Kyle Wiens, a white man, grew up in Bend, Oregon; a city that is 83.4% white and has an average annual household income of $104,897. He later moved to San Luis Obispo to attend California Polytechnic State University, another area that is predominantly white.
I mention these facts because Wiens was born into a world that was made for him. The socioeconomic background of his hometown and later his college town played an extremely vital role in what resources and opportunities were available to him growing up. In a town where the average annual household income is six figures, money was likely funneled into every school in the area and Wiens likely had access to experienced teachers, well-equipped facilities, and the best-of-the-best resources. And because of this, Wiens was brought up in an environment that was taught grammar and correct English until the students could recite every single prepositional phrase in their sleep.
For Wiens to make it necessary for his employees to be as proficient in grammatical English as he is, he is only contributing to the seemingly-endless cycle of lack of opportunity for people, primarily people of color, that grew up in areas that were not afforded the same educational opportunities that he was. Wiens says himself that he will deny someone from a position at his company if they can’t score high on a grammar test–even if they are otherwise qualified for the position. To me, this tells me that Wiens values wealthy, white education and wants to create an environment where only wealthy, white people thrive.
Grammar is important, sure, but to base something as important and life-changing as a job over it, especially when other qualifications are met, is absurd. To me, Wiens is just lazy. He would rather hire highly educated individuals who were raised in an environment where grammar lessons were shoved down their throats then take time to train or educate his own employees on how they should be creating content and work for his company.
While Kyle Wiens might think English is the national language of The United States of America, there actually isn’t one. More than 350 languages are spoken in The U.S. ‘s and African American Vernacular English (AAVE) is spoken by more than 30-million people. AAVE is a dialect of English, just like Rioplatense Spanish is a dialect of Spanish. Entire conversations, understandable phrases, and cohesive thoughts are spoken and written with AAVE but because of America’s portrayal of black people in media and lack of education about AAVE in white education systems, the dialect is demonized.
People like Kyle Wiens, who adhere strictly to Standard American English, see AAVE (and other dialects) as unconventional and incorrect. To deny someone a job they are qualified for because they communicate in a different way is discriminatory. But what else do we expect from a rich white man?
Cover photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash
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