Language and Privilege

Language and Privilege

Privilege- something every single person is born with in one form or another: Race, sexuality, gender and class to name some of the most talked (argued) about privileges that exist. Most people are aware of the bigotry that revolves around these subjects and most (decent) people are actively trying to bridge the inequality gap. In this day and age it would seem strange that a social injustice exists without someone rioting about or at least questioning it.
But such a social injustice does exist: Linguistic bigotry.

So let's take the time to check your privilege.

Wait, what?

Yes, if you speak a standard dialect of English, you enjoy linguistic privilege. 

We performed a simple experiment in class that proved that even the most open-minded of us are likely to make snap judgments based simply on a person's speech. Out of 10 voice-clips of people inquiring after an advertised room, most students would have prefer the person who spoke standard British English as their roommate. Further linguistic studies have shown that people will even make judgments about a speakers height and general looks based only on their speech. Generally, people associate negative attributes such as incompetence and intelligence with speakers of non-standard dialects. 

This bigotry even affects a speaker's professional life, they have to change their dialect or even language to be taken seriously. Non-standard dialects are also vastly underrepresented in the media- ask yourself if you have ever seen a speaker of African-America English as an anchorman/womxn on CNN. Most people would argue that non-standard dialects are difficult to understand and "wrong" English. In reality these people are only sugar-coating the fact that they do not believe the speakers of these non-standard dialects belong in the media- a clear form of bigotry. 

"Linguistic bigotry is among the last publicly expressible prejudices left to members of the Western intelligentsia." - Deborah Cameron

Now what?

It is important to remember that speakers of non-standard dialects or other languages did not choose to speak these languages, and it is just as unreasonable to expect a person to change their dialect or language to attain respect as it is to expect a person to change their race or gender. It is also important to be aware that no language or dialect is superior to another as they all perform the exact same function- enabling verbal communication. Society has to refrain from judging a person based on their speech as people who share the same dialect or language do not share the same traits, the same way people who are the same race do not share the same traits. 

The key is to be aware of your linguistic privilege and to engage in conversation about this social injustice. Through acceptance and understanding we can enable transformation.