For a long time, the standoff between Ebonics and Standard American English has been a major issue for African Americans in society. The struggle between using one or the other, the stereotyping of those who speak either one, and the many aspects that surround them are deeply entrenched throughout America’s history, and this will be examined in this paper. The purpose of this research is to conduct an analysis of Ebonics in a Standard American English led society through an empowerment theoretical lens in regards to racial comfortability, code switching, and Black unity. The definition of Ebonics is, “American black English regarded as a language in its own right rather than as a dialect of standard English (Oxford dictionaries 1)”. Ebonics …show more content…
When the researcher was conducting this, he heard African Americans speak to one another using fluent forms of Ebonics. Their conversations ranged from food, sports, politics, hot topics, and etc., typical subjects that people discuss. The fascinating thing that was seen in these interactions was just how comfortable and relaxed the Black individuals were with each other. They were laughing, joking, and very noticeably not giving off the appearance of being uncomfortable with the use of Ebonics stemming from the others. Each interaction seemed natural and commenced smoothly, and no one questioned anyone’s speech at all, but embraced it wholeheartedly. The African Americans looked to be empowered by their use of Ebonics, and using it among their own made them comfortable in a public setting. The same could probably be said about White people using Standard American English among each other as …show more content…
A quote that can speak to this is from John Baugh’s Beyond Ebonics: Linguistic Pride and Racial Prejudice, reading, “On the other hand Ebonics advocates were elated by efforts to elevate its stature, because they had never equated black speech with “improper English”, and they embraced “Ebonics” as a term that could offer linguistic legitimacy and enhance cultural pride among American slave descendants (Baugh 2)”. These lines are important because they show how what most Black people thought about Ebonics. They just saw it as their normal everyday language, instead of an atrocious version of English, which is what many White people saw it as. The way that Black people embraced Ebonics’ rising stature was also important, because with its elevation in society, they became more and more comfortable in using it, and the researcher’s study conducted in the restaurant reflects that, as Black people seemed to be very relaxed and content while speaking to one
In Baldwin 's article If Black English Isn 't A Language Then Tell Me What Is? starting off by telling the readers about French speaking people. He is explaining how different dialects doesn 't mean people aren 't speaking the same language. Going deeper about language saying that it ties into the culture. Give an example of Black Culture and how their expression of English is different. Talking about the phrases like jazz me, baby, sock it to me, and funky; being used that way they weren 't meant to. Finally introducing how the African American culture has been disrespected or ignored. Telling
As a result of many negative stereotypes associated with certain variations of English many students have adapted codeswitching. When this concept came up in the book it made me think about my own language. I realized that I code switch quite often between what is seen as Standard English and African American English or Ebonics. Usually with family or other friends that speak Ebonics I use that Ebonics to communicate, but when I am in school, in a
Throughout history society has created many stereotypes and assumptions based on race and nationality to confine us into categories. The reality is, not every individual fits a specific category because we are unique even within the same ethnic group. In “On Being Told I Don’t Speak Like a Black person” Allison Joseph illustrates some speech stereotypes that come hand in hand with her racial background and how even people from the same racial background and house hold don’t all sound alike. The author portrays that race and linguistic has such a huge impact on our daily life and how society sees her differently to others when they see she does not fit in the stereotype of sounding “like a black person” and feels frustration to being compared
This marginalization is still prevalent today, as Black English is still overwhelmingly stigmatized and discredited in nearly all academic settings, particularly within American culture. Jordan’s demonstration that Black English is not given respect or afforded validity in academic and social settings still rings true today. Black English-speaking students see little to no representation of their language in the classroom, and are often actively discouraged from speaking the language of their community and of their upbringing. This suppression and delegitimization of a valid method of communication represents colonialist and white supremacist notions of language, social homogeneity, and latent institutional racism, and has negative, even dire, consequences for the students
In Verhsawn Ashanti Young’s article titled, “Nah, We Straight: An argument Against Code Switching,” he makes his objectives clear as he argues against people Right to their own language. The author questions the advantage of standard American English as opposed to other types of English. He refers to those aspect as code switching, which he believes can lead to racist thinking. Code switching, according to Young, calls out for one way of speaking to be omitted in favor of others, based on one's rhetorical situations. The author points out that students are required to translate from Afro-American English or Spanglish to standard English and not the other way around, which is concerning. Youngs method to get around this segregation is the usage
In the essay if Black English Isn’t a Language, Then Tell Me, What is? by James Baldwin and Mother Tongue by Amy Tan both shows idea of uses of slang and language in different context. In the essay if Black English Isn’t a Language, Then Tell Me, What is? Baldwin states that how language has changed and evolved overtime, Baldwin describes how black English were used as white English, in civil rights movement where blacks were treated as slaves and the used slang language to communicate so that the whites won’t understand. This slang was taken from black language and now everyone uses to make the communication short. In the essay Mother Tongue Tan explains that how language could affect people from different culture. Tan states that how Asian students in America struggle in English. Tan also states that her mother is smart but she couldn’t communicate in English. Tan thinks that’s a big disadvantage for her mother and people coming from different countries cannot show their talent because of their weakness in communication.
