People often wear masks to conceal their true identity for various reasons. Some reasons include the following: as a disguise to enter places they think they don’t belong or to hide things about themselves they’re ashamed of. In a way, speech can wear its own mask, and interestingly, it is done for the same reasons people do. The mask speech wear is known as code-switching. This essay will explore the impacts of code switching on African Americans in a corporate setting and highlight the negatives despite the benefits.

What is code-switching

Code-switching is an adjustment made by a person that can be done verbally, physically, or simultaneously. Physical code-switching involves changing your appearance, behavior, and expressions, be it facial or gestures. Verbal code-switching involves swapping between two forms of communication. This includes languages, dictates, and tones. Most minority groups use code switching to relate and connect to the majority. A bilingual person might code-switch between languages when translating in a conversation. While for an African American, it is different. For them, code-switching is the alternation between two forms of English, Black English, AKA African-American Vernacular English (AAVE), and standard English.

Why do African Americans Code Switch at work 

Before a thing can be picked apart for its worth, an understanding of why it’s done in the first place needs to be established. African Americans code-switch in many aspects of their lives due to it being instilled into them at a very young age. This switch between standard English and AAVE is demonstrated by African American students communicating with their peers; code-switching acts as a tool to advance socially. While later in their lives, it evolves into a protective measure, similar to chameleons changing their colors to avoid harm. African Americans change themselves, notably when interacting with law enforcement. The reasons displayed in these examples, advancement and protection, also apply to the reason for code-switching in the workplace, even though characteristics tied to your race shouldn’t affect employment. The Harvard Business Review was able to narrow down three main reasons for why Black people code-switch in the workplace; according to research, 

1. Downplaying membership in a stigmatized racial group helps increase perceptions of professionalism and the likelihood of being hired
2. Avoiding negative stereotypes associated with black racial identity (e.g., incompetence, laziness) helps black employees be seen as leaders. 
3. Expressing shared interests with members of dominant groups promotes similarity with powerful organizational members, which raises the chance of promotions because individuals tend to affiliate with people they perceive as similar. (McCluney et al.). 

The essence of The Harvard Business Review’s argument is that distancing oneself from their racial identity in favor of assimilating to the majority is crucial for professional advancement. However, to really understand the point further, let’s hear from a member of the community. ROLL THE CLIP

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Wow, from the mouth of the people. Code-switching ain’t a thing; it’s just adapting to professional settings. While I agree you can’t just walk into work and say **** or **** even yo what’s good my *****. This idea that’s all AAVE is, comes from a flawed mindset. June Jordan, professor of undergraduate Black English at Stony Brook University, in her essay “Nobody Mean More to Me Than You And the Future Life of Willie Jordan”, argues that Black English has structure and rules compared to the popular notion that it is broken English. Jordan supports her claim by providing rules, guidelines, and examples to showcase to readers the things they need to understand Black English. 

Rule 1: Black English is about a whole lot more than mothafuckin.

Following a discussion where a student expressed that the version of Black English they were studying felt flawed due to missing cussing. Jordan expressed to him that it was more of a personal choice, not the language itself. So that point made earlier of AAVE being unprofessional because it’s just cussing is irrelevant. The language isn’t just profanity; profanity is a part of it, just like any language. When looking at all these reasons on the surface, they seem reasonable, but in reality, it sends the notion that working in a place that doesn’t accept you is okay, as long as you change yourself. That whole ideology is flawed. People should not be prohibited from navigating upwards in corporate America due to things that are tied to their race, ie, speech. The things that measure their ability should work. Workers shouldn’t feel the need to mitigate the chances of being tied to microaggressions because they shouldn’t be thinking that their coworkers will be doing that in the first place. Lastly, this just encourages Black people to pander to higher-ups, instead of either working on themselves to showcase their abilities for the position or forming actual bonds that can provide them with more benefits aside from work. You reduce yourself to a bootliker scurrying around for crumbs. Code-switching isn’t a tool that helps Black people progress in corporate settings; instead, it is a tool used to uphold discriminatory views in a work environment. 

