What is white public space?

Question

Writing a philosophy paper and this came up in one of my sources and I can't find a definition for what it is

Answer 1

It's something to do with linguistic anthropology. This is the best description of it I could find.

"Language, Race, and White Public Space
Jane H. Hill

White public space is constructed through (1) intense monitoring of the speech of racialized populations such as Chicanos and Latinos and African Americans for signs of linguistic disorder and (2) the invisibility of almost identical signs in the speech of Whites, where language mixing, required for the expression of a highly valued type of colloquial persona, takes several forms. One such form, Mock Spanish, exhibits a complex semiotics. By direct indexicality, Mock Spanish presents speakers as possessing desirable personal qualities. By indirect indexicality, it reproduces highly negative racializing stereotypes of Chicanos and Latinos. In addition, it indirectly indexes "whiteness" as an unmarked normative order. Mock Spanish is compared to White "crossover" uses of African American English. Finally, the question of the potential for such usages to be reshaped to subvert the order of racial practices in discourse is briefly explored."

Personally, I still don't really understand what it is, or why anyone cares enough about it to write a book concerning it, but I hope this helps.

Answer 2

White Public Space

Answer 3

Hmmm. White space refers to the newspaper industry. The only thing I can figure on "white public space" is its an archaic term for public spaces limited to whites only. I assume city hall would be one. If that is the case, it was probably one of the Jim Crow laws.

Try doing a search on Jim Crow laws and see if it is listed.