Hi Irene, I really enjoyed reading your reflection. I agree with your point about the U.S. being linguistically diverse yet holding on to English as a “mask” of dominance (as bell hooks describes it). It’s such a contradiction that the U.S. is home to so many languages, yet people are often made to feel ashamed of speaking them in schools or workplaces. This connects directly to Baker-Bell’s emphasis on intersectionality, because it’s not just about language in isolation, but about how language is tied to race, class, and belonging.
I think this is where Baker-Bell’s idea of linguistic racism being permanent becomes really clear. The shame people feel isn’t only about not using “standard English”. It’s about the way their whole identity gets judged through language. Like you mentioned, linguistic hegemony convinces people that their language is the problem, when really the system is designed to uphold whiteness and middle-class norms.
Your reflection made me think about how this contradiction shows up in everyday life: a country that celebrates diversity in theory, but punishes it in practice. It makes me wonder, as Baker-Bell does, how educators and institutions might move beyond simply tolerating difference to actively creating spaces where multilingualism and diverse identities are valued.
Do you think part of resisting this “mask of dominance” could be about changing the ways schools and workplaces measure communication? For example, seeing code-switching and multilingualism as assets instead of deficits?
I think this is where Baker-Bell’s idea of linguistic racism being permanent becomes really clear. The shame people feel isn’t only about not using “standard English”. It’s about the way their whole identity gets judged through language. Like you mentioned, linguistic hegemony convinces people that their language is the problem, when really the system is designed to uphold whiteness and middle-class norms.
Your reflection made me think about how this contradiction shows up in everyday life: a country that celebrates diversity in theory, but punishes it in practice. It makes me wonder, as Baker-Bell does, how educators and institutions might move beyond simply tolerating difference to actively creating spaces where multilingualism and diverse identities are valued.
Do you think part of resisting this “mask of dominance” could be about changing the ways schools and workplaces measure communication? For example, seeing code-switching and multilingualism as assets instead of deficits?