Ideas about language are ideas about people. This means that the ways we think about languages and dialects are necessarily connected to the ways we think about the people who use those dialects and languages. This presentation explores how this fact shapes the sociolinguistic context of two Gulf South communities: New Orleans, LA and Jackson, MS. In each city, I show how both language use and discourses about language in the community are shaped by beliefs about race and ethnicity. My analysis demonstrates that language use and ethnic, racial, and linguistic identity in these communities are shaped by ideas about race and language in interesting and surprising ways. This is particularly important in majority minority communities like Jackson and New Orleans because it illustrates the subtle ways in which language, race, privilege, and discrimination are connected.
Dr. Tom Lewis is an interdisciplinary scholar whose research focuses on understanding the role of language and linguistic ideologies in reflecting and reproducing systemic inequalities in contemporary American society. His research looks specifically at varieties of English spoken by minoritized communities in the United States, focusing on how ideologies about language reflect beliefs about speakers in ways that often lead to linguistic discrimination. His current research activity is focused on the Gulf South, exploring language and discrimination in New Orleans, LA and Jackson, MS.
Dr. Lewis' path to academia was in many ways decidedly non-linear. He left college after three years as a Journalism major and worked in various jobs, including working as a carpenter, a car salesman, and a mall security officer. Returning to his undergraduate education as a non-traditional student, he completed a B.A. in English at Cambellsville University. He then completed a dual M.A. in Linguistics and TESOL at Ball State University and a Ph.D. in Linguistics at Tulane University.
Dr. Lewis's research has been published in various journals, including the Southern Journal of Linguistics, the Journal of Sociolinguistics, and the Journal of Language and Discrimination. In addition, he has presented research at conferences throughout the United States.
Dr. Lewis has taught at Ball State University, Tulane University, and Georgia Southern University. He is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of English and Modern Languages at Tougaloo College. He and his partner of 11 years, Stephanie, reside in Jackson, MS.
