John McWhorter

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John McWhorter
McWhorter in 2017
Born
John Hamilton McWhorter V

(1965-10-06) October 6, 1965 (age 58)
Occupation(s)Academic and Commentator
Academic background
Education
ThesisToward a New Model of Genesis (1993)
Academic work
Discipline
Institutions
Main interests
Race relations in the United States

John Hamilton McWhorter V (

Black English. He is currently an associate professor of linguistics at Columbia University,[2] where he also teaches American studies and music history.[3][4] He has authored a number of books on race relations and African-American culture, acting as political commentator especially in his New York Times newsletter.[5]

Early life and education

McWhorter was born and raised in

AA degree. McWhorter, born to a bureaucrat and a professor, has described his upbringing as part of the Black middle class. He has also attributed some of his views to the Quaker school he attended as a child.[9]

Later, he attended

Career

Academia

Early career

McWhorter taught linguistics at

Columbia University

Since 2008, he has taught linguistics, American studies, and classes in the

core curriculum program at Columbia University. As Columbia's Department of Linguistics had been dissolved in 1989, McWhorter was initially assigned to the Department of English and Comparative Literature. The Program of Linguistics (including a revived undergraduate major as of 2021) is currently housed in the Department of Slavic Languages.[citation needed
]

Other teaching

McWhorter is the professor of the courses "The Story of Human Language";

The Great Courses
, produced by the Teaching Company.

Writing and commentary

News organizations

McWhorter has written for

.

McWhorter was contributing editor at The New Republic from 2001 to 2014. He is a contributing editor at The Atlantic and, after writing op-eds for The New York Times for several years, became an Opinion columnist there in 2021.[3]

He hosts the Lexicon Valley[18] podcast for Slate from 2016 to 2021, and currently for Booksmart Studios.[19]

Books

McWhorter has published a number of books on linguistics and on race relations, including Power of Babel: A Natural History of Language, Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue: The Untold History of English, Doing Our Own Thing: The Degradation of Language and Music and Why You Should, Like, Care, and

Losing the Race: Self-Sabotage in Black America.[11]

Linguistics

Much of McWhorter's academic work is concerned with creole languages and their relationship to other languages, often focusing on the Suriname creole language Saramaccan. His work has expanded to a general investigation of the effect of second-language acquisition on a language.

Regarding the various positions arising from the universal grammar debate, he describes himself as partial to the theoretical frameworks of Peter Culicover and Ray Jackendoff.[20]

Theory of creole

External videos
video icon Presentation by McWhorter on What Language Is, August 9, 2011, C-SPAN

McWhorter has argued that languages naturally tend toward complexity and irregularity, a tendency that is reversed only by adults acquiring the language, and creole formation is simply an extreme example of the latter.

Persian, the modern colloquial varieties of Arabic, Swahili, and Indonesian
. He has outlined his ideas in academic format in Language Interrupted and Linguistic Simplicity and Complexity and, for the general public, in What Language Is and Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue.

The Language Hoax

McWhorter is a vocal critic of the

Sapir–Whorf hypothesis. In his 2014 book The Language Hoax, he argues that, although language influences thought in an "infinitesimal way" and culture is expressed through language, he believes that language itself does not create different ways of thinking or determine world views.[22]

Language proficiency

McWhorter is proficient in English, French and Spanish, and has some competence in Russian and several other languages.[23][24][25]

Criticism of theories

Some of McWhorter's fellow linguists, such as Mauro Giuffré of the

European languages, and they point to exceptions to his proposed correlations.[26][27]

Political views

McWhorter has characterized himself as "a cranky

Black English
as coherent speech".

McWhorter has stated that the conservative Manhattan Institute, for which he worked, "has always been hospitable to Democrats". McWhorter is biweekly guest on The Glenn Show, a commentary podcast hosted by Glenn Loury, a member of the Manhattan Institute and professor of economics at Brown University.[28]

Political theorist Mark Satin identifies McWhorter as a radical centrist thinker.[29]

Views on racism

In a 2001 article, McWhorter's discourse was that the attitudes and general behavior of black people, rather than white racism, were what held African Americans back in the United States. According to McWhorter, "victimology, separatism, and anti-intellectualism underlie the general black community's response to all race-related issues", and "it's time for well-intentioned whites to stop pardoning as 'understandable' the worst of human nature whenever black people exhibit it".[30]

Racism and language

In April 2015, McWhorter appeared on NPR and said that the use of the word "thug" was becoming code for "the N-word" or "black people ruining things" when used by whites in reference to criminal activity.[31][32] He added that use by President Barack Obama and former Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake (for which she later apologized) could not be interpreted in the same way, given that among blacks the use of "thug" often connotes admiration for black self-direction and survival. McWhorter clarified his views in an article in The Washington Post.[32]

Racism and technology

McWhorter has argued that software algorithms by themselves cannot be racist since, unlike humans, they lack intention. Rather, unless the human engineers behind a technological product intend for it to discriminate against people of a particular ethnicity, any unintentional bias should be seen as a software bug that needs to be fixed ("an obstacle to achievement") rather than an issue of racism.[33]

