To me a dialect is an informal version of a main, formal language. An example is how Spanish is spoken different in Spain than it is in Mexico. I think this could mean English has a lot of dialects. A dialect usually results because of regional differences. I think Southern-English, Northern-English, Black English, street talk, etc. are all examples of dialect. They all are English and all have the same grammatical rules for writing but speak different. A reason I would consider this dialect is because of the noticeable difference there is within these sub-culture's languages. The man who called about housing advertising using an African American, Hispanic, and Standard English accent proved the relevance dialect has in our culture today. It is sad that dialect creates such racism and discrimination.
To be completely honest I didn't realize linguistic profiling was such a prevalent issue. When I watched the video "Do You Speak American?" I was shocked and disturbed. I did not realize that people would discriminate against your race just based off of the sound of your voice. There is the question of why they are doing it; is it for their business so that no one moves out when one moves in, or is it just because they themselves are racist? I don't think many people are just that outright racist and wouldn't give you the house because they had a problem with another race. I think the real issue is the neighborhood and who is already in it. I can understand how the realtor wouldn't want to cause more to move out based on one moving in but this just proves that racism is never going to end. It is always there, we can push it down and suppress it, but something will happen that will bring it back up. This is not a problem with a realtor; it is a problem with our society.
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Your last sentence totally summed up what I believe is the bottom line of this class..."This is not a problem with a realtor; it is a problem with our society." Is language really the problem, or is our society the problem. Yes, how we use language is a part of it, but the fact that our society accepts that usage of language is the bigger issue. Why do we allow it in the first place? Why do we allow people to act they way they do? If the actions are acceptable, then so should the language used to describe it.
I see exactly where you are going, I was also shocked when I heard that people are discriminating against others because of the way they talk. Another good point which you brought up was the fact that some people view minorities moving into the area as a means for property value to decrease. However, is it the neighbors fault that they do not want the minorites to move in becuase that would lower the resale value of their house or is their another problem at hand? All in all I think that you are right that something in our society needs to be chagned immediately.
It's sad that there are some people just can't see that everyone is a person. We are all humans, no matter how we dress, how we speak, what color our skin is, or how we act. The language discrimination is not so shocking to me, because you can see it going on all the time. There is so much hate in the world. The best way to really look at it, is that we are all in this world together, so why not work together. We all have to face struggles and make decisions, so why not help each other out?
As far as not being able to buy a house because you sound a certain way is embarassing to society. The fact that we can't act with more class like that baffles me. This is a completely different argument than what this class is about, but personally, it comes down to parenting. If the parents have hate towards someone, there is a very good chance the child will feel the same hatred. I agree, it's not the realtor, it is definitely on society.
I agree with you, I didn't realize that linguistic profiling was such an issue in our society until watching the video. It is sad that there is racism when it comes to your dialect, but it is just the way our society has become. I'm not saying that that is right, but it's merely a fact whether we like it or not. People always look out for their own self interest and if they benefit from not allowing an african-american or a hispanic to move into a certain neighborhood then they will uphold the standard even if they disagree with what they are doing. Dialects are real and apparently profiling people based on how they sound is a huge obstacle in the housing markets today.
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