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The Everyday Language of White Racism
In The Everyday Language of White Racism, Jane H. Hill provides an incisive analysis of everyday language to reveal the underlying racist stereotypes that continue to circulate in American culture.
* Provides a detailed background on the theory of race and racism
* Reveals how racializing discourse--talk and text that produces and reproduces ideas about races and assigns people to them--facilitates a victim-blaming logic
* Integrates a broad and interdisciplinary range of literature, from sociology, social psychology, justice studies, critical legal studies, philosophy, literature, and other disciplines that have studied racism, as well as material from anthropology and sociolinguistics
* Part of the "Blackwell Studies in Discourse and Culture Series"
* Provides a detailed background on the theory of race and racism
* Reveals how racializing discourse--talk and text that produces and reproduces ideas about races and assigns people to them--facilitates a victim-blaming logic
* Integrates a broad and interdisciplinary range of literature, from sociology, social psychology, justice studies, critical legal studies, philosophy, literature, and other disciplines that have studied racism, as well as material from anthropology and sociolinguistics
* Part of the "Blackwell Studies in Discourse and Culture Series"
240 pages, Paperback
First published October 20, 2008
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725 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
February 25, 2013
My god, I want to teach this book. The first chapters are such a clear explanation of the way white supremacy functions in an age in which overt racism is socially condemned. Such a great book.
September 8, 2019
An insightful look at racism from a critical linguistic perspective, which I had never really encountered before. I think the concepts introduced near the beginning of the book, like the folk theory of racism and personalist/referentialist ideologies wrt language, were extremely helpful to learn and that Hill did a great job of connecting the content of the following chapters back to those foundational concepts. The information covered is definitely relevant to current discussions about racist language, political correctness, and linguistic appropriation.
April 28, 2015
I found this book a great look at the unconscious manner in which race and language can combine in speech, easy to read and digest. However, I have some major problems with Hill's dichotomy of "folk" theory vs CRT. Her entire arguments hinge on these two theories, yet she writes as if a universal "everyone" acts under the mechanisms of folk theory. I feel it would have been more productive had Hill considered some demographic issues in explaining the pervasiveness of racist language, looking at how political affiliation, age, geographical location, socio-economic status, gender, race, etc etc etc play together in creating systemic bias and racism, rather than presenting racism as an agentless whole. It is this nuance that I feel is missing.
July 5, 2018
I was assigned the first five chapters for a Linguistic Anthropology class and wound up reading to the end because I was so compelled by Hill's insights into how white supremacist values get reproduced in insidious ways through our language. Despite the academic nature of the text, I found it extremely readable; Hill's frequent use of examples from the news and her personal experiences as a resident of the Southern United States balanced out any passages of straight theory.
Given that modern rightwing North Americans have so enthusiastically embraced the phrase 'white racism' to refer to the idea of racism against (rather than perpetrated by) white people, I would prefer if this book had a different title, but Hill obviously could not have anticipated how widespread that use of the term would become when she was writing ten years ago.
Given that modern rightwing North Americans have so enthusiastically embraced the phrase 'white racism' to refer to the idea of racism against (rather than perpetrated by) white people, I would prefer if this book had a different title, but Hill obviously could not have anticipated how widespread that use of the term would become when she was writing ten years ago.
May 28, 2015
This book is about how, some, whites confront those of another race, and what they say to them. It provides examples as well as goes over many different races that are effected by the whites with superiority complexes. The author discussed the discrimination about those who are Black, Spanish, Indian, etc.
Overall, this book is pretty insightful. It provides many examples and quotes for the reader to really be able to understand. The title was a bit misleading considering there is such a thing as "white racism" which means the total opposite of what the book is written about, but that can easily be looked over if one researches the book more before purchasing. I think it's interesting to see what people say especially since some of the content is comprised of quotes that people say to others that are so ridiculous you wonder why anyone would even say that in the first place. My problem with this book is the author may be a bit too sensitive about the topic. Not that an author shouldn't be when writing or that being sensitive is bad, but I believe some examples were too far. Hill speaks about an advertisement for a pest control service that said, "Adios cucaracha." Hill claimed this was mock Spanish, but in reality it just translates to "Bye cockroach," which isn't mocking the Spanish language at all.