Race and education

McWhorter has criticized left-wing and activist educators in particular, such as Paulo Freire and Jonathan Kozol.[34]

McWhorter has criticized both fearmongering and dismissal of concerns over the usage of critical race theory in education. McWhorter argued in a New York Times op-ed that "if critical race theory isn’t being taught to children—and in a technical sense, it isn’t—then it’s hardly illogical to suppose that some other concern may be afoot." McWhorter argues instead for continued concern over critical race influenced teaching, which McWhorter worries would be simplistic if taught to children and ineffective to produce nuanced discussion.[35]

McWhorter has argued that affirmative action should be based on class rather than race.[36][37][38]

Views on anti-racism

McWhorter has posited that

racial bias with white supremacy.[42] As early as December 2018, McWhorter described anti-racism as a "religious movement".[43]

McWhorter criticized Robin DiAngelo's 2018 book White Fragility following its resurgence in sales during the George Floyd protests beginning in May 2020, arguing that it "openly infantilized Black people" and "simply dehumanized us", and "does not see fit to address why all of this agonizing soul-searching [for residual racism by white people] is necessary to forging change in society. One might ask just how a people can be poised for making change when they have been taught that pretty much anything they say or think is racist and thus antithetical to the good."[44]

Woke Racism

External videos
video icon Presentation by McWhorter on Woke Racism, November 2, 2021, C-SPAN

In his 2021 book Woke Racism, McWhorter argues that the anti-racism ideology has been elevated into a religion: “I do not mean that these people’s ideology is ‘like’ a religion... I mean that it actually is a religion... An anthropologist would see no difference in type between Pentecostalism and this new form of antiracism.”[45] McWhorter expands upon his previous views and argues that "third wave anti-racism" is a religion he terms "Electism" with white privilege as original sin. McWhorter likens the books White Fragility, How to Be an Antiracist and Between the World and Me to sacred religious texts. He argues that this hypothesized status as a religion explains the behavior of its adherents, whom he calls "the Elect". He advises that since the faith (like all faith) is not open to discussion, arguments with its adherents should be avoided in favor of pragmatic action against racism. McWhorter advocates three programs: ending the war on drugs, teaching reading by phonics to children lacking books at home, and free vocational education, promoting the idea that not everyone needs a four-year college education to succeed.[46] McWhorter has expressed qualified support for reparations for African Americans, particularly those descended from victims of redlining.[47]

Personal life

McWhorter separated from his wife in 2019. He has two daughters.[48] He plays the piano and has appeared in musical theater productions.[49]

McWhorter is an atheist.[50]

Bibliography

External videos
video icon In Depth interview with McWhorter, March 2, 2008, C-SPAN
video icon Presentation by McWhorter on Losing the Race, August 18, 2000, C-SPAN
video icon Presentation by McWhorter on Losing the Race, March 20, 2001, C-SPAN
video icon Booknotes interview with McWhorter on Authentically Black, March 2, 2003, C-SPAN
video icon Presentation by McWhorter on Doing Our Own Thing, October 28, 2003, C-SPAN
video icon Presentation by McWhorter on Winning the Race, April 3, 2006, C-SPAN
video icon Presentation by McWhorter on All About the Beat, June 17, 2008, C-SPAN
video icon Washington Journal interview with McWhorter on All About the Beat, July 8, 2008, C-SPAN
video icon Presentation by McWhorter on Words on the Move, December 7, 2016, C-SPAN
video icon Presentation by McWhorter on Talking Back, Talking Black, April 19, 2017, C-SPAN
video icon Presentation by McWhorter on Nine Nasty Words, April 30, 2021, C-SPAN

References

  1. ^ McWhorter, John H. "Lexicon Valley". Slate. The Slate Group, a Graham Holdings Company. (Listen to McWhorter's pronunciation of his own name at the beginning of each podcast.)
  2. ^ "John H McWhorter". Columbia University Department of Slavic Languages. Archived from the original on November 9, 2021. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  3. ^ a b "NY Daily News- Articles By John McWhorter". NY Daily News. Retrieved November 29, 2014.
  4. ^ "CNN Profiles - John McWhorter - Linguistics scholar, Columbia University". CNN. Retrieved October 17, 2021.
  5. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved July 19, 2023.
  6. ^ John H. McWhorter V, Word on the Street: Debunking the Myth of a Pure Standard English, Perseus Publishing, 1998.
  7. ISBN 9780195301731. {{cite encyclopedia}}: |work= ignored (help
    )
  8. ^ Michael L. Ondaatje, Black Conservative Intellectuals in Modern America, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2010, p. 174.
  9. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved July 19, 2023.
  10. ^ "John McWhorter". simons-rock.edu.
  11. ^ a b "John H. McWhorter | Center for American Studies". americanstudies.columbia.edu.
  12. ^ a b "View Expert". Manhattan Institute. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
  13. ^ "The Story of Human Language". thegreatcourses.com. Retrieved June 28, 2022.
  14. ^ "Understanding Linguistics: The Science of Language". thegreatcourses.com. Retrieved June 28, 2022.
  15. ^ "Myths, Lies and Half-Truths About English Usage". thegreatcourses.com. Retrieved June 28, 2022.
  16. ^ "Language Families of the World". thegreatcourses.com. Retrieved June 28, 2022.
  17. ^ "Language From A to Z". thegreatcourses.com. Retrieved June 28, 2022.
  18. ^ "Lexicon Valley". Slate Magazine. July 23, 2019.
  19. ^ McWhorter, John (July 27, 2021). "Lexicon Valley". www.booksmartstudios.org.
  20. ^ McWhorter, John (September 14, 2016). "The bonfire of Noam Chomsky: journalist Tom Wolfe targets the acclaimed linguist". Vox.
  21. .
  22. ^ "The Language Hoax". YouTube. Archived from the original on December 12, 2021.
  23. ^ Dreifus, Claudia (October 30, 2001). "A CONVERSATION WITH/John McWhorter; How Language Came To Be, and Change". The New York Times. I speak three and a bit of Japanese, and can read seven.
  24. ^ McWhorter, John (February 3, 2014). "Let's Stop Pretending That French Is an Important Language". The New Republic. When I was a teenaged language nerd in the seventies and eighties, it was the tail end of a time when kids of my bent knew French first and foremost, and then likely dabbled in other Romance languages, plus some German and maybe a dash of Russian.
  25. ^ Khodorkovsky, Maria (October 9, 2015). "7 Questions To A Linguist: John McWhorter Scales The "Mt. Everest" Of Russian". ALTA Language Services. these days I am trying to teach myself Mandarin, and I am just wallowing in finally getting a feel of the inner workings of a language that isn't all about prefixes and suffixes and isn't related at all to European languages ... One language that I failed to ever really crack was Japanese, simply because it seemed that mastering the writing system would be so difficult that it wasn't worth trying if I wasn't doing it for any real reason. But these days I am climbing that mountain again with Mandarin and finding that with some quiet, semi-obsessive dedication, learning to read on the level of a child isn't impossible.
  26. .
  27. ^ Giuffrè, Mauro (2013). "Review: Linguistic simplicity and complexity". LINGUIST List. 24.1461. Retrieved August 20, 2016.
  28. ^ McWhorter, John (January 25, 2011). "Frances Fox Piven, Jim Sleeper and Me". The New Republic. Retrieved November 29, 2014.
  29. .
  30. ^ McWhorter, John H. (December 13, 2015). "What's Holding Blacks Back?". City Journal. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
  31. ^ All Things Considered (April 30, 2015). "The Racially Charged Meaning Behind The Word 'Thug'". NPR. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
  32. ^ a b McWhorter, John. "Baltimore's mayor and the president said 'thugs'? Let's not get too bent out of shape". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
  33. ^ McWhorter, John (September 12, 2016). "'Racist' Technology Is a Bug—Not a Crime". Time. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
  34. ^ McWhorter, John (March 5, 2010). "Taking out My Eraser". The New Republic.
  35. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved July 19, 2023.
  36. ^ McWhorter, John (December 13, 2015). "Actually, Scalia had a point". CNN. Retrieved December 3, 2016.
  37. ^ McWhorter, John (January 28, 2022). "Opinion | It's Time to End Race-Based Affirmative Action". The New York Times.
  38. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved July 4, 2023.
  39. ^ "Has Anti-Racism Become as Harmful as Racism? John McWhorter vs. Nikhil Singh". Reason.com. November 30, 2018. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
  40. ^ Gillespie, Nick (November 9, 2018). "Debate: 'The Message of Anti-Racism Has Become as Harmful a Force in American Life as Racism Itself'". Reason.com. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
  41. ^ McWhorter, John (March 21, 2014). "'Microaggression' Is the New Racism on Campus". Time.
  42. ^ McWhorter, John (November 29, 2016). "The Difference Between Racial Bias and White Supremacy". Time. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
  43. ^ McWhorter, John (December 23, 2018). "The Virtue Signalers Won't Change the World". The Atlantic. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  44. ^ McWhorter, John (July 15, 2020). "The Dehumanizing Condescension of 'White Fragility'". The Atlantic. Retrieved July 18, 2020.
  45. ^ Jilani, Zaid. "John McWhorter Argues That Antiracism Has Become a Religion of the Left". The New York Times.
  46. .
  47. ^ McWhorter, John (June 22, 2023). "Reparations Should Be An End, Not A Beginning". The New York Times. Retrieved June 28, 2023.
  48. ^ "Glenn Loury & John McWhorter". The Glenn Show. Retrieved August 3, 2022.
  49. ^ John McWhorter (November 30, 2021). "Stephen Sondheim wrote my Life's Soundtrack". The New York Times. Retrieved February 21, 2022. Way back, I ... played the lead in a small production of 'Merrily We Roll Along,' and I have played piano for productions of 'Funny Thing' and 'Into The Woods.'
  50. ^ McWhorter, John (October 18, 2014). "John McWhorter on Twitter". Retrieved May 28, 2019.

External links