Thriving While Black by CORI J. WILLIAMS MSW L.C.S.W

Author:CORI J. WILLIAMS MSW L.C.S.W [L.C.S.W, CORI J. WILLIAMS MSW]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: CKC Publishing House LLC
Published: 2020-09-08T17:43:41+00:00

CHAPTER FOUR

WHO AM I REALLY? CODE-SWITCHING IN CORPORATE AMERICA

In a world where mainstream communication pattern is predominantly Eurocentric, African Americans are faced with the problem of adapting their speaking styles to fit into the western culture. For bilingual people, code-switching goes beyond mere imitating, but instead is a way of fitting into a broader culture that espouses the superiority of the white speaking pattern. A white child from young is taught to speak like a white person, and as they grow older, they do not have to worry if their way of speaking would be considered offensive by the next person. For the Black child however, this is not the case, as Black children from a young age are taught to code-switch when in predominantly white spaces. It is a rite of passage for young Black children to receive the talk from their parents on how to act around white people. There is the forced need for a Black person to censor certain parts of themselves because these parts are laden with negative stereotypes that strip the average Black person of their individuality and humanity.

This forces the average Black child to take on a form of duality. The Oreo or Coconut analogy paints this clearly. A Black person is expected to be Black on the outside and white on the inside. Black people are groomed to inhabit a double consciousness if they are to stand a chance in corporate America. Being white on the inside involves developing a taste for white style while rejecting Black style or way of life.

African American Vernacular English is regarded by white people to be an inferior dialect and is seen to be a product of an intellectually inferior mind. The beliefs that Black people are intellectually inferior made for the attachment of the inferior labels to anything of Black origin. This movement between the African American Vernacular English and the Standard American English is something for the Black mind to grapple with. Some might say that code-switching for Black people involves mere switching between languages, and that there is nothing inherently wrong with code-switching since non-Black people code-switch too. However, this claim fails to consider the decades of oppression meted out to Black people for wearing their identity proudly. For an average Black person, code-switching is a way of navigating the social world in a way that ensures your survival.

Code-Switching; beyond just verbal language

In a 2012, a viral clip of then President Obama in a men’s locker room showed the president code-switch. There was a difference in the way he greeted the white coach and the way he greeted the Black basketball player. Most articles on code-switching cites President Obama as a good example of a Black person code-switching. An astute observer of Obama would notice the way he slips in and out of roles and mannerisms while giving speeches and interacting with different people. His speech patterns while talking to a white educated audience would be different from him talking with Black audiences.

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