Essay on Code Switching Ethnography

Part 1 Code Switching Ethnography

The book The Hate U Give is a fiction based book however, the way the story is put into life is incredible. The book reflects on issues that are real and many people can relate to them. This book was written as a response to the unfortunate events in which black people were killed in cold blood by police. These victims did not receive any justice and just because of their skin color they had to live in this way. The story revolves around two characters namely, Starr Carter and Khalil. Khalil is killed by the police when her hairbrush was thought to be some weapon. This makes Starr realize the importance of raising her voice. She realized that her voice is the biggest weapon. In the story after her friend Khali got murdered it influenced Starr is a negative way so her parents relocated to a new private school that was located in the suburbs.

This school had majority of white students so Starr try to avoid her background and begins code switching. She does all this just to make sure that the people around her like her and considers her not threatening.  Code switching basically means that she pretended to be someone she is not. The character Starr becomes her new self as she adopts a totally different vocabulary, dress, lifestyle e.t.c. There are several examples in the book where Starr’s code switching is quite evident. Like in chapter one there was this quote “As long as I play it cool and keep to myself, I should be fine. The ironic thing is though, at Williamson I don't have to “play it cool” — I’m cool by default because I'm one of the only black kids there. I have to earn coolness in Garden Heights, and that's more difficult than buying retro Jordans on release day”. Another example can be taken from chapter five that is “Williamson Starr doesn't use slang—if a rapper would say it, she doesn't say it, even if her white friends do. Slang makes them cool. Slang makes her “hood.” Williamson Starr holds her tongue when people piss her off so nobody will think she's the “angry black girl.” Williamson Starr is approachable. No stank-eyes, side-eyes, none of that. Williamson Starr is nonconfrontationa (BRENNAN).

Basically, Williamson Starr doesn't give anyone a reason to call her ghetto”. Chapter six also contains a quote “My voice is changing already. It always happens around “other” people, whether I'm at Williamson or not. I don't talk like me or sound like me. I choose every word carefully and make sure I pronounce them well. I can never, ever let anyone think I'm ghetto”. The quote from chapter 17 gives us a deeper view of how the character was feeling throughout this process of code switching. The quote is “Being two different people is so exhausting. I've taught myself to speak with two different voices and only say certain things around certain people. I've mastered it. As much as I say I don't have to choose which Starr I am with Chris, maybe without realizing it, I have to an extent. Part of me feels like I can't exist around people like him”. These quotes show the level of pressure that Starr had to deal with just because she was black. She just did not wanted other to think that she was a “ghetto” (BRENNAN).

Even though later in the novel we see how this was not something she really wanted to do. It clearly shows how black people from young age are forced to think like they are less than the others. Throughout the book the character takes risky decisions just because of her skin color. One such decision was when she had to come to the court for the hearing of her friend Khalil but could not entirely express herself because she had many issues to deal with. Another issue talked about in the novel is that how these black families are involved in drug trading however, with different perspective. Khalil too was involved in such practices but that was because someone in her family was extremely sick and they were short of money to get treatment done. The story highlights that these people do not get involved in illegal activities by choice rather it happens because they don’t have any other way of earning money. This novel shows how difficult the lives of black people are it highlights the issue of racism in America.

The article that I have selected is “But that’s just good teaching! The case for culturally relevant Pedagogy”. Some important points in the article are mentioned below.

1.      One of the issues recognized was that the education system is designed in such a way that it brings culture in an education rather it should be the other way around education should be for every culture. The difference in culture does not mean that any student is being excluded from the system. Gaining education is the right of people of every culture.

2.      Students should be challenged academically. All the teachers look for students that are determined and hardworking. In schools the focus should be on becoming a better student and differences should be put aside (Billings).

3.      The students are required to have cultural integrity to some extent in order to make sure that a better result is achieved. Culture competence should be supported.

4.      School should aim to educate students in such a way that they question the society if any unfair practice takes place. The students should be made active citizens that can critically analyze the society. This will help to reduce crime in the society.

If all the things mentioned in the paper and discussed briefly above are followed then it will be easy to reduce the need for code switching. This will be because people will be more likely to accept who they are and their background and will not feel the need to pretend. A society in which people are accepted for being themselves is the best one (Billings).

