Code Switching & Double Consciousness are One in the Same

By -

     Code switching refers to the act of changing the way one presents themselves in a particular environment or different surroundings. In the works of Angie Thomas' The Hate U Give, Starr Carter and her family demonstrates code switching by altering their tone of voice, vocabulary and attire depending on who's conversing and/or where they are located at the time. They are always considering their surroundings, whether it's around their residents off Garden Heights, white people or even law enforcement. Starr expresses, "my voice is changing already. It always happens around "other" people, whether I'm at Williamson or not. I don't talk like me or sound like me. I choose every word carefully and make sure I pronounce them well. I can never, ever let anyone think I'm ghetto." (Thomas, 95) 

    Starr feels as if she needs to maintain "two selves" in order to protect herself from the typical stereotypes and frustrations that are inevitably attached to the backs of black people. She is woke and aware of the oppressive, judgmental and racist encounters that black people experience daily in her community. Thus, ever since she was enrolled in Williamson Prep, she intentionally puts a mask over her real face. The Williamson Starr "holds her tongue when people piss her off so nobody will think she's the 'angry black girl'... is approachable... is nonconfrontational." (Thomas, 71) The code switching technique is such a commonly used invisible tool, but especially for black people. Respectfully, I personally think that black people have to code switch while in front of white people more than white people have to code switch in front of black people. Thomas does an extraordinary job of highlighting this commonly practiced technique throughout the entire novel. Although Starr has mastered her code switching skills at Williamson, it is a lot to carry on her shoulders every day. The audience notices that when she says, "I just wish I could be myself at Williamson like Will was himself in Bel-Air." (Thomas, 35) 

    Starr 2.0 represents the version of herself that code switches the blackness in her mannerisms and speech. Thomas evokes civil rights activist W.E.B Du Bois's famous notion of double consciousness. Double consciousness is a black person's awareness of how society views them. It can be used as a tool to help black people seem and appear less threatening to others, especially in the eyes of white people and law enforcement. Starr's dad addresses this idea of double consciousness when he teaches his daughter what to do if a cop stops her: "Starr-Starr, you do whatever they tell you to do [...] keep your hands visible. Don't make any sudden moves. Only speak when they speak to you." (Thomas, 20) This double consciousness is also a measure of self-protection in a society that dismisses and criminalizes blackness. Ultimately, Thomas examines the fact that black identity is split between the way black individuals perceive themselves and the way they know the white world will view.


Comments

  1. Mikayla TaylorSeptember 15, 2020 at 2:50 PM

    Aniya, this is really interesting. I really like how you brought in the ideas of W.E.B Du Bois and his ideas of double consciousness. I think that idea is very prevalent throughout the novel. I really think that your last sentence is something that is an especially prominent theme throughout the novel. The idea that Thomas splits the way that black individuals perceive themselves and the way that they are perceived, is something that I think is important to recognize in the novel because it is part of the pool of injustices against African Americans that Thomas wants us to realize.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Candace BeebeSeptember 15, 2020 at 9:59 PM

    Aniya, I agree with Mikayla that it is very interesting how you connected ideas of W.E.B. Du Bois and his theory of double consciousness to this novel. I think it shows that it code switching has been around for a long time. I also want to say that I like that you view code switching as more than just changing ones vernacular but also their actions, likes/dislikes, and even sometimes ones personality. It shows the gravity of code switching and what it can do to a person, especially an adolescent. When you put it that way, I realize that I did a lot of code switching when I was in high school, trying to fit in. It is one thing that I regret most about my high school career. As a teacher, I hope to encourage my students to always be the best version of themselves.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Growing Pains - The Symbolism of the Tree in Speak

By -
I have felt the paralyzing pain of internal disease. The kind of trauma that causes your mouth to curl in and swallow you whole. I, like so many other women, are walking the halls in Melinda’s shoes in “Speak.” I thought Laurie Anderson did a phenomenal job of twisting all of the tribulations a high school girl goes through, into the tree that Melinda is. Whether we’re as strong as an oak or weak as a bush, we have all gone through the disease that strikes Melinda from the inside out. Melinda is like a half-dead tree. Some parts of her strive to blossom and create beauty. Other parts are broken and diseased. Like a dead tree, Melinda needs to save herself and “cut off the damage, [so it] is possible for the tree to grow again” (187). The symbolism of a tree is significant in “Speak.” Trees reflect her growing process. In the beginning, Melinda is a sick and lifeless tree. Her view is negative and dark. She’s so far past repair, bursts of sunlight do her no good. Sunlight would be pe
Read more

How Starr Goes from Acting to Embracing in The Hate U Give

By -
In The Hate U Give, Starr Carter is caught between two worlds. She lives in a predominantly black neighborhood, but her father sends her and her brothers to a private school where she is surrounded by white people. She talks about acting differently depending on what group she is around, which can create some identity problems. She says on page 11, "Funny how it works with white kids though. It's dope to be black until it's hard to be black." When at Williamson, she sees white kids that think it's cool to engage in black culture, but she knows they don't understand what she goes through in her Garden Heights community. She witnessed her friend Natasha's death when she was 10 years old, and she sees gang activity in her community all the time. When she is among her black friends, like at the party, they tease her for hanging out with the white kids. This reminds me of a Drake song where he says, "I used to get teased for being black, and now I'm
Read more

Postmodernism in Curious Incident

By -
Before I start writing, I first want to acknowledge that I just really loved this book! It seemed like a lot of the class had trouble enjoying or appreciating the novel because it's so different stylistically, which is understandable, but all of those unique elements helped make the novel more authentic. The main topic I want to focus on (also what I'm writing my paper on) is how a lot of postmodernist elements were used in the novel to make Christopher come to life. While obviously not every postmodern novel is about an autistic kid, I think Haddon really used a lot of these elements to his advantage and they ended up working out really well to characterize Christopher. One of the major postmodern elements which helps this book really craft an authentic portrayal of autism is the fact that it's metafictive. Basically, this means it's a "story within a story." Readers would be extremely limited just reading the parts of the novel which are meant to be C
Read more