Colonialization and Accent Discrimination

The world has an infinite number of problems. Luckily enough for humanity, some people still care to solve them. Nonetheless, without a clear understanding of a problem’s dimensions, a lasting solution is unattainable. Therefore, going back to the source of the problem is an effective way to get a deeper and more accurate understanding of it. An example is the spread of the English language through British colonialism, which took place in every corner of the world. As people of different linguistic backgrounds were forced to speak English, it got mixed up with their native language to create different variations of the language, aka accents. Many incidents of accent discrimination have occurred over the years. Thus, the problem of accent discrimination can be traced back to colonialism and white supremacy, which led to racism.

The 20th century was the dark age for many, the age of imperialism and colonization. Imperialism is the expansion of a country’s territory by any means necessary; meanwhile, colonization is similar to imperialism with the addition of colonizer settlements in foreign lands (taken by force). Colonization might be worse than imperialism because when the colonizer and the colonized are close in proximity, the colonizer has more control as well as power over the colonized land, people, culture, language, etc. One of the biggest contributors to the crisis was Great Britain, which left a lasting and long-term impact on its former colonies. According to the British Literature Wiki’s article “British Empire Imperialism Post-Colonialism Literature,” strong intervention in culture, politics, language, and so on created a slew of issues within colonies that lingered long after they had left. Some of the issues may not be evident at first as they disguise themselves as advantages, such as the spread of the English language. During the period of British colonization, the English language spread throughout the world to each of Britain’s colonies. While native languages were preserved and often used in literature as a “backlash” against colonization, English became first or secondary language for most of the former colonies. “In many nations, a blending of the English language and native languages has taken place and evolved to become its own dialect over time” (British Literature Wiki). Forcing a language, religion, or ideal has never been a good idea; it’s arrogant to think that your way of life is superior to any other. The psychological effect of forcing such things goes beyond the years of colonization. Some colonized people’s minds were brainwashed to believe they were inferior to the colonizers. They stabbed their history and cursed their present, thinking that assimilation was the way to superiority. The problem is that many still have the same mentality, and that’s how white supremacy impacted colonized countries. For example, during the British colonization of India, they were forced to speak English, and the impact can still be seen today because much of their vocabulary is in English.

Due to British colonization, language clashes occurred, and people from all over the world started speaking their own version of English. That’s where English dialects and accents began. Thomas Moore Devlin, in his article published in Babble magazine, addresses the topic of language vs. dialect and argues that there is no scientific evidence of a difference. However, linguistic researchers have different opinions on the subject. One of the most common is that a “‘language’ such as Standard English, is considered the ideal form of communication, whereas a ‘dialect,’ such as Black English or Southern English, is a deviation from this ideal. As a result, language has developed an elitist hierarchy. Language should be viewed as an umbrella term for all English dialects, including Standard English. There is no better dialect (Devlin). While we wish that this ideal was implicit in our lives, it’s not the current reality for people of color with a dialect or non-native English speakers.

People are shamed and discriminated against because they have an accent. Regardless of their years of education or experience, they are not always regarded as professionals. Bankston, Carl L., Hidalgo, and Danielle Antoinette, in their book, Immigration in U.S. History, in the section on accent discrimination, address the topic of accent discrimination and where the issue stands legally. Employers in the United States have the authority to discriminate against job candidates who have accents that they feel would disrupt their routine company operations. Immigrants who do not speak English as their first language may be expected to eliminate their accents in order to qualify for employment that requires them to communicate with members of the general public. Even if some employers had valid claims, others were just racist, and the judgment in these situations is very speculative. For instance, Bankston, Carl L., and Danielle Antoinette Hidalgo argued that “the standards for determining whether an accent is unclear tend to be subjective, so the issue may be resolved by use of the Test of Spoken English, a standardized test administered nationwide by the Educational Testing Service” (Bankston, Carl L., and Danielle Antoinette Hidalgo, Accent Discrimination). This explains that there is no standard for determining if a person’s speech or accent is comprehensible to everyone. Also, denying people with accents the opportunity to interact with the general public exacerbates the problem of discrimination because people are not used to hearing or dealing with different accents. Despite the fact that we live in a very diverse society, which contributes to the perpetuation of the idea of standardized English supremacy.

Immigrants are in a continuous struggle, as language is not only inclusive of speech but also a big part of their identity. They should have the right to own up to their native language and origin. However, the arrogance of the global North shows when they don’t care about other people’s cultures while expecting them to surrender to their own. An example would be Aladdin, in which the protagonists speak with an American accent while the antagonists speak with a heavy Arab accent, besides mixing up Arab and Southeast Asian cultures. I can go on about that, but what I’m trying to say is that respect for cultures should be mutual. It’s not fair when immigrants and children of immigrants feel the need to abandon their culture in order to fit in and be accepted. One of the people who spoke about this struggle is Aakanksha Sinha, She said, “When immigrants like me work hard to change our accents so we don’t have to face discrimination, we don’t just change the pronunciation of words; we shed our identities.” Accents carry stories about our roots and backgrounds. “Excluding and mocking specific ethnic groups solely on the basis of their accent is a result of the prejudices we hold as a society by believing that certain accents are unsuitable in certain parts of the world.” (Aakanksh, Opinion: How Racism Behind Accent Discrimination Strips Identities.) This demonstrates the underlying significance of language and how we are constantly influenced by it. Language is a type of power, and asking immigrants to speak exclusively English is a means of stealing their power. The power of identity Assimilation into another culture will never make it your own; a part will always be missing. That sense of not belonging anywhere, often known as an “identity crisis,” is the outcome of cultural schisms.

While all the above is important, there is another level when a person’s accent determines how much they deserve a certain punishment. A person’s look, accent, and ethnic background shouldn’t be a measure of how guilty they are. Jason A. Cantone, Leslie N. Martinez, Cynthia Willis-Esqueda, and Taija Miller, in their article, “Sounding Guilty: How Accent Bias Affects Juror Judgments of Culpability,” argued that people with accents and/or dialects are being discriminated against within the judicial system by stating that “while Black and Mexican American defendants were found more negligent than White defendants, Black defendants were judged more negatively than White and Mexican American defendants, especially when the Black defendant had a stereotypical accent, the results offer important legal considerations that attorneys must make when deciding whether or not to recommend that the defendant testify,” (Cantone, Jason A., et al., Sounding Guilty: How Accent Bias Affects Juror Judgments of Culpability.) That’s very concerning for our society that now a person can’t even defend themselves because if they open their mouth, their sentence may increase based on their speech or accent. That further proves that the accent hierarchy is socially constructed based on racist ideologies. It also shows the soft power (not in military terms) that English holds, because apparently, a person’s fluency is now a sign of their innocence. Therefore, they expect people to speak perfect standard English or else deal with discrimination that could possibly cause them to lose years of their lives.

In conclusion, colonialism had a great impact on the entire world. It differs from imperialism in that it establishes a deeply ingrained systemic hierarchy that is extremely difficult for societies to overcome. Moreover, it is the source of white supremacy (Europeans thought colonizing others’ land was a right). It’s important to distinguish between colonialism and imperialism because of the difference in their impacts. While imperialism is focused on extracting resources, colonialism affects everything; it simply destroys every aspect of a country. It shatters identities and forces others, causing an identity crisis and cultural destruction. Concomitantly with the substitution of cultures, an inferiority complex is formed, leading to the glorification of the colonizer’s identity, culture, and norms. In this case study, it’s the glorification of standard English and the discrimination against other accents. Accent discrimination has serious consequences in terms of job opportunities and even judicial decisions.