Segregation through language

Linguistic dis-integration
Linguistic discrimination
Active prejudice against other languages
Prejudicial treatment of linguistic groups

Nature

Language has great power to create and to draw asunder social groups. In many situations, language is used as a social divider.

Background

The global significance of segregation through language emerged in the 20th century, as decolonization, migration, and nation-building highlighted linguistic divides in education, employment, and civic participation. Early studies in multilingual societies, such as Belgium and India, revealed persistent inequalities rooted in language policies. International organizations, including UNESCO, began documenting the marginalization of minority language speakers, prompting further research into how language barriers perpetuate social exclusion and hinder equitable access to resources and opportunities worldwide.

Incidence

In Africa, for example, many States practice discrimination against the languages of their own ethnic groups. In Zaire, for example, with 8 million speakers of Swahili, 6 million of Lingala, 3 million of Kikongo and Ciluba, and only 2.8 million French speakers, French remains the only official language of the country. Leaders of African States thus discriminate against the use of their own languages.

The English-speaking world has long used the pronunciation of English as a very sharp divider of social classes. Margaret Thatcher is reputed to have had diction training in the hope that her middle-class pronunciation might reach the heights to which her ambition aspired. Japanese is an extreme example of language that is different not only in content but in syntax and grammar when spoken by a male or a female. Japanese language alters in its terms of self-reference and address, its sentence particles, its verb forms and its interjections, for males, for females and for children. Many societies align their cultural, political and/or economic divisions with language divisions.

Claim

Segregation through language is a deeply troubling and urgent problem. When people are excluded or marginalized because of the language they speak, it fuels discrimination, limits opportunities, and fractures communities. This form of segregation perpetuates inequality and denies individuals their basic rights to participate fully in society. Ignoring language-based segregation is not just unfair—it is a direct attack on social cohesion and justice. We must confront and dismantle this barrier without delay.

Counter-claim

Segregation through language is vastly overstated as a problem. In reality, language differences enrich societies, fostering diversity and innovation. People adapt, learn new languages, and communicate across barriers every day. Claiming language segregation is a major issue distracts from more pressing social challenges. Instead of viewing linguistic diversity as divisive, we should celebrate it as a natural and beneficial aspect of human interaction, not a problem demanding urgent attention.