or it was largely taught to slaves by Hugonot indentured servants in the rice-growing Southern states, with a healthy dose of gullah (which is gorgeous, BTW). It is NOT a second-class language. The yardstick of a language is that it communicates. Ebonics is as beautiful language, and nobody should have to hide it. BUT my young friend wanted to run a recording studio that was so good it could play with the "big boys" in Hollywood studios, and for this, he wanted to become Barack Obama, the most fluid and fastest code-switcher on God's green earth. AND, he is remarkable. So as my student and I began our Saturday morning tutoring sessions--carried out at the hot dog stands, burger joints, and bars on Sunset Strip--the first lesson was: YOU ARE NOT SPEAKING A "WRONG" LANGUAGE. YOU ARE JUST GOING TO LEARN A CREOLE LANGUAGE. Because, Ebonics most resembles and un-creolized form of English spoken in Ireland and Scotland a long time ago. So we began. He would give me a sentence. I would change it and tell him exactly HOW I was altering it. Then I would give him a sentence in Ebonics that I'd looked up somewhere, and he would change it into Standard English. By week five, he'd conquered the problem. He made an A on the course with an essay on having dreams that was nothing short of brilliant. He got his B.A. He became the manager of a studio in the Valley and wrote to tell me his dreams had come true. ... I was happy for him, and I was VOLCANICALLY PISSED OFF. And here's why: Although I was willing to help him learn to code-switch, I was and AM furious this is asked of anyone. To be clear, IT TAKES A HUGE TOLL neurologically and socially and it demeans people to be required to "clean up" their language to suit some privileged white person who thinks they're doing it right and everyone else is doing it wrong. And when somebody like Donald Glover sarcastically says he gets along in Hollywood because he can speak "OLD WHITE GUY", I just cheer. Some years after my student left me, lived his dream, and then eventually died of AIDS, I found this article in Harvard Review counting the costs. Everybody should read this. I read it again every year on his birthday. He deserves to be honored that way. https://hbr.org/2019/11/the-costs-of-codeswitching