Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has a new excuse for her strange accent at the National Action Network conference last week: Code-switchin...
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has a new excuse for her strange accent at the National Action Network conference last week: Code-switching.
In case you’re unfamiliar with the controversy, here are the basics: At the predominantly black conference last week, the New York Democrat seemed to adopt a Southern drawl when talking about menial work.
“I’m proud to be a bartender, ain’t nothin’ wrong with that,” she said. “There’s nothing wrong with working retail, folding clothes for other people to buy. There is nothing wrong with preparing the food that your neighbors will eat. There is nothing wrong with driving the buses that take your family to work.”
Once the incident garnered attention, Ocasio-Cortez quickly went on the defensive.
“As much as the right wants to distort & deflect, I am from the Bronx. I act & talk like it, *especially* when I’m fired up and especially when I’m home,” she wrote in one Twitter post. “It is so hurtful to see how every aspect of my life is weaponized against me, yet somehow asserted as false at the same time.”
People still didn’t seem to buy that, so we got a new explanation: She was just code-switching.
If you’re not familiar with the linguistic concept, a crude description would be to say that it’s switching between two different dialects or languages during a single conversation or sometimes within the wider context of a certain milieu. In Ocasio-Cortez’s case, she was just taking on a Southern accent in front of black people because she was … a black person from the South? Oh well, let her explain it:
“Next time you‘re told straight hair is ‘unprofessional’ & that speaking like your parents do is ‘uneducated,’ then you can complain about code-switching,” she tweeted when someone questioned the argument being made for her. “Code switching is a tool communities learn when they’re told their voice, appearance, & mannerisms are ‘unprofessional.’”
We see the perceived “costs” to not code-switching all the time.
Can’t tell you how many young people in our community don’t have the confidence they should bc they didn’t grow up learning secondary speech.
Their talents get stifled by “respectability,” despite enormous gifts.
“We see the perceived ‘costs’ to not code-switching all the time. Can’t tell you
how many young people in our community don’t have the confidence they
should
bc they didn’t grow up learning secondary speech,” she continued. “Their
talents
get stifled by ‘respectability,’ despite enormous gifts.”
how many young people in our community don’t have the confidence they
should
bc they didn’t grow up learning secondary speech,” she continued. “Their
talents
get stifled by ‘respectability,’ despite enormous gifts.”
“The good news is that we can improve this easily w/ honest reflection. For ex,
are certain hairstyles discouraged in your workplace? Why? Can you think
of someone who didn’t advance bc of how they spoke? Why? Examine what’s deemed ‘unprofessional’ around you & adapt it to 2019.”
are certain hairstyles discouraged in your workplace? Why? Can you think
of someone who didn’t advance bc of how they spoke? Why? Examine what’s deemed ‘unprofessional’ around you & adapt it to 2019.”
Now mind you, she didn’t make the code-switching argument to begin with,
arguing this is how she’d talked in other speeches. That doesn’t mean that
she didn’t think she was code switching or that it’s mutually exclusive from her
original explication of the strange lapse into a Southern accent — that it was
no different from speeches she’d given previously, which was clearly false.
arguing this is how she’d talked in other speeches. That doesn’t mean that
she didn’t think she was code switching or that it’s mutually exclusive from her
original explication of the strange lapse into a Southern accent — that it was
no different from speeches she’d given previously, which was clearly false.
But it is interesting to note.
It’s also interesting to note that some African-American Twitter users didn’t
think
she possessed that particular code to switch (though CNN’s Don Lemon apparently wasn’t one of them):
think
she possessed that particular code to switch (though CNN’s Don Lemon apparently wasn’t one of them):
Some reactions were a bit more forceful about the point. (WARNING:
The image below links to the original tweet where the
obscenities are written in full.)
The image below links to the original tweet where the
obscenities are written in full.)
And then others pointed out the obvious.
That’s arguably the most disturbing thing — the fact that
she adopted this
speech before the National Action Network, a predominantly
African-American
group, while talking about menial jobs. That probably wasn’t the moment
to drag that out.
she adopted this
speech before the National Action Network, a predominantly
African-American
group, while talking about menial jobs. That probably wasn’t the moment
to drag that out.
Also, while we’re on it, Ocasio-Cortez’s rant about the horrors that
code-switching
is meant to avoid seems pandering as well.
code-switching
is meant to avoid seems pandering as well.
Professionalism isn’t a bad thing. It isn’t racist or enforcing homogenous
cultural norms. If you don’t speak and act professionally in an interview, you’re
not going to have the same chance at the job that someone who speaks and
acts professionally does. Get used to it. This isn’t racist, classist, sexist or
anything of that nature — and minority Twitter users realized that.
cultural norms. If you don’t speak and act professionally in an interview, you’re
not going to have the same chance at the job that someone who speaks and
acts professionally does. Get used to it. This isn’t racist, classist, sexist or
anything of that nature — and minority Twitter users realized that.
Beyond that, however, it’s clear that even if she was code-switching that
some minorities weren’t buying that she had the right to. Granted, these are
three responses, but one can extrapolate this — particularly when one considers
the fact that just about everyone — regardless of race — is tiring of
Ocasio-Cortez’s excuses in this matter by now.
some minorities weren’t buying that she had the right to. Granted, these are
three responses, but one can extrapolate this — particularly when one considers
the fact that just about everyone — regardless of race — is tiring of
Ocasio-Cortez’s excuses in this matter by now.
I hope this doesn’t go away, however, because I’m curious what
she’ll come up with next.
she’ll come up with next.
Multiple personalities, perhaps? Repressed trauma from being among the
oppressed class? Imitating the colonizer? So many possibilities, so few news
cycles for this story to remain fresh.
oppressed class? Imitating the colonizer? So many possibilities, so few news
cycles for this story to remain fresh.
She just has a low IQ and cant help herself
ReplyDeleteagent AOC collects a fat dividend check from the GOP every time she opens her false-flag mouth.
ReplyDeletefigure it out idiots.
She's an actress. Soros hired her through "Just-Us Democrats" and Cenk Uygur. She's dumb as a box of rocks on top of it. They have such low respect for us that they think we'll be unable to see through this fraud. This is a scam. Her and those other phonies they installed are there as down payment on a coup.
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid they're gonna need higher quality actors to pull it off.
Alexandria the Mutt
ReplyDeleteWill someone please escort this shitbag to the nearest insane asylum?
ReplyDeleteSo far she's racked up a cool $1.10!!!! Keep it coming!!!!
ReplyDelete