So Y’ALL? Y’all… l forgot to tell y’all in my intro blog that I am from the Midwest…and grew up in a Jamaican household but I can place a “y’all” in just about any conversation LOL. ON this particular blog, you know the one you’re currently reading, I will use bad grammar occasionally, AAVE or ABE… whichever one you deem to be politically correct ENOUGH for you lol will be used as well. Notice that I DID NOT INCLUDE AAVE/ABE as bad grammar, I said I would be using that in addition to bad grammar. More to come on this later. So don’t judge me, and google is your friend to my dialect challenged readers. If I get passionate enough some Patois may slide in…here and there…but IDK we’ll see.

Which leads me to the topic of today’s blog… ON Thoughts From In Between. I want to discuss this whole phenomenon of “Talking Black or Talking White” {side eyes the screen  and rolls my eyes so hard, silently because I am so sick of this foolishness and the mindsets that drive it}.

I saw a facebook post that was making the rounds a few weeks ago where a young lady said “I hate black people that talk & act white like it really kills me.”

You know that Gif that says “They about to drag you…” Yeah so that happened…

But there were also people defending what she said, not effectively…might I add, but attempting to make an argument in her defense nevertheless. 

The young lady mentioned that it happens to her mostly at work, which leads me to believe the original post was a “vague book” post because she was jealous of a Black person who was getting ahead because they could more effectively Code Switch, than the poster could. 

 

Let’s Define Terms

 

Code Switch defined:

The practice of alternating between two or more languages or varieties of language in conversation.

 

ABE defined:

African-American English (AAE), also known as Black English in American linguistics, is the set of English dialects primarily spoken by most black people in the United States and many in Canada;[1] most commonly, it refers to a dialect continuum ranging from African-American Vernacular English to a more standard English.[2] African-American English shows variation such as in vernacular versus standard forms, rural versus urban characteristics, features specific to singular cities or regions only, and other sociolinguistic criteria. There has also been a significant body of African-American literature and oral tradition for centuries.

 

AAVE defined:

African-American Vernacular English (AAVE, /ˈɑːveɪ, ˈæv/[1]), known less precisely as Black Vernacular, Black English Vernacular (BEV), Black Vernacular English (BVE) or colloquially Ebonics (a controversial term),[2] is the variety of English natively spoken, particularly in urban communities, by most working- and middle-class African Americans and some Black Canadians.[3]

Having its own unique grammatical, vocabulary and accent features, African-American Vernacular English is employed by middle-class African Americans as the more informal and casual end of a sociolinguistic continuum; on the formal end of this continuum, middle-class African-Americans switch to more standard English grammar and vocabulary, usually while retaining elements of the nonstandard accent.[4][5]

As with most African-American English, African-American Vernacular English shares a large portion of its grammar and phonology with the rural dialects of the Southern United States,[6] and especially older Southern American English,[7] due to historical connections of African Americans to the region. 

Mainstream linguists maintain that the parallels between African-American Vernacular English and West African and English-based creole languagesare real but minor,[8][9][10][11] with African-American Vernacular English genealogically still falling under the English language,[12][13] demonstrably tracing back to the diverse nonstandard dialects of early English settlers in the Southern United States.[14] However, a minority of linguists argue that the vernacular shares so many characteristics with African creole languages spoken around the world that it could have originated as its own English-based creole or semi-creole language, distinct from the English language, before undergoing a process of decreolization.

 

Nurture is Key

 

Just like any other dialects that are out there like say for instance Patois, or Creole… we come to know how to speak them mostly due to our upbringing. For example the little Patois I know how to speak is because it was spoken to me or around me and thus I “picked it up.” I didn’t sit in a classroom and learn it, no one in my family took the time to teach me. I understand because it was spoken to me so my ear is trained to understand the dialect. 

This same precedent holds true for AAVE/ABE. There are people of all colors and ethnicities that understand AAVE/ABE…let me be clear. Not because they sat in a class and learned it but because they were raised around people who spoke it, watching media from various places (nowadays anyway) where they may have picked up some things, some nuances that give them some choice phrases to drop every now and again. Kind of how I am with Patois LOL. I can hit you with some choice phrases in Patois because the main instances where I heard it growing up…is when my relatives were going in on someone. So a lot of my exposure to it is around giving someone a piece of my mind lol. 