Overall, this book is pretty insightful. It provides many examples and quotes for the reader to really be able to understand. The title was a bit misleading considering there is such a thing as "white racism" which means the total opposite of what the book is written about, but that can easily be looked over if one researches the book more before purchasing. I think it's interesting to see what people say especially since some of the content is comprised of quotes that people say to others that are so ridiculous you wonder why anyone would even say that in the first place. My problem with this book is the author may be a bit too sensitive about the topic. Not that an author shouldn't be when writing or that being sensitive is bad, but I believe some examples were too far. Hill speaks about an advertisement for a pest control service that said, "Adios cucaracha." Hill claimed this was mock Spanish, but in reality it just translates to "Bye cockroach," which isn't mocking the Spanish language at all.
May 28, 2020
"But every serious study shows that White racism continues to be deadening and oppressive fact of life for the vast majority of people of color in the United States. This book is an effort to understand why this so."
"While the comparative literature shows that there are many kinds of racism, I believe that elite White racism in the United States is the most important and influential form of racism in the world. The global power of elite White Americans means that everyone in the world must reckon with what they think they do. The forms of racism that they accomplish-and, indeed, their forms of anti-racist practice-influence how people think and act around the globe."
"White racism is not just part of American history. Instead, White racist culture today organizes racist practices in White-dominated institutions such as schools and health-care facilities, and everyday choices and behaviors by the vast majority of Whites operating as individuals. White racist culture is shaped by a "White racial frame," "an organized set of racialized ideas, stereotypes, emotions, and inclinations to discriminate" (Feagin 2006:27), along with interpretations that rationalize the discrimination against people of color that is indeed old (dating back to the earliest stages of the oppression of people of African descent by Whites in the New World), but continues as a vivid fact of life in the contemporary United States."
"This book aims at a partial answer to these questions by examining how White Americans produce and reproduce the culture of White racism through their use of language, from high literary test, to language in ever sort of mass media, to everyday talk and text produced by ordinary people."
"One of the most difficult exercises that this book recommends is to move away from thinking of racism as entirely a matter of individual beliefs and psychological states."
"I will try to show, in chapters to come, how racist effects can be produced in interaction, in an intersubjective space of discourse, without any single person in the interaction intending discrimination."
"American Whites obsess about racial labels (and take that obsession for granted as natural) because they make choices about how to think about other people based on racial categorization. Racial labels shape fundamental perceptions."
"This new sterotype of high Asian intelligence would seem to be a positive development. Yet whenn Whites act on it, the result is often discrimination. In 2002 the University of California announced a de-emphasis on SAT scores. This was one of many responses by the university that were said to be aimed at mitigating the drop in matriculation by African-American and Latino/a students that followed the passage of a 1996 amendment to the State Constitution that prohibited using race as a criterion for admission. But many Asian Americans believe that de-emphasizing SAT scores discriminates against their children, who do well on these tests. Since for many years Asian American children faced explicit restrictive quotas, their suspicion that de-emphasis on SAT results aims to keep them from dominating university admissions is reasonable (Izumi 2002)."
"Stoler (1997) argues that social formations like capitalism, or colonialism, or liberalism, or modernity, which are sometimes considered preconditions for racism, do not predict it. Instead,, she finds that racism can parasitize almost any social formation or political system, and be articulated within almost any economic or political discourse."
"White racist culture works to shift both material and symbolic resources from the bottom of racial hierarchy, Color, to the top, Whiteness."
"Residential segregation will also show us how White privilege and White virtue are intertwined, each feeding the other."
