“Not ghetto! Normal or Spanish”: Ideologies of race reflected in the speech of pre-adolescents
Nandi Sims, Stanford University
Using ethnographic methods, this paper shows how 6th graders at South Florida middle school reproduce and reimagine racial hierarchy and reinforce and reflect related raciolinguistic ideologies via their language use and attitudes. A physical descriptor like lightskinned might be used to describe someone pretty, regardless of whether that person is objectively lighter phenotypically. The students use words like ghetto to describe the speech of their peers and normal to describe themselves, regardless of the specific linguistic features used by either. In using racialized language to convey affective stances on their peer’s perceived physical and behavioral attributes, they are making raced and classed value judgements that reflect the social system in place in greater society. They demonstrate a deep understanding of the complex, rigid, imprecise racial categories imposed from above and reimagine them to fit within their own lives.
Sponsors: UW-Madison Language Sciences and the Language Institute
Contact: Kelly Wright, Language Sciences; Dianna Murphy, Language Institute
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