Figure 5.2 Ideology as the bridge or Filter Between Language Change and Social Structures
Before moving on, it will be useful to consider the nature of
communication as a collaborative act between two or more persons.
Rejecting the Gift: The Individual’s Role in the Communicative
Process
The most common rationalizations for discrimination against non-*SAE
accents and languages have to do with communication. “I’ve got nothing
against [Taiwanese, Appalachians, Kenyans],” the argument will go. It is
not hard to find people who won’t hesitate to put these opinions into words
in a public forum:
I cannot stand anyone with a thick Black Southern accent, it sounds
racist but I seriously cannot understand when the people try to
communicate to me. Example: I called my cell company and I needed
help with why my email pop system did not work. The guy had a half
Ebonics/Southern slang accent. Trying to explain to me technical shit
I had to do. It was super annoying. I had to have him keep repeating
to me what the hell he was saying, it was embarrassing me [sic] for
me, and probably for him or not.
(Electrical Audio, November 30, 2008)Communication seems to be a simple thing: one person talks and another
listens; they change roles. But the social space between two speakers is