Nichole Vaughan

In her essay, “The End of White Innocence,” Cathy Park Hong writes, “English was not an expression of me, but a language that was out to get me, threaded with invisible trip wires that could expose me at the slightest misstep" (anyone who has watched Fox News has witnessed a host attacking someone's grammar or use of English when they cannot tackle and grapple with their logic). Her “bad English” and obvious Asian features combined, becoming the target that white Americans aimed their criticisms at; the worse her English and the less adept she was at picking up on American references and recognizing American pop culture symbols (she once wore a thrifted t-shirt to school with the Playboy bunny on it), the bigger the bullseye. The essay argues that literature, as a reflection of society, drapes its children in white innocence and nobility, something that is rarely granted to non-white children who are treated as adults when they are children, and infantilized in adulthood. One ...

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Teaching

#29 The Language of Resistance

#25: "Declaration" by Tracy K. Smith

#24: Part 2: Standard English Grammar is a Tool for White Supremacy

#23: "So You Want to Talk About Race" Review

#21: Grammar is a tool of white supremacy

#24: Part 2: Standard English Grammar is a Tool for White Supremacy

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