Columbia writers receive mixed messages about what language is legitimate in scholarly and professional conversations. Some of those messages, especially ones that treat standard written English (SWE) as the default appropriate language, carry a history of White supremacy. Treating SWE as the single “correct” choice also limits the tools available to you as a writer as you express yourself on the page. Therefore, the Writing Center welcomes your unique language knowledge – from your homes, communities, and countries — and supports your right to your own language choices (Smitherman, 1995; Kinloch, 2005). Together, we’ll consider “how language functions within and from various cultural perspectives” (Young 2010) to help you make informed decisions about your writing.