Laura Greenfield’s work, “The Standard English Fairytale” argues that the concept of “Standard English” exists solely to disenfranchise people of color. She argues that “Standard English” is a myth that serves to further establish the systematic racism that exists in the United States and other (likely colonizing) English-speaking places. Greenfield brings up the example of Ebonics or AAVE (African American Vernacular English) and notes that this form of language “contrary to popular opinion, is not the uneducated slang of young black rappers, but a sophisticated and rule-based language group with origins in the transatlantic slave trade” (Greenfield 36). Ebonics or AAVE (African American Vernacular English) is a valid form of language with as much importance and rich history as any other form of English. Greenfield makes a note that Ebonics has persisted and existed due to “survival, solidarity, and resistance” (Greenfield 36) as it’s roots are traced back to the transatlantic slave trade in the United States and Britain. AAVE continues to exist because it is a linguistically sound way of communication, and because of how long it has been used by African American and Black people. Greenfield also discusses the ingrained racism that exists to look down upon Hawaiin Creole English, known to locals as “Pidgin English.” This form of the English language was also created out of protection and means of survival, as it was created and commonly spoken among “Asian, Polynesian, and European sugarcane plantation workers in Hawaii” (Greenfield 37). Greenfield notes that while this is often described as broken English, it is a language “highly governed by logical rules” (Greenfield 37).
The main point being made through Greenfield’s work is that language discrimination exists as a thin veil for systems such as racism to persist and prevail in the United States and other English speaking countries. White people set the rules for “Standard English” and thusly are able to take power and credit away from members of marginalized communities, specifically communities of color.
Similar points are made in Anjali Pattanayak’s piece “There Is One Correct Way of Writing and Speaking.” Pattanayak works to discredit the notion put forward in her title, mostly arguing that the concept of only one correct way of writing and speaking is based entirely on racist ideals. Early on, Pattanayak writes that “the rules for writing shift with the people and the community involved as well as the purpose and type of writing” (Pattanyuk 82). If this idea is true, then there cannot exist a singularly identified “Standard English” because we pick and choose which ways we will communicate with people based on our surroundings. For example, you would probably not speak with the same tone, inflection, and words to your boss at work as you would to your best friend.
Pattanayak also continues to argue that there can’t just exist one “right” way of speaking English and one “wrong” way of speaking English. Pattanayak writes, “The writing most valued in this binary is a type of writing that is situated in middle-class white culture” (Pattanayak 83). This again goes back to the idea that ‘Standard English’ only serves the purpose of disenfranchising and othering marginalized identities, just as in Greenfield’s work. Continuing on this train of thought, Pattanayak makes the point that “… when the languages of white people collectively are called ‘Standard English’ and when ‘Standard English’ is imagined as a tool necessary for participation in mainstream society, people of color are put in the oppressive position not of having to speak a particular language, but of ridding themselves of all linguistic features that may identify them with communities of color” (Pattanayak 46). “Standard English” serves to allow middle-class white people to remain in positions of power while systematically oppressing communities of color. Academia also is often a place used to promote language-insight racism, because middle-class white students are often afforded more opportunity to thrive and learn “standard English” than students of color.
As a white student, I am incredibly lucky to not be subjected to the language discrimination that students of color face every single day. I’m someone who can barely form a coherent sentence on a regular basis, but I am never put down or discriminated against for that. In fact, it’s often just laughed off. The writing center is supposed to exist as a place for any student to go, no matter what, to get creative help on their assignments. Therefore, the writing center should not subscribe to the hateful and racist concept of “Standard English.” Any English as long as it is not particularly harmful to a marginalized group (I say marginalized because it is literally impossible to be racist to white people) is acceptable English. It is truly the thought that always counts.
Greenfield, Lauren. “The ‘Standard English’ Fairy Tale.” Rpt. In Writing Centers and the New Racism.
Pattanayak, Anjali. “There is One Correct Way of Writing and Speaking.” Collected in Bad Ideas About Writing. WVU Libraries. 2017. pp. 82-87
Pure Vibes. 