"Today, actual denial of home financing on racial grounds is rare, but recent studies have shown that people of color are much more likely than Whites to be steered into the "sub-prime" mortgage market, and even into its criminal sectors where mortgage money is available only under predatory and fraudulent terms."
"Since White Americans do not know about the history of suburbanization and the role of explicitly exclusionary policies by their government and their financial institutions in this history-and often resist confronting these facts when they are pointed out - the amenities of the suburbs become, not the sign of the accretion of White privilege throughout a racist history, but a sign of suburban virtue, that is to say, of White virtue. And urban decay becomes a material sign of the vices of Color, or even of essential properties of people of color."
"While referentialist language ideology makes stereotypes visible as "wrong," it leads us to the misleading conclusion that if we merely "educate," revealing the racist errors in stereotypes, they will be discredited. But, although a publication of a stereotype today is guaranteed to attract angry replies that advance better information, the same stereotypes are repeated again and again. Mere education does not seem to interrupt the circulation of racist ideas."
"Far from being part of America's past, White racism is a vital and formative presence in American lives, resulting in hurt and pain to individuals, in glaring injustice, in the grossly unequal distribution of resources along racially stratified lines, and in strange and damaging errors and omissions in public policy both domestic and foreign. White racism persists because Whites enjoy enormous benefits from being the dominant group in a racially stratified social order, and White racist culture is part of who Whites are."
Feagin's "social alexithymia," inattention to the feelings of people of color
"Everyday commonsense understandings of the relationship between language, persons, and actions make it very easy to avoid seeing racists even when they have been transparently exposed."
"In American English the expressions "Generalissimo" and "El Presidente," which are titles of respect in Spanish, are very difficult to use with a straight face. They carry a very heavy burden of history, of the voice of White racism, which evokes and reinforces the fictional property of the world, the Banana Republic, that is White racism's creation."
"Linguistic appropriation in the United States has been historically an important tool of White racism, dating back to the simultaneous elevation of early English explorers as men of learning and the denigration of Native Americans as animalistic savages in the seventeenth century. And linguistic appropriations remain an important tactic for White racist culture. Linguistic appropriation within White racism aims to control the linguistic resources of subordinated populations, permitting these to survive only to the degree that they are useful, in the form of substantially reshaped and reorganized meanings, for White projects."
"While the comparative literature shows that there are many kinds of racism, I believe that elite White racism in the United States is the most important and influential form of racism in the world. The global power of elite White Americans means that everyone in the world must reckon with what they think they do. The forms of racism that they accomplish-and, indeed, their forms of anti-racist practice-influence how people think and act around the globe."
"White racism is not just part of American history. Instead, White racist culture today organizes racist practices in White-dominated institutions such as schools and health-care facilities, and everyday choices and behaviors by the vast majority of Whites operating as individuals. White racist culture is shaped by a "White racial frame," "an organized set of racialized ideas, stereotypes, emotions, and inclinations to discriminate" (Feagin 2006:27), along with interpretations that rationalize the discrimination against people of color that is indeed old (dating back to the earliest stages of the oppression of people of African descent by Whites in the New World), but continues as a vivid fact of life in the contemporary United States."
"This book aims at a partial answer to these questions by examining how White Americans produce and reproduce the culture of White racism through their use of language, from high literary test, to language in ever sort of mass media, to everyday talk and text produced by ordinary people."
"One of the most difficult exercises that this book recommends is to move away from thinking of racism as entirely a matter of individual beliefs and psychological states."
"I will try to show, in chapters to come, how racist effects can be produced in interaction, in an intersubjective space of discourse, without any single person in the interaction intending discrimination."
"American Whites obsess about racial labels (and take that obsession for granted as natural) because they make choices about how to think about other people based on racial categorization. Racial labels shape fundamental perceptions."