Part 2 Code Switching Ethnography

Gordon High school is among the largest schools in the Washington County. The school provides best quality educations to the students who belong to different communities or ethnicities. In the schools white, Native American and African American students study in the same class. However mostly teachers in the school are white. Over the past several years no body have ever experienced racism or similar issue in the school. The students respect each other’s cultures and does not hesitate with each other. However the things suddenly changed when the school recruited a new white teacher because the previous teacher decided to leave the school.

The new white teacher name Angelina seems quite polite from nature. At her first day she meet the students with enthusiasm and everything seems quite normal. But after some days things started to become intense. Many African American student realize that when they make any mistake in the school the punishment for African American students is harsher than the white students. One day some white students and some African American students did not done their homework. The white students were given detention for one hour in the school however for African American it was 2 hours. The difference was evident and many African American student find it unfair.

In the beginning the students thought that they might be wrong but after some period they realized that the teacher’s behavior toward African American student and their dialect was no longer polite as it was in the beginning. Miss Angelina change in behavior was also noticed by many other students who were not white. Many Native American students also feel that Miss Angelina does not like them to speak their native language and only want students to speak in English. The students then decided to analyze the situation critically so that it can be resolved.

The student decided to meet after school to talk about the issue. All the African American & Native American students of the class went to the school’s backyard to discuss the issue. As all the students belong to the same ethnicities & cultures they did not find it difficult to talk about the issue. Many students agree that they have felt racism or similar behavior in the school after Miss Angelina have become their teacher. Students decided to talk to the principal so that this issue can be resolved. The high school students know their rights and want code switching back in the school.

The previous teacher of the school Miss Margarita never create difference between the students due to their different ethnicities. Miss margarita has allowed her students to use their language in the class whenever they want to. Miss Margarita knows the importance of code switching because it not only enhance cultural understanding but also allow student to interact with other more freely. However after the arrival of Miss Angelina the students start facing problem because Miss Angelina behavior was conservative and she was not talking politely with most of the students in the class except the white students.

Due to the nice behavior with white students the white students were enjoying their time in the class. The white students did not consider any change the class because they were not the one who were facing the challenges after the arrival of Miss Angelina. African American students & Native American students decided to talk with white students as well regarding the issue. Many African students were hesitating because they know that they might misunderstood them. White students were not facing any issue that is why they did not understand the feelings of the African American students.

Finally the students decided to tell the principal about the harsh reality. However the response of the principle was also not satisfactory in the beginning because principal said that in many years no such thing has ever occurred in the school and the students might be misunderstanding the teacher because she is new in school and it will took time to understand all the students effectively. The principal said that the students should give time to the teacher and then see if they feel any difference in her behavior or not. Students decided to wait for few more days to see if the behavior of the teacher changes or not.

One day the principal was inspecting the class rooms and move in front of Miss Angelina’s class. At that time few students were talking in African American English and principal noticed that miss Angelina stop them from speaking in different language and asked them to talk only in English.  Principal immediately called Miss Angelina in his office and asked them to give explanation about her conservative behavior with the students. Miss Angelina said that she did not knew about code switching policy in the class and that’s why did not allow students to talk in different dialects.

At that time Miss Angelina realized her mistake and decided to apologies to the students about her behavior. Later that day Miss Angelina asked the white students to go home but did not allowed other students to leave the class. African American students & Native American students thought that the teacher will again going to punish them hardly because Miss Angelina did not like them. But what Miss Angelina did was not expected by any student in the class room. Miss Angelina formally apologized about her behavior with the students.

Miss Angelina said that she did not knew that her behavior was harsh with the African American students and other Native American students. The teacher said that from now own the previous rule of code switching in the class will be implemented and she will change his teaching methodology to include the code switching approach in it. The students said that they are ready to move forward and will be happy to continue their studies with enthusiasm. After that the students never faced any difficulty in the classroom.

References of Code Switching Ethnography

Billings, Gloria Ladson -. "But That's Just Good Teaching! The Case for Culturally Relevant Pedagogy." 34 (1995): 160-165.

BRENNAN, WILLIAM. Julie Washington’s Quest to Get Schools to Respect African-American English . 2018. <https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/04/the-code-switcher/554099/>.