{"id":113861,"date":"2025-12-13T12:39:35","date_gmt":"2025-12-13T18:39:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=113861"},"modified":"2025-12-13T12:39:35","modified_gmt":"2025-12-13T18:39:35","slug":"113861","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=113861","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

MSU Denver Writing Center calls \u2018Standard American English\u2019 a tool of white supremacy.<\/a><\/p>\n

Metropolitan State University of Denver flags \u201cStandard American English\u201d as a concern for \u201canti-racist\u201d initiatives on a web page dedicated to \u201cLinguistic White Supremacy.\u201d<\/p>\n

The page\u00a0appears<\/a>\u00a0on the school\u2019s Writing Center section and prompts professors to counter white supremacy in the classroom through initiatives such as \u201cGrading with Equity,\u201d \u201cRestorative Justice Approaches to Plagiarism,\u201d and an \u201cAnti-Racist Book Club.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cConsider how you can design assignments, pedagogy, response\/grading practices that acknowledge that racism exists in our assignments, pedagogy, response\/grading practices,\u201d the center says.<\/p>\n

The university also warns against \u201cStandard American English,\u201d which is \u201ca social construct that privileges white communities and maintains social and racial hierarchies.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe MSU Denver Writing Center rejects the notion that Standard American English (SAE) exists for many reasons,\u201d the website says. \u201cWe fully support students in using their English (whatever that may be) in communicating their thoughts and ideas.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cStandard American English (SAE) is a version of English that is often expected in professional and educational settings,\u201d the page continues. \u201cEmployers and instructors may believe there is a common set of rules that govern SAE, but that is not in fact true. What is true is that different people have different assumptions about what SAE is.\u201d<\/p>\n

The website also recommends that professors ask about assignments: \u201cIs this antiracist?,\u201d \u201cHow does this prompt fight white supremacy?,\u201d and \u201cDoes this prompt exploit the students in any way?\u201d<\/p>\n

The Writing Center names an example of an assignment that may exploit students: \u201cWrite About the Biggest Obstacle You\u2019ve Overcome in Life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis prompt is alienating because the biggest struggle some of your students may have faced is losing a pet, while others may be refugees from war-torn countries,\u201d the page says. \u201cProvide prompts that will not force a student to relive trauma.\u201d<\/p>\n

The page further advises that professors should \u201c[a]void assumptions of American cultural knowledge.\u201d<\/p>\n

College English departments often promote \u201canti-racist\u201d ways of teaching and grading.<\/p>\n

In 2022, the University of Maryland at Baltimore\u00a0sought<\/a>\u00a0writing consultants with \u201c[p]revious anti-racist coursework or activism.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFor students committed to anti-racist action in your own professional practices and communities, the rigorous preparation will be a major benefit of this campus job,\u201d the job description said.<\/p>\n

Professors at a 2021 \u201cAntiracist Pedagogy Symposium\u201d at Towson University in Maryland\u00a0argued<\/a>\u00a0that grading students for grammar reinforces \u201cwhite supremacy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe repeated references to \u2018correct grammar\u2019 and \u2018standard language\u2019 reinforce master narratives of English only as White and monolingualism and a deficit view of multilingualism,\u201d one professor said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MSU Denver Writing Center calls \u2018Standard American English\u2019 a tool of white supremacy. Metropolitan State University of Denver flags \u201cStandard American English\u201d as a concern for \u201canti-racist\u201d initiatives on a web page dedicated to \u201cLinguistic White Supremacy.\u201d The page\u00a0appears\u00a0on the school\u2019s Writing Center section and prompts professors to counter white supremacy in the classroom through … Continue reading “”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,59,80],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-113861","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-crap-for-brains","category-education-schools","category-you-cant-make-this-up"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113861","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=113861"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113861\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":113862,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113861\/revisions\/113862"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=113861"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=113861"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=113861"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}