"This new sterotype of high Asian intelligence would seem to be a positive development. Yet whenn Whites act on it, the result is often discrimination. In 2002 the University of California announced a de-emphasis on SAT scores. This was one of many responses by the university that were said to be aimed at mitigating the drop in matriculation by African-American and Latino/a students that followed the passage of a 1996 amendment to the State Constitution that prohibited using race as a criterion for admission. But many Asian Americans believe that de-emphasizing SAT scores discriminates against their children, who do well on these tests. Since for many years Asian American children faced explicit restrictive quotas, their suspicion that de-emphasis on SAT results aims to keep them from dominating university admissions is reasonable (Izumi 2002)."
"Stoler (1997) argues that social formations like capitalism, or colonialism, or liberalism, or modernity, which are sometimes considered preconditions for racism, do not predict it. Instead,, she finds that racism can parasitize almost any social formation or political system, and be articulated within almost any economic or political discourse."
"White racist culture works to shift both material and symbolic resources from the bottom of racial hierarchy, Color, to the top, Whiteness."
"Residential segregation will also show us how White privilege and White virtue are intertwined, each feeding the other."
"Today, actual denial of home financing on racial grounds is rare, but recent studies have shown that people of color are much more likely than Whites to be steered into the "sub-prime" mortgage market, and even into its criminal sectors where mortgage money is available only under predatory and fraudulent terms."
"Since White Americans do not know about the history of suburbanization and the role of explicitly exclusionary policies by their government and their financial institutions in this history-and often resist confronting these facts when they are pointed out - the amenities of the suburbs become, not the sign of the accretion of White privilege throughout a racist history, but a sign of suburban virtue, that is to say, of White virtue. And urban decay becomes a material sign of the vices of Color, or even of essential properties of people of color."
"While referentialist language ideology makes stereotypes visible as "wrong," it leads us to the misleading conclusion that if we merely "educate," revealing the racist errors in stereotypes, they will be discredited. But, although a publication of a stereotype today is guaranteed to attract angry replies that advance better information, the same stereotypes are repeated again and again. Mere education does not seem to interrupt the circulation of racist ideas."
"Far from being part of America's past, White racism is a vital and formative presence in American lives, resulting in hurt and pain to individuals, in glaring injustice, in the grossly unequal distribution of resources along racially stratified lines, and in strange and damaging errors and omissions in public policy both domestic and foreign. White racism persists because Whites enjoy enormous benefits from being the dominant group in a racially stratified social order, and White racist culture is part of who Whites are."
Feagin's "social alexithymia," inattention to the feelings of people of color
"Everyday commonsense understandings of the relationship between language, persons, and actions make it very easy to avoid seeing racists even when they have been transparently exposed."
"In American English the expressions "Generalissimo" and "El Presidente," which are titles of respect in Spanish, are very difficult to use with a straight face. They carry a very heavy burden of history, of the voice of White racism, which evokes and reinforces the fictional property of the world, the Banana Republic, that is White racism's creation."
"Linguistic appropriation in the United States has been historically an important tool of White racism, dating back to the simultaneous elevation of early English explorers as men of learning and the denigration of Native Americans as animalistic savages in the seventeenth century. And linguistic appropriations remain an important tactic for White racist culture. Linguistic appropriation within White racism aims to control the linguistic resources of subordinated populations, permitting these to survive only to the degree that they are useful, in the form of substantially reshaped and reorganized meanings, for White projects."
October 14, 2017
This essay is most definitely an eye-opener: for me, the most significantly surprising (yet also the most troublesome) was the chapter on Mock Spanish. This is definitely a good book to read for anyone looking for some insight into the numerous issues surrounding racism in America today. I read this for a linguistic anthropology class, and via this, I would caution against picking up this book looking for a light, easy read: it's more of a textbook than a book, per se. In a more critical sense, I had a difficult time connecting to some of the case studies that Hill presents. Perhaps it is the liberal nature of my community or maybe even the almost-a-decade-long gap between my reading and the writing of this novel, or even the TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP all over the media right now, but some of her arguments seem very extreme. On the other hand, I am a very sheltered child. In addition, her use of slurs and her noticeable choice of audience (white people) created a bit of distance between me and her writing, I think, as I am not white.
