“Sounding White” and Other Adventures in Code-Switching

Is there linguistic merit to AOC’s National Action Network speech?

Photo by Oleg Laptev on Unsplash

Given her incendiary nature, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) lives with a media target on her back. Her latest debacle comes after her April 5th speech at Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network Conference. After The Hill tweeted an excerpt from her speech, Conservative journalists and pundits were quick to critique the linguistic style she spoke in.

Depending on the viewer, AOC’s speech is now being described as using “Southern drawl” or “Black English.” Either way, what can be agreed upon is that AOC is deliberately speaking to this audience in a different dialect. One that’s outside of her typical interview / Instagram live intonation.

The best thing about AOC is that she’s always quick to respond. She immediately tweeted out, “Folks talking about my voice can step right off. Any kid who grew up in a distinct linguistic culture & had to learn to navigate class enviros at school/work knows what’s up.”