August 28 is the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech. I often re-read the speech. Not just for the message — which remains saddeningly relevant some 60 years ...

'Code-switching' was originally coined as a linguistic term for the ways in which bilingual people engage with language. It describes bilingual speakers alternating between literal linguistic codes in ...

In sociology, code switching is when a person alters their speech to conform to different cultural norms. For example, marginalized people may use one way of speaking around their community and ...

The “angry Black woman” stereotype has chased Black women around for decades and young Black women are feeling even more stressed to conform. The pressure comes from all corners of life, especially in ...

James Felton Keith is CEO at Inclusion Score Inc. and Labor Economist at Keith Institute. His latest book is #DataIsLabor. Last year, during a certification class I taught on the International ...

"Pórtate bien; esta gente son blanca" is a line I'd often hear my mom say when I was growing up. It translates to: "Behave yourself; these people are white." I was introduced to code-switching at a ...

Vice President Kamala Harris ruffled some feathers when she appeared to adopt a different tone or accent with a crowd than she had previously during her recent campaign trip to Detroit to talk about ...

The Penn janitorial employee wipes down your table after you and your friends finish lunch in Houston Market, clearing the mess you left behind. You, seemingly the only one in your group to ...

Traditionally linguists have bemoaned the fact that the general public knows little of what we do because the subject isn’t taught in schools. But that has changed over the past 20 years or so, as the ...

I didn't know my name was Cindy until the first day of kindergarten. The teacher was doing roll call and kept shouting, "Cindy Rodriguez, Cindy Rodriguez," and I remember wondering, "Who in the world ...