In today’s media, there are stories that are told about immigrants from Africa not learning “Standard English” right away when they come to the US and it isn’t only about learning a new language but learning a new way of communicating. When it comes to learning a new language, most African immigrants feel pressured that “Standard” English is the only way of communication while their native languages are excluded from communicating with their families. This essay will address how the dominance and globalization of Standard English marginalize immigrants from Africa by devaluing their native languages, reinforcing linguistic hierarchies rooted in colonial histories, and enforcing unfair linguistic norms that hinder their cultural expression, social integration, and economic opportunities.

Immigrants from Africa feel unfamiliar when it comes to speaking “Standard English” even though their first native language is English but it is different in terms of language speaking and learning based on their cultural differences and expression. In Patriann Smith’s article “How Does a Black Person Speak English? Beyond American Language Norms,” Patriann Smith examines how many African immigrants who migrated to the US are judged based on the way they speak English. She explains that, “The study is focused on immigrant educators because they originate from a different social and geographic context, bring with them distinct standardized Englishes from their home countries that represent novelty in the U.S. context, and, unlike their Black American faculty counterparts, are largely unfamiliar with the linguistic and cultural biases toward using certain variations of English in the U.S. context upon their migration to the United States” (4). Smith’s observation from her perspective reveals that not a lot of African immigrants learn “proper English” based on the countries they originated from in Africa. Learning a new, unfamiliar language can be very difficult for newcomers to a country. It is unfair for many African immigrants to be discriminated against compared to “proper English” speakers, and not receive the opportunity to socially integrate with other communities of people the way standard English speakers can.

African immigrants face challenges of accent discrimination whenever they speak to someone and people don’t understand what they are trying to say. They think that it is not “Standardized English” and assume that they aren’t “intelligent” enough to speak English. In Manka Nkimberg’s article “All I know is that there is a lot of discrimination”: Older African immigrants’ experiences of discrimination in the United States,” Manka Nkimberg explains the effects of African immigrants feeling left out and feeling like they are not intelligent enough to speak English normally. She states that, “Some even noted that because of their accents, people assumed they were not educated or qualified to carry out their jobs. They recounted negative emotional responses to this including a feeling of not belonging, feeling upset and/or disrespected” (198). Nkimberg points out that people judge African immigrants that they aren’t “educated” enough to learn normal English and the assumptions can affect them by making them feel left out, like they don’t belong in the community. Discrimination against African immigrants makes them feel like they aren’t accepted, like their English isn’t “normalized” enough.

In Christine Ro’s article “The persuasive problem of linguistic racism,” Ro explains what happened at work when an Ethiopian-accented staff member was discriminated against because of his accent and how he was treated differently from other employees at work. She states that, “An Ethiopian-accented staff member had reported that his colleagues frequently interrupted him during Zoom calls, commented on the unintelligibility of his English and excluded him from meetings. He became self-conscious during the meetings that he was able to attend, and ended up using the chat feature instead of speaking up, says Kia Roberts, Triangle’s founder and principal” (1). Ro’s examination reveals how he was judged by his accent and how it has caused him to use the chat feature instead of speaking up despite speaking the same language. Accent discrimination made him uncomfortable speaking because of the assumptions made about his character based on the way that he speaks.

When it comes to economic opportunities, people often require others to learn and speak English and not speak other varieties of English to understand better. In Kevin J.A Thomas’ article “African Immigration and the Black Immigrant Paradox,” Thomas talks about how African immigrants who don’t speak English very well don’t have job opportunities, like in a labor market. He says that, “Some may further argue that, although many African immigrants speak English very well, there are still others who do not, which could negatively affect the opportunities available to them” (1st page). African immigrants aren’t accepted into job opportunities simply because they speak a different type of English that people in general wouldn’t understand. Thomas also states that, “African immigrants thus compete for jobs in a labor market where Black workers are more likely to be stratified into lower status jobs compared to white workers” (1st page). It explains that African immigrants have to compete for jobs because white workers are more likely to get job opportunities than them in general and African immigrants are offered lower paying jobs. 

Most African immigrants are concerned with their cultural identity and background when other students in school make it challenging when they are being discriminated against by their cultural background and language. In Lydiah Kananu Kiramba’s article “It’s Like They Don’t Recognize What I Bring to the Classroom”: African Immigrant Youths’ Multilingual and Navigation in United States Schools,” Kiramba talks about how African Immigrant students struggle with socializing and communicating with others in classes. She states that, “From the immigrant student perspectives, this study manifestly highlights how a lack of knowledge concerning African immigrant student cultural backgrounds led to perceived and actual discrimination, which consequently negatively impacted student academic progress” (17). Kiramba’s observation explains that the concerns of the African immigrant students’ cultural backgrounds and differences have led to discrimination against them because they have different accents. It can harm students’ academic progress and affect the way they learn language because they face discrimination based on their cultural background or identity.In summary, immigrants from Africa are often discriminated against because their English isn’t “standard” enough to understand and they don’t socially integrate with groups of people who speak Standard American English. There are less economic opportunities for African immigrants who cannot speak in Standard American English. It can affect the way people speak and not everyone learns English right away when they come to the US at first, which makes African immigrants feel left out because their English isn’t accepted in the community. Every group of people has different ideas of how to speak in English with their families despite being prejudiced against by people who might have a hard time understanding just because they are from different countries in the African continent.