On to the mock Spanish chapter- I think that, in the Southwest, the kind of things that she describes are more visible, but on the East Coast, the examples seem distant, in a way. However, it really, really made me very conscious of my language choices, for which I am thankful.
Also, this book is unforgivably dense. OMG.
On to the mock Spanish chapter- I think that, in the Southwest, the kind of things that she describes are more visible, but on the East Coast, the examples seem distant, in a way. However, it really, really made me very conscious of my language choices, for which I am thankful.
Also, this book is unforgivably dense. OMG.
June 10, 2020
Although the truths exposed in this book are uncomfortable, and some of the linguistic terminology challenged my brain (not a bad thing), this book is a very readable and understandable exploration of the ways White racism is normalized and often invisible (to Whites) in White (racist) American culture, a.k.a. “Mainstream” American culture. In similar ways to cognitive behavioral therapy teaching a person how to recognize their own incorrect thinking patterns (cognitive distortions), this book has opened my eyes to some incorrect ways of understanding my language and my world, and how many beliefs that I have been taught as “common sense” (such as the idea that someone’s intentions might be the most important determiner of meaning) are often used in ways to protect and maintain White power, privilege, and wealth. I hope I can keep these lessons in mind and in practice, but I reckon it will be a lifetime effort. Highly worthwhile.
July 13, 2021
A very academic and thoroughly analyzed treatise regarding the employment of racist language of white Americans. It would help reading this to have a background in the study of linguistics, which I do not have, or even anthropology, which I also do not have. I waded through and would benefit from a second read, but she explains, to my view, why people are currently misunderstanding Critical Race Theory and its application in teaching today. A worthy read that provides what is necessary, as a conclusion, of the only way we will remove racism from our society, which, I believe, is totally unlikely.
April 28, 2018
Everybody: please read this book. It’s not a light read by any means; it’s serious linguistic anthropology by one of today’s top scholars. In it, Hill argues that the everyday notions of racism as beliefs and actions held by a disposable few are a folk theory and function to distract us from systemic, linguistic ideologies that allow racism to co-exist with white everyday living.
The writing is outstanding and the work is profound.
The writing is outstanding and the work is profound.
July 7, 2018
I feel like this deserved five stars purely on that it was interesting from beginning to end. I often feel that books like this have a great concept, but only enough information for a lengthy pamphlet. So the book seems to drag on and on as the same thing is rehashed. This was full of new information, statistics, and relevant stories. It made me look at some things differently, and it gave me some tools for explaining other thoughts I've already had.
December 31, 2018
Language is layered, and as a white American English speaker, I appreciate the lights this book shines on the way I and others speak. I read most of this a few years ago, but glad I finished up the last 40 pages or so. The concept that's sticking most with me at the moment in terms of my own speech is about the use of Spanish words by non-Spanish speakers. What words do we do that with? Manana, cerveza, no problema, cojones, loco. Racism is an insidious serpent.
April 28, 2020
I feel like this deserved five stars purely on that it was interesting from beginning to end. I often feel that books like this have a great concept, but only enough information for a lengthy pamphlet. So the book seems to drag on and on as the same thing is rehashed. This was full of new information, statistics, and relevant stories. It made me look at some things differently, and it gave me some tools for explaining other thoughts I've already had.
November 9, 2018
I expected more from this book. There were some insightful examples & explanations but not a lot of mind-blowing discoveries. Worth the read/skim though.
December 6, 2019
hugely important and always relevant. the way YOU speak? racist? it’s more likely than you think
Want to read
April 6, 2023to-read
January 30, 2024
A must read.
