Looking for examples of language focused discrimination
… from everyday life, as in the examples below. If you come across something, please contact me (link) with the information and/or link, if one is available. I will not use what you send me without consulting you, and you will remain anonymous unless you specifically request not to be.
I’m especially interested in incidents on college campuses. Even if you are unsure of the details, I’d like to hear from you. I will always check and double check any information provided for accuracy by going to primary sources.
Examples (and these are all real-life)
Newspaper headlines: “We likee Hirally! She best quality!”
One-off definitions (this one from the Urban Dictionary): Ching chong bing bong: The language of those born to the Asian countries. It is the root of all evil and when heard for an excessive amount of time, causes one to vomit uncontrollably. Excuse me, I can’t understand your ching chong bing bong, please try English when you are in America.
News stories (television, print media, internet, radio are all great):
Vincent Chin was beaten to death by two jobless auto workers because they had mistaken him for Japanese. According to the police report, a bystander heard one of the two men of say to Chin, “It’s because of you little motherfuckers that we’re out of work.”
San Jose, CA: A 58-year-old Latino speaking on his cell phone in Spanish was punched in the face by a 28-year-old Anglo male, who shouted “Speak English!”
Connecticut, 2010: A study of traffic tickets issued by the East Haven police department over an 8-month period established that while Latinos/as make up less than 6 percent of the population, they accounted for more than 50 percent of tickets issued. In addition, the study found that police officers routinely misrepresented the race of the person receiving the ticket in their reports.
Parodies (from the Princeton student newspaper, this fake letter): Hi Princeton! Remember me? I so good at math and science. Perfect 2400 SAT score. Ring bells? Just in case, let me refresh your memories. I the super smart Asian. Princeton the super dumb college, not accept me.
Rumors (which I will validate before using) Two students at (college) gather signatures to present to the administration with the goal of having a professor who graded too harshly fired. They cited his foreign accent as the biggest part of the problem.
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Or anything else you come across. I would VERY MUCH appreciate any help that comes my way. I’d like to set up a database, which will be made available to students and researchers who are interested in language discrimination.
This sounds really interesting! I am senior in college and doing my thesis on language discrimination- will be doing field research next semester and let you know if I come across anything!