Non-European speakers of European languages are judged by race not grammar

Evidence

Even where, as a result of colonization, European languages are spoken in the global outside, they are accented. They are considered odd as much in their “color” as in their character, as much driven by who the speakers physically are seen to be as in their syntax and semantics. — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race, 957 (#expands, via linked claim)

The second Dow case, In re Dow, was a rehearing of the original case, in which the court again considered the quagmire of ethno-racial and linguistic “scientific” evidence that risked casting such a wide white net that it would include non-Europeans like Dow. The judge reiterated that when Congress passed its first, foundational immigration law in 1790, it could not possibly have cal ed on knowledge of the Indo-European language tree that connects the preponderance of European languages to Asia via Persian and Sanskrit: It is safe to assume that no member of the congress that passed the act of 1790 knew either Sanscrit [ sic] or ancient Persian, or had the remotest idea of the connection between the Aryan or Indo-European languages. — Neda Maghbouleh, The Limits of Whiteness, 63 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Colonized speakers of European languages are judged by physical appearance, not fluency — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race: Reflections on…, 957; Linguistic evidence threatened to render non-Europeans white under naturalization law — Neda Maghbouleh, The Limits of Whiteness: Iranian…, 63

Broader Connections

• Colonized speakers of European languages are judged by physical appearance, not fluency #expands (0.95) — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race, 957
• Linguistic evidence threatened to render non-Europeans white under naturalization law #complicates (0.78) — Neda Maghbouleh, The Limits of Whiteness, 63