The main point of this article is that Mock Spanish is used in the White public space and it's considered "acceptable" to Whites, but in reality it's a covert form of racism.

This passage supports the argument by exemplifying Mock Spanish in the white public space. For example, Puerto Ricans may feel self-conscious of their accents in English, whereas for Whites having accents in Spanish is allowable and considered fine to them.

In the article “Language, Race, and White Public Space” Jane H. Hill discusses racialized hegemony in language concerning the white public space, a context where Whites are considered the norm and racialized and marginalized populations are subject to indirect indexicality, for example in Spanish and in AAE (African American English). Indirect indexicality mocks and imposes negative racializing stereotypes. Hill notes that many times it is disregarded and not acknowledged by the speakers and in her experience, Mock Spanish is denied by Whites as something racist. Hill indicates that there’s a root problem of racism and there’s a notion that bilingualism and other languages are often considered seditious and rebellious, which paints other languages in an unfavorable light. Hill then introduces examples like in 1996-97 there was a "moral panic" about whether "Ebonics" should be taught. Hill also analyzes how many Puerto Ricans are self-conscious of their "Spanish" accents in English. Hill points out that many Spanish-speaking bilinguals she knows experienced complaints about speaking Spanish and code-switching in public places. While English "accents" in Spanish and Whites code-switching are considered acceptable for Whites because they consider themselves cosmopolitan and want to express their loyalty and affiliation with diverse groups or because they think it is funny incorporating colloquial and slangy speech. By the end of the piece, Hill depicted Hewitt’s study of Black-White friendships' antiracist potential with a "productive dialogue of youth" (1986:99) and the “crossing” phenomena with examples.

1.What is a solution to the white public space problem?

2.What is the significance and potential of the “crossing" phenomena and why do you think it “remain reserved to childhood” according to Hewitt?

Why was Bill Clinton considered our first "Black" president?

According to this article from NBC News Toni Morrison, an acclaimed novelist, coined the phrase that Clinton was our first "Black" president because, "Clinton displays almost every trope of blackness: single-parent household, born poor, working-class, saxophone-playing, McDonald’s-and-junk-food-loving boy from Arkansas." This was controversial. In 2008 Morrison added that "I was deploring the way in which President Clinton was being treated, vis-à-vis the sex scandal that was surrounding him. I said he was being treated like a black on the street, already guilty, already a perp. I have no idea what his real instincts are, in terms of race." In 2008, Morrison endorsed Presidential candidate Barack Obama. According to the article, Morrison explained that her endorsement was based on Obama's traits, and not based on his racial identity saying "I would not support you if that was all you had to offer or because it might make me proud." In the article it adds the specifics and details.

Click here for link to NBC News article