Why this might be a good thing

Every coin has an opposite side, so let’s play devil’s advocate. What are some of the benefits of Code-switching? Well, the blog Blue Lynx informs readers on many aspects of Code-switching and goes into detail on some benefits. Let’s take a look. They argue that Code-switching allows employees to showcase their adaptivity in various settings. This is a double whammy for not only the employee who presents themselves as a valuable asset to the company, but also opens more doors for the company to expand internationally. Code-switching promotes inclusion for all parties by getting rid of the nuances present in certain forms of speech, while also providing all participants in the conversation with an accurate explanation of ideas. Also, this switch improves the relationship between colleagues by establishing respect for backgrounds, which can boost collaboration and teamwork. Well, that just seems to be so peachy. You make yourself a reliable colleague and a reliable employee. Who wouldn’t want to be that type of person, right? Proving your worth to a company by pretending to be someone else, while they reap all the benefits from this performance, by being able to grow their audience. Then you have that bit about inclusion, how inclusive can Code-switching be when it doesn’t accept diversity but instead waters it down to a more palatable standard speech pattern. Don’t even get me started on respect. There is no respect for background, because why can’t they express themselves in a way that reflects that background? When all of this is put out on the forefront, the flaws totally dismantle the so called “pros” of Code-switching. Benefits, man, please.

The negative reality

We looked at the so-called positives of Code-switching that contribute to this delusion that it is a useful tool. I’ve already started chipping away at the false reality, but the nail in Code-switching’s coffin comes from these personal statements. Rawn Santiago, Nchopia Nwokoma, and Jasmin Crentsil, all university students, held an experiment where they enlisted the help of Black director-level employees from various fields and interviewed them in the span of an hour regarding “experiences with authenticity and assimilation at work as well as the implications for doing so over the course of their careers”(citation). Answers were grouped based on similarities and documented verbatim.  I want you to hear the voices of the participants categorized under Impact of Assimilation on Well-Being.

“It is constant. It is fatiguing, it wears you down daily. You come home so tired. Although I haven’t been working out for three hours, my brain has been working for eight hours. I just want to come home and sit down and relax. It wears you out. I am retiring early because of that.”

“At best it just makes you feel tired I think that it manifests in some mental health concerns, because you can’t be who you are or who you want to be.”

“When you are in the middle of figuring yourself out there is a fear you will be pushed aside. It is a survival technique. We don’t get the choice we have to do this to survive.”

“Assimilating means having an internal monologue before sending an email,

and no one else has to do that. Code switching is the art of shrinking is a survival tool. You must make yourself as invisible as long as possible before you erupt into your full self. For me can I afford to Code-switching. The implications are the risk of losing income.”

Mind you, there were even more things touched on in this section, including “experiencing anxiety, inability to sleep, relationships being negatively affected, feeling helpless, feeling exhausted, and experiencing self-doubt. Multiple respondents reported realizing the workplace was not meant for them to bring their full self to work. As a result, they contemplated exit strategies, including quitting their job.” This is just proving that Code-switching is having mentally taxing effects on people.  It is literally stealing their life, to the point where they crave sleep or freedom. This “survival tool” is also damaging to the psychic, by causing identity crises due to switching personalities. On top of that, it also puts employees in a constant state of paranoia that their income is on the line, which creates stress-caused health issues. Things get so bad that the only relief they know is leaving the place, causing them pain. It should never get to the point where a place of employment can cause life altering damage to a person based on biases held towards speech. This isn’t a thing that positions Black people higher in corporate America; it chips away at the person until they are molded into this ideal image or crack under the pressure being applied. 

Code-switching has numerous downsides to it despite the benefits when it comes to 

 African Americans in a corporate setting. From sewing seeds of self hate into the minds of many and upholding discriminatory beliefs regarding language. To cause the mental decline of the person to the point where work is seen as a burden needing to be freed from not because of the work but the expectations and draining environment. While this is all noted some believe that this is worth it because of the slight chance of falling into the higher ups’ good graces and getting a promotion or boosting companies’ reach. When it boils down to it there is no reason why a person should sacrifice themselves for a sliver of respect and dollars.