January 15, 2016
Read this for my Linguistic Anthropology course. (And now must set out to write a critical review).
Hill presents a really compelling argument about the complicated, unseen connection between language and racism, and effectively remedies the paradox of the racist society we live in that is populated by a stunning and suspicious lack of actual "racists." As a White American speaker, I was made acutely aware of some of the language practices and ideologies that I participate in, that I did not think were racially marked. It is important for everyone, especially White Americans, who seem to have not only a dominant voice in all of this, but a responsibility to move past and make amends for our nation's racial divide, to consider how language creates and enforces social reality.
As I'm thinking critically about this book (for the purpose of paper writing), the data Hill draws from is a bit problematic, in the sense that there isn't a consensus on whether her reliance on Internet sources and comment section is indicative of social reality. I would have liked her definition of "everyday language" to discuss the Internet's role as a platform for ideological dissemination head on. But overall, glad I read it! Not so keen on penning an essay though ;)
Hill presents a really compelling argument about the complicated, unseen connection between language and racism, and effectively remedies the paradox of the racist society we live in that is populated by a stunning and suspicious lack of actual "racists." As a White American speaker, I was made acutely aware of some of the language practices and ideologies that I participate in, that I did not think were racially marked. It is important for everyone, especially White Americans, who seem to have not only a dominant voice in all of this, but a responsibility to move past and make amends for our nation's racial divide, to consider how language creates and enforces social reality.
As I'm thinking critically about this book (for the purpose of paper writing), the data Hill draws from is a bit problematic, in the sense that there isn't a consensus on whether her reliance on Internet sources and comment section is indicative of social reality. I would have liked her definition of "everyday language" to discuss the Internet's role as a platform for ideological dissemination head on. But overall, glad I read it! Not so keen on penning an essay though ;)
December 18, 2012
This book just pissed me off. She makes ridiculous assumptions just to try to prove her thesis. Many of her discussions are honestly interesting and valid (hence the 2 stars), but other points she makes, in particular in the section dealing with Spanish, are just plain wrong. As a native Spanish speaker I can assure you that what she tries to use as proof of racism is ridiculous. I'm very surprised that as an anthropologist she didn't bother to dig a little deeper into the actual social meaning of some stupid grammatical mistake.
March 8, 2011
Definitely working for the academia world, but also a thought-provoking and perhaps even life-changing work. It's not perfect, and the author tends to repeat herself to no extra benefit, but the message is fantastic, although it won't be easily received by a majority of the population. I'd recommend even to non-academics who are interested in reading more about this difficult topic.
Read
October 10, 2020I read this book in college as part of a linguistic anthropology class. At the time, I felt attacked. Yet this book changed my life and my perspective. I immediately saw the world differently. I noticed inequalities in ways I never before did. Thus, while this book infuriated me, it was an important part of my journey to becoming a more empathetic human.
June 19, 2015
Some chapters go too far with their ideas, and one in particular felt like it was part of an entirely different book, but the parts I enjoyed were worth the read. I used this as a theory source for a research paper I wrote.
December 15, 2011
Linguistic anthropology at its finest. A pathbreaking analysis of how everyday discourse reproduces racist attitudes.
April 16, 2013
I wish I could give it 10/5 stars because it is just that good. Absolute must read.
February 1, 2014
Not 100% convinced on her chapter about "Mock Spanish" (some points are definitely smart, other a stretch, in my opinion) but a good academic deconstruction of very common racist speech.
March 15, 2014
Jane Hill is a pillar of anthropological linguistics and this book is wonderful. It is a real eye opener to the power our speech holds that we take for granted.
August 17, 2014
pdf, good and insightful, but lots of repetition on linguistic theories and it gets a bit boring
July 13, 2014
Great book!
Eye opening!
Linguistic racism at it's best.
Eye opening!
Linguistic racism at it's best.
January 2, 2015
For linguistic anthro. Very, very worthwhile.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews