Language, Power, and Whiteness

Back in 2020, we had the opportunity to have writer and linguist JPB Gerald on the podcast to talk about all the things. It was a great conversation and if you haven’t had a chance to listen, we encourage you to go back and check it out!

Well, JPB (now Dr. Gerald) is back with Val and Andrew to talk about his new book, Antisocial Language Teaching: English and the Pervasive Pathology of Whiteness. In addition to expanding on much of what we talked about in his first time on the show, the book, and this conversation highlights his thoughts on the connection between language, power, and Whiteness, as well as the links between our concept of dis/ability, and the creation of the idea of Blackness. Through the prism of “standardized” language, Dr. Gerald helps us see the ways race, language, dis/ability all work together to create a hierarchy of human value that we all have an obligation to push back against.

LINKS:

• Dr. Gerald’s website
• Antisocial Language Teaching: English and the Pervasive Pathology of Whiteness
• Dr. Gerald’s dissertation
• Worth the Risk: Towards Decentring Whiteness in English Language Teaching
• Unstandardized English – JPB Gerald’s Podcast (and you can support his work on Patreon)
• Our first episode with Dr. Gerald
• The Ezel Project – JPB Gerald’s course on whiteness
• JPB on Twitter
• JPB was inspired by Nelson Flores and Jonathan Rosa who have written several pieces together, including Undoing Appropriateness, and Unsettling Race and Language
• Dr. Jasmine Clark on the melting pot vs mosaic from our show
• Dr. Susan Faircloth on the loss of native languages from our show

ACTION STEPS:

• Check your internal responses to different forms of communication
• Work not to force the young people in your life into the box of standardized language
• Work in adult spaces to push on that box to make more space for other forms of communication
• Talk to the young people in your life about standardized language and their relative access to it
• Recognize when your access to language makes you comfortable, and push to hear other ideas in those moments (think PTA meetings . . . )
• Buy Dr. JPB Gerald’s book – .css-j9qmi7{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-flex-direction:row;-ms-flex-direction:row;flex-direction:row;font-weight:700;margin-bottom:1rem;margin-top:2.8rem;width:100%;-webkit-box-pack:start;-ms-flex-pack:start;-webkit-justify-content:start;justify-content:start;padding-left:5rem;}@media only screen and (max-width: 599px){.css-j9qmi7{padding-left:0;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:center;}}.css-j9qmi7 svg{fill:#27292D;}.css-j9qmi7 .eagfbvw0{-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;color:#27292D;}