Two coaches hired by Claremont McKenna’s Center for Writing and Public Discourse were informed that correcting individuals ‘ language is racist and should be avoided.
The two scholar consultants were given a research report as part of their recruitment process that described the ways that providing creating feedback may be prejudiced and the ways that writing consultants fail to effectively work as anti-racist advocates.
In an op-ed in the Claremont Independent, an independent student news outlet, they wrote that” as consultants, we were urged by our superiors to not correct student’s grammar or issues that may arise from dialectal differences and deviations from [Standard American English ] on request.
In a part that was published on Sunday, they wrote,” We were expected to adhere to the belief that all languages should be considered piece of academic writing, and that to take them away is to engage in racist ideology.”
According to the research paper they were given,” Standard American English… represents the destruction of pupils ‘ other linguistic resources and dialects,” they wrote. The 2023 report,” How to Play the Game: Complicated Perspectives on Practicing Anti-Racism,” attempts to define the function of writing centres in preventing widespread injustices.
The two student consultants wrote,” Students are encouraged to create a new style of writing to protect [students ‘] feelings and prevent discrimination,” and not just correct students ‘ grammar.
They added that Standard American English does no “erase” different languages but merely standardizes the use of vocabulary in an academic environment, contrary to the order, which they argued.
The two wrote,” Implying that students of different racial backgrounds are afraid, or unwilling, to meet educational writing standards is disrespectful and diminishes their capacity to engage in specialist, scientific work.”
In a partnership grouping that also includes Scripps, Harvey Mudd, Pomona, and Pitzer institutions, Claremont McKenna is one of five private schools spread throughout Southern California. The fifth of the five is thought to be more conservative-leaning.
One of the firm’s creating centers has previously come under fire for this. According to The College Fix, a white man student who had been working on the side of Pomona College’s Writing Center in 2016 resigned from his position there as a result of his faculty’s criticism of him as an obstacle to providing a secure environment.
Additionally, it’s not uncommon for academics to advocate for the idea that correcting grammar is racist, sometimes referred to as” Black linguistic justice.” Over the past ten years, numerous university writing centers have worked to overcome what are referred to as “racist… cruel language structures.”
In addition, Rutgers University’s English Department called for a deemphasis on classic language “in solidarity with Black Lives Matter” in 2020.
MORE: A faculty conference at a university teaches faculty never to assess “quality” of writing when grading work
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