They mocked them as monkeys and simple minded figures of fun. I think this is why a lot of African Americans today are so musically inclined and so full of talent. Blacks today are so talented and have a unique way of showing it. There is a lot of teenagers that do not like education and would rather become famous than go to school. Blacks still attain less education than Whites. Some researchers suggest that there are some young Black males that are not always successful in school, because they don’t want to be seen as acting white. These young males tend to drop out of high school and turn to illegal activities. The mentally that they feel that speaking proper English is associated to White culture. I feel that this is a negative impact from slavery because Blacks talked differently. Blacks talked differently because they were less educated. I don’t think talking proper English is a form of acting white, it’s a form of education. This could be another form of a generational curse placed on uneducated families. I could imagine if one’s grandparents and parents are uneducated, and they don’t know proper English, how will they teach their children proper English? Their children could learn proper English in school but when they come home they could be looked down as acting white. I can personally relate to this situation. I have meet some uneducated people and because I talk proper English they want to make comments. They can say things like, “Oh you think you better than somebody, talking white”. Its mind blowing that racism and discrimination fail to go
Smitherman is certainly qualified to address her colleagues about the treatment of “Black English” in academia, but with such a charged writing style it is possible that her audience would not make it to her conclusion. Smitherman assumes that the general base of her audience are “White English” speakers that can understand “Black English”. She also assumes that all African Americans speak the same way. These assumptions are her first major problem. At the time of this articles publication in 1973, it is conceivable that certain scholars would have ignored the piece because of its hybrid u...
Rickford, John R. "What Is Ebonics (African American English)." What Is Ebonics (African American English)? Linguistic Society of America, n.d. Web. 05 Mar. 2014.
Elements of minority cultures are continually hijacked, re-invented and commercialized until the origin and cultural significance becomes unknown to its consumers. Notably, languages and dialects such as Spanish and African American Vernacular English, often crossover into popular culture and mainstream media. In Jane H. Hill text, “Language, Race, and White Public Space,” Hill points to the appropriation of Spanish by Whites through the usage of “Mock Spanish,” a mix between English and Spanish. According to Hill, Mock Spanish is harmful because it reduces Spanish to a colloquialism and reproduces stereotypes that construct “white public spaces” in which it is only acceptable for white people to use Spanish. In the same way that Mock Spanish is a “racist discourse,” the crossover of African American Vernacular English into popular culture is pervasive and dangerous because it erases the voices of black people and belittles the cultural significance of African American Vernacular English in Black
The African influence of American English can be found as far back as the Seventeenth century. Although its influence may have began that far back, the influence of African American slang has arguably reached its peak (so far) in the last half on the 20th century. Evidence of this can be seen in magazines, music, television, and films. Perhaps more importantly, evidence can be seen in the way that people of ethnic groups, other than African American, have changed their speech due to this influence. The Equal Rights Movement lead to a paradigm shift in African American linguistic consciousness due to Black intellectuals, scholars, activists, artists, and writers deliberately engaging in a search for a way to express Black identity and the particular circumstances of African American life. Although there had been strides in Black pride in the past, this was the first one to call for linguistic Black p...
Not only does this happen in the real world, but it also occurs in To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, when Calpurnia talks to the people at her church differently than the way she talks with Scout and Jem. Scout and Jem go to church with Calpurnia (their “second mother”), but this church is mainly for the people of color--which Scout and Jem are not--but Calpurnia is. At church, Calpurnia is greeted by Lula, who starts to speak in a way that seemed strange to both Jem and Scout. The way that African Americans and white people spoke were different from each other, because the African American way of talking sounded more like “slang”, while the white people had a more “sophisticated” way of speaking. Lula and Calpurnia ended up talking to each other in their “slang,” which shook Scout because Calpurnia spoke “in tones [Scout] never heard her use”(135). Scouts reaction leads you to believe as if Calpurnia was speaking a whole different language--even though it’s in English-- but, it’s in a different pronunciation of words. Even though Calpurnia knows how to speak “better”, she doesnt because “folks dont like to have somebody around knowin’ more than they do,” (143). Calpurnia doesn’t need to show everyone at church that she can talk a different way, almost seeming better than the people at her church. She has a character that makes her seem on top of the people that she is
Ebonics, also known as Black English, is a nonstandard dialect spoken in many homes in the inner cities of America. This nonstandard language is often looked upon as low-class or lazy talk. This is not the case, however. Due to consistencies found in the dialect, there seems to be an order. It has been found that, when learning English, African-Americans adapted the language using some of the structure and rules of their own native tongue. This Black English has carried on through slavery and then freedom for hundreds of years. Although there is a coexistence of more than two dialects in our society, those in power forget the flexibility of our language and see no other way than the use of Standard English.
Clark, John Taggart. “Abstract Inquiry and the Patrolling of Black/White Borders Through Linguistic Stylization.” The Language, Ethnicity, and Race Reader: A Reader. Roxy Harris and Ben Rampton. Eds. New York: Routledge, 2003.
It must be noted that for the purpose of avoiding redundancy, the author has chosen to use the terms African-American and black synonymously to reference the culture, which...