Small Strokes Big Oaks

Why is it that so often on the internet I see people revert to the argument that so-and-so writer or commenter can’t spell or construct a grammatically correct argument and therefore the entire argument has no validity in this sphere?

Is literacy so important to credibility here?¹  Or, let me rephrase: Is Standard English literacy so important to credibility here?  Or, let me rephrase again: Is white, upper-or-middle class English ² literacy so important to credibility here?

When we discount people and their arguments because of their command (or lack thereof) of grammar, what we are really saying is: Your thoughts are useless because you don’t use the kind of grammar I’ve come to expect from literate people on the internet.  What we are also saying is far worse: You don’t have the privilege to have learned the “correct” way of writing or speaking, and, therefore, your ideas are worthless.

We’re all very aware of the fact that we have privilege; it is the topic of many blog posts in the feminist blogosphere.  Criss says this well here; we are bloggers and, therefore, we have privilege that many others don’t have because, in order to blog, we need a computer with internet access, free time in which to blog, and we need to be literate.  This must mean that we have at least enough education to understand a command of the – in this case – English language, and we must feel comfortable enough with our command of the language to write articles and put them out there for everyone to see (and comment on, and criticize).  Not everyone has this privilege.  For one reason or another, not everyone possesses the same level of comfort with Standard English as we bloggers do.  These reasons are very often related to race and class; it has been my experience that students of a different race than me and students from a lower socioeconomic background than me posses (often exquisite) command over a different English grammatical structure than me.  But does this make their arguments and ideas less valid?  No. And to argue such reeks of race and class privilege – just the things we work so hard against.  Which is why it is appalling to me how many times I see people say: “This person can’t even write a coherent sentence, so they must have no idea what they’re talking about.”

I would urge you, bloggers, from now on to look at your practices in a new light.  Sure, all we’ve got on the internet is literacy – all of our communication more or less takes place using reading and writing practices – but be careful when discounting or making fun of arguments because they are not written using Standard English.  Not everyone has the privilege of understanding its use.