John McWhorter
I teach linguistics and other things at Columbia U., host Lexicon Valley at Slate, and am Contributing Editor at The Atlantic. Next book: NINE NASTY WORDS.
Thought Leader
| #7 | The New Center |
Note. This is unlikely to be a complete listing.
Trader Joe’s Knows Petitions Aren’t Commandments
The company decided not to rebrand its Trader Giotto and Trader José product lines.
The Exhausting and Useless Accusations of Racism ‘Hamilton’
The year of universal praise for the play “Hamilton” was not meant to last, as those who make a career of finding racial flaws were biding their time.
The Biases We Hold Against the Way People Speak
In “How You Say It,” Katherine Kinzler focuses on linguistic discrimination, how your accent can determine the way you are perceived.
‘The Help’ Isn’t Racist. Its Critics Are.
In the week since its release, The Help, a movie telling the story of a group of black maids in the South in the early 1960s, has been derided repeatedly in blog posts and reviews as a lazy collection of racist tropes, an irredeemable expression of...
The Dehumanizing Condescension of 'White Fragility'
How the popular book talks down to Black people.
‘What the Eye Hears’ and ‘America Dancing’
One book explores the history of tap-dancing, and why tap matters, and another examines popular American dance, from Fred and Ginger to Michael Jackson.
That Viral Story About the Racist Ice Cream Song Is Wrong
A writer for NPR makes a bold argument—but without the necessary facts.
Yale's mistake on John Calhoun
John McWhorter says John Calhoun was too ardent a champion of slavery to be honored by retaining his name on a Yale residential college
The Dictionary Definition of 'Racism' Has to Change
Dictionaries can lag behind societal developments, and the idea that a “word” indisputably “means” what dictionaries say is simply sloppy.
The Coronavirus Generation Will Use Language Differently
Being out of school for half a year could change children’s relationship with formal expression.