Khetoa, SoyisoMantoa Motinyane2024-10-072024-10-072024Khetoa S, Aiseng K, Theledi K and Motinyane M (2024) Editorial: The centralization and racialization of language policy: implications for the ‘below’. Front. Commun. 9:1472674. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2024.1472674https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2024.1472674https://hdl.handle.net/10566/16250The significance of language policies cannot be overlooked, particularly in countries where political ideologies influence perceptions about the use of various languages in various domains. Due to political influence certain languages are regarded as ‘languages of the state’ and others are perceived to be ‘languages in the state’. Language practices during apartheid in South Africa were very influential in deciding the plight of indigenous African languagesenAfrican languageslinguistic hegemonymarginalizationexoglossic policyBELA BillArticle