Same with AAVE/ABE.

Also as can be expected there are black people who don’t understand the AAVE/ABE dialect. They don’t speak it because they didn’t grow up around it for whatever reason (completely not their fault) so they speak basic American English. And that is ok. It doesn’t make them any less black and frankly it doesn’t mean that in any given situation with a BBQ Becky or a Crenshaw Cathy that they will be treated any better than any other ole black person.

 

To Code Switch Or Nah?

 

Now enter Code Switching which I defined earlier as: the practice of alternating between two or more languages or varieties of language in conversation. Some of us are blessed to be a part of “double consciousness land” a la WEB Dubois.  Say for instance, to use myself as a complicated example, I grew up in Gary, IN, surrounded by AAVE/ABE (of the Midwest/TheRegion/TriState/Chicagoland Area) in my community, but in my home Patois was being spoken, in addition to AAVE/ABE…and to further complicate things my parents were very diligent to make sure that we knew how to speak what my father lovingly calls “The King’s English” just as well as anything else. Suffice to say, me and my siblings are Code Switching Champions of the world LOL. 

When we’re with family you hear snippets of Patois and “The Kings English” with older relatives or those not so far removed from the Rock…for a younger  family member you may hear AAVE/ABE more than anything else. But again it depends on circumstances. I have nieces and cousins who grew up surrounded by Jamaican Culture inside and outside of their homes in South Florida who speak Patois more fluently than I ever could…and I am old enough to be their mothers. I grew up in the Midwest and situations dictated a different turn of events… When we left our home or the homes of our family members, we were met with shame, nothing but shame around where we were from. It was my parents job to tell us otherwise and they did the best they could. However, no matter how much we may not want to admit it, everything around us was screaming for us to distance ourselves from our culture and our mother dialect. That if we wanted to “make it” and whatever that means or baggage comes along with that, we had to ASSIMILATE. And we did. 

 

Internalized Anti-Blackness and White Supremacy Anyone?

 

Thankfully in recent days it has become all the rage to embrace culture, and to not be ashamed to be unapologetically a part of whatever parts of the African Diaspora that one hails from… but that wasn’t always the case, if we are keeping it a buck. In fact it still isn’t all the rage for some black folks, but more are open to it (including myself) who most assuredly were not so loud and open about it before. Since the behavior has been validated by the powers that be (liberal white culture) now we feel free and validated in our own skin, unapologetically speaking our own dialects, openly…but again that wasn’t always as acceptable, mainstream as it is today. 

Actually Anti Black Americanness was jammed down my throat at every turn growing up in my family. But honey chiles that’s a whole other conversation for a whole nother blog post. Too much to unpack to go there… on… TUH DAY! 

So all in all there is no “talking black and talking white,” people. There are a myriad of dialects that are spoken all around the world… and even in the good ole US of A. I know it is hard to imagine that in the United States that something couldn’t be centered around what white people deem to be legitimate per their standards…but here we are! 

This is the reality this conversation is a thing because of the effects of White Supremacy on our community. We learned to measure our worth by these false standards that say that if we speak our dialect (pick one, whichever one)  which isn’t proper English that it somehow makes us less than. It doesn’t make anyone less intelligent. White Supremacy gets an attitude in Walmart as a paying customer has a thick accent and it takes the cashier too long to parse what is being said… White Supremacy in the USA tells us that everyone who moves here has to assimilate to our culture, the accepted and mainstream way of speaking  or they are insulting us somehow. And by our culture I mean WHITE WESTERN CULTURE. So unfortunately and to my eternal dismay…many people who are card carrying American’s such as myself land outside of what is normative regular American Culture. Though I live here and pay taxes I am clearly and fully in the OTHER column. It isn’t ok, but I’ve made peace with it and for the greater good of my mental health I am over hoping this will ever change. It won’t. If Ever. 

On the other side of the ditch are Black people who like to shame other black people who don’t speak AAVE/ABE to their standards. Which is idiotic at its base. Because even among the