The Cost of Code Switching | Chandra Arthur | TEDxOrlando

Taught from a young age to culturally code switch, Chandra Arthur discusses how learning default conformity in different settings now creates access and opportunity in her adult life as an underrepresented minority (URM) in tech. Chandra Arthur is the founder and CEO of Friendish, a fun, new app designed to help people easily make friends based on shared interests. Her commitment to assisting others in making lasting, quality friendships was born out of a personal need when she returned home from Germany after four years abroad and found it difficult to make new like-minded friends once back in the states. As a second time startup founder, she brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the startup landscape.

Chandra is passionate about being a Black woman in tech and hopes that through Friendish, she is able to build and grow a successful, sustainable business and become a role model for young women of color who aspire to careers in tech. Chandra is also a co-founder of B.O.T (Black Orlando Tech), a group created to mobilize and support Black creatives in Central Florida. When she’s not working on Friendish, she spends most of her time with her sweet and very energetic Black Lab puppy, Trudy Garland.

[zacharypeacock]

For years i would code switch so that other people wouldn't wouldn't look at me as uneducated. But now i choose not to because i am comfortable with who I am and don't have to prove myself to anyone except me. I realized that people will look at you and judge you just because of the color of your skin so why am I going to make them feel comfortable when they have already made a judgment of me because of my skin color. Now I will code switch when someone underestimate my intelligence just to show them that I can speak well when needed. But for the most part I speak the language that I'm comfortable speaking...

[mugulakikawa]

I didn’t know this was called code switching. I do it all the time. Every time I get stopped by a cop, I emphasize my African accent. You have no idea, how many times it’s saved me.

[carolllawrence]

Interesting. The first thing I thought is that if she didn't code switch, what would be the chances that she'd be standing on the red circle doing a Ted Talk about this or anything else. That's not intended as a negative comment at all. Every word she said is true. I'm 67 so I guess it hits me differently. I've had to do it all of my life. I'm extremely good at it. I just looked at it as a way of life. Do what you gotta do to get where you want to go. I taught my children to do it. I didn't know the term "code switching." I told them they just needed to learn the two languages of this country. I fully understand the feelings and especially the deep desire for "authenticity." Thirty/forty years ago I felt I had no time for such feelings. I had to be "smart" enough to do what I needed to do. This is 2020 and I'm happy that this generation is standing up. As for me, in this social climate that has remained largely unchanged, as have the hearts of people since the 60s, I continue to feel empowered to do what I need to do, when I need to do it, to get what I need. At the end of the day (as always) I take my authentic self, go home to the peace of my reality and sleep well.

[bd]

I agree with everything this lady said. She put it so eloquently.

[beneath.the.rosesluciddrea]

Yes on the subject, but... WOW she is a dang good public speaker. Her facial expressions, her cadence and pauses, her voice.. she is so comfortable up there. I wonder if I could ever do it that well in front of people. Also.. "Yall" is probably my favorite word because it can be used to express sooo many things. Y'all can be its own sentence.

[nica]

Yes! Yes! Yes! I was called an apple. Red on the outside, white on the inside. (Im a Native American woman)

[vicj]

I am going to show this to my Grade 11 & 12 Psych students. We are learning about groups and what it takes to fit in, as well as the complicated intricacies that "Third Culture Kids' need to maneuver, and how all of those affect identity creation. ( There are about 70 first languages in my school.) Thank you!

[KingdomInnovate]

This was dope/ stellar !
I used to code switch either by using mo slang words on the Job or ; utilizing more serendipitous nomenclatures in the boardroom.

[IloveJC]

Had to come listen to this again in 2020, so relevant!

[saveUyghurs]

I love that her microphone is a skin tone color that is actually her color!

[topgurl]

Interesting talk. One of my favourites. She presented her argument, so matter-of-fact and unapologetically, with life experience and statistics. With a bit of humour in there too. This is what I want from Tedx talks.

[alienpopstarrr]

omg she is one of the best orators i have ever seen

[jackalopegaming]

A thought I had while watching this: I'm autistic, and I code switch too since I have to be seen as "normal" in some places but in others I can whistle to myself however I like or do other stimming.

[davidw.]

Code switching is synonymous to sounding/acting politically correct and it's a deception. We live in a very diverse world and should learn to appreciate other people's cultures, languages and behaviors while maintaining our real self at the same time.

[brendatrimble]

Very eye opening. I have only just learned about "code switching". This is something most of us are guilty of. I have a "work" personality and a "home" personality. The language that I'm comfortable using with my friends, definitely wouldn't be accepted at work. I realize it's at a different level, but I've never thought of it from a cultural perspective. Thank you for explaining this so well. We can all learn something from this.

[Knoboddie]

"How to behave and speak in a way that made me a non-threatening person of color"
Speaks volumes 😔

[julian]

Afterwards she makes great points. She acted like the majority in school and was accepted. Sometimes racism is not about color, but about having a different culture. As a Latin I acted American.

[miguelmagana]

OHHHH MYYY!! spending time learning culture appropriation instead of living.. My life for the past 2.5 years

Thanks for this talk so much

[slagwill]

It’s just a matter of cultural adaptation. Historically we’re in a land not of our choosing, really. Therefore if we choose to play their game - then we have to make certain adjustments in order to smoothly maneuver. Speaking their language is one of a type. But this depends also upon the character of the person in question. One may be of such a nature that they can impose their will upon the environment and force others to adapt to them. It’s not a static scenario, and one style is not “better” than the other. One person adapts and switches, another simply moves in a different direction altogether, while a third type simply refuses to bend at all. All three types are needed and play their own part in the whole.

[gigantje]

What a wonderfll woman. I do it too as a white man in Holland born and raised in Curacao, one of the Dutch Antilles. Espesially when i drink to much my Curacao accent pops up again. It is not just words and accents but also the gesticulations