Covert Segregation: Dialect Discrimination in the Housing Market

Abstract

Covert Segregation Dialect Discrimination in the Housing Market

Since the Fair Housing Act was passed in 1968, zero cases have been tried on dialect discrimination. Purnell et al. (1999), using a matched-guise approach, revealed solid evidence for dialect discrimination based on the correlation between racial demographics by neighborhood and the rate of returned appointment request calls by dialect.

This auditory discrimination disproportionately effects racial minorities, who already suffer the color and class disparities of a historically and contemporarily segregated housing market. This revamped re-visitation of Purnell et al. (1999) brings together new methodology and new information about the discriminating listener to reveal the underlying language ideologies that covertly maintain the limitations on social mobility for victims of dialect discrimination.

Dialect is more than accent: it is a constellation of features—word choice, prosody, meaning— linked to recognizable social identities and personality types—Black woman, employed woman, lazy woman. Taking a step away from traditional matched-guise approaches to guisecraft— which typically allow variations only in the Phonological domain—this experiment used three true-to-dialect guises—varying in all Linguistic domains—of this author’s three native dialects— Standard American, African American, and Southern American. These guises were tested for accuracy of identification (N=34), and for ideological impressions (representative sample below) of the person behind the voice. This presentation will present the results of these identifications and ideological evaluations by guise, and will discuss their implications.