I really enjoyed using the resources on YouTube to illustrate the issue of linguistic profiling. More than reading about profiling in a book, I had a chance to evaluate my own (subliminal) assumptions about voices. The racial profiling quiz was really eye-opening, and both my husband and I did rather poorly. Even though he is Latino, neither of us guessed correctly on the Latino voices!
It is hard for me to answer Ron's questions objectively, as I am married to someone whom these issues affect. It is my belief that "we" discriminate on dialect because "we" have convictions about what those dialects mean. Level of income, level of education, social class, illegal immigration, and that's just the tip of the iceberg.
The 20/20 video I watched was only 4 minutes in length, so I don't know if I linked to the correct video. I don't remember the 'angry' responses referred to in Ron's question. In the short clip I saw, the woman had filed a complaint with Fair Housing in St. Louis, and calls were being placed to the ad in the paper by both white and black participants. That's as far as I got in the video... is there a different clip? Those who feel they have been discriminated against, or in some cases, are being discriminated against, are understandably upset. In my experiences being married to a Latino, however, it has sometimes been a fine line between perceived discrimination and blatant prejudice. I'm not saying that the woman in the video experienced only perceived discrimination, I'm simply making reference to my own experiences in our community, society, and relationships.
Regarding the last video (with the guy and the cat), my husband was offended that an animal was used to represent non-English speaking persons. I didn't see it that way, but I was left wondering why Ron chose this particular clip. ?? The "how to" example of effective communcication across language barriers definately left something to be desired...
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
8 comments:
FYI The angry responses are not on the 20/20 video but under the video in the comments section in YouTube.
I did not see the angry responses either. But I just saw Prof Ron's comment so i'll go check them out.
It was interesting to me how your husband was offended by the use of the cat. I didn't even see it that way. I just figured that the guy who made this video didn't want to take the trouble of finding someone else to act with him. I think that if he had, the viedo would have been worse. By using the cat he gave the video a friendlier tone. But I can see the potential for offense.
taking the quiz for me was very interesting. I guess right whites,Arab and Indian but I was wrong in the Hispanic ones but that doesn't make sense cause I am Hispanic maybe I hear white on Hispanic voices.When I heard the blacks i thought it was a white persons voice I couldn't tell a difference.I'm gonna say I think it depends on the words they are using.
the fair housing video was very funny and very interesting. And it has happened to me not for housing but for other things. is not nice to discriminate but a lot of people do it without knowing. and a lot of people are afraid because of what they have seen in the news, they see the crime.But there is good in all of us. sometimes people think that somebody means trouble just for being a different race of for what they have heard. in conclusion we know the dialects we don't know the person. we should treat everybody equal
20/20 video : language and dialects. can we just live in peace with each other and be nice to each other. there is no reason to say no to people cause of their accent or dialect. some people are nice some people are mean, and some people should be in prison is the truth. People are gonna get angry when they get treated differently. everybody deserves equal treatment. people should not hear language they should hear a human in need and help them.
avoiding linguistic discrimination video(the cat video). very interesting I loved it. cause this was an exact dramatization of what I experience on an everyday basis. in this case the cat is experiencing what I experience everyday. I don't get angry .I don't get sad , I just question why this person treats me like this cause of my accent. I get it from young individuals they feel like making fun of somebody is a form of entertainment . I agree completely that some people wont even try to understand me in those "bad accent days" I have that my rs roll way to much and there are more words I can't say . there is no reason to yell or swear there is no reason to leave when a person needs help there is no reason to tell them to speak better . where is the love ? language should bring more people together cause of differences. one dialect and language seems "less cool" than what we have now lets not destroy it.
I don't see the last video with the cat as offensive in any way i'll agree with april on that but i didn't quite understand why that clip was chosen. Sure we should be more carfull when talking to people we don't understand but the clip didn't quite do it.
I missed that the angry responses were below the screen, I'll have to go back and check those out.
I think it's interesting that the cat video offended your husband. I thought it was strange, for sure, and could have been far more effective using a person. The flip side to that is that it could have caused even more offense to some.
Post a Comment