In a move to be remembered more as an unnecessary journalistic misstep than a substantive policy discussion, Fox News reporter Peter Doocy went deep into the turgid well of nonsense and posed a question that left White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre visibly exasperated Tuesday morning.
“Since when does the Vice President have what sounds like a Southern accent?” Doocy asked in his typical smarm, referring to Vice President Kamala Harris’s recent campaign speeches in Detroit and Pittsburgh.
The question stemmed from comparing Harris’s delivery at two union rallies. In Detroit, Harris unequivocally stated, “You better thank a union member for sick leave, you better thank a union member for paid leave, you better thank a union member for vacation time.” Later, in Pittsburgh, the vice president supplied a similar message with what Doocy perceived as a “Southern drawl,” as if it had anything to do with anything.
A clearly appalled Jean-Pierre provided a swift and decisive response. “I have no idea what you are talking about,” she replied before pressing further: “Do you think Americans seriously think that this is an important question?” The press secretary went on to call Doocy’s inquiry “ridiculous” and “insane,” effectively shutting down his line of questioning.
But the exchange highlights not just a fleeting clash between a reporter and the White House communications team but a greater, perhaps even willful disconnect in understanding the linguistic flexibility constantly required of Black folks in various social and professional settings—especially in predominantly white spaces. Doocy’s question, whether intentionally or not, touched upon a problematic aspect of Black American life that many, including himself, appear unprepared to comprehend.
What is interesting is unhinged white people ironically call code-switching “dishonest” while not acknowledging why it exists, to begin with, a notion violent in all directions.
This incident functions as a springboard for a very brief discussion about code-switching, its historical context, and its continued relevance in the lives of Black people today.
Understanding the code switch
Code-switching is a linguistic phenomenon where individuals—usually of non-dominant races or classes in white-dominant spaces—alter their speech patterns, vocabulary, and specific mannerisms based on the social context. So, to be clear code-switching isn’t applicable only to Black people, but we will go forward with their specific experiences. For Black people, this usually involves oscillating between African American Vernacular English (AAVE) and so-called “Standard” American English. This practice goes beyond accent changes; it encompasses complex navigation of adherence to cultural norms and expectations.
In the case of Vice President Harris, whatever alleged “drawl” in Pittsburgh and emphatic delivery in Detroit isn’t necessarily about taking on fake accents—or fakeness, as Doocy essentially implied. It reflects a necessary dexterity that Black people in America and across the globe develop as they cautiously move through different spaces.
Code-switching in context for Black Americans
It’s always about slavery, isn’t it? The roots of the ghost in this machine can be traced back to Antebellum-era slavery and onward through Jim Crow, the Civil Rights Movement, and the present. During slavery, the enslaved were usually forbidden from speaking their native languages, forcing them to adopt English—while often secretly maintaining aspects of their linguistic heritage. This amalgamation created the foundations of AAVE.
Post-emancipation, as Black people sought education and employment opportunities, success and failure in their quests sometimes settled into how well they adapted their speech to match white expectations—or more specifically, to quell, or at least limit, white discomfort. It wasn’t just about speaking a language; it was about survival in a hostile society. The waves of the Great Migration of millions of Black Southerners to northern and western metropolises further necessitated this adaptive ‘double consciousness,’ as W.E.B. DuBois once wrote, as they encountered new social and professional environments.
Throughout the 20th century to the present, code-switching became an unspoken requirement for upward-bound Black folk as a way to successfully navigate white-dominated spaces of academia, corporate America, and politics while staying connected to their own communities. This dual existence—speaking one way at home or in the community and another in professional settings—is a problematic hallmark of the Black experience in this country.
Code-switching in the present
Despite progress in racial equality, the phenomenon remains a necessary skill for Black people today in most areas of their lives in the white mainstream. The persistence of racial bias in these settings—from job interviews to courtrooms—means that how one speaks can significantly impact their opportunities and treatment.
If you are a white person reading this, chances are one hundred percent that your initial interaction with a Black person in a professional or academic setting was with that person in full code-switch mode. It does not mean they are fake; it is an unfortunate instrument of safety and preservation. Code-switching is an armor a Black person has little chance of surviving in these spaces without.
In many of these environments, Black employees or students often report pressures to “sound white” to be taken seriously. The mental and emotional burden, though, is not placed on their white counterparts, creating a layer of duplicative stress and effort in the workplace and classrooms for Black people. The “double consciousness” requires near-constant awareness and adjustment.
For Black political figures like Vice President Harris, the ability to connect at ground level with diverse constituencies while fitting into the established norms of political discourse is a must. Harris’s background—raised in Berkeley and Montreal, educated at Howard University, and working in various parts of the country—has likely honed her ability to adapt to various audiences according to the occasion.
Code-switching in modern America is a testament to the ongoing racial disparities and pressures Black people face in conforming to white-centering standards of “professionalism” and “articulation.” It’s not about inauthenticity or putting on for people, as Doocy’s inappropriate question suggested. It’s about Black people having to continually shoulder the ills of a society still grappling with a racial history and present-day inequalities they did not earn or create but must contend with on a daily basis.
Published: Sep 5, 2024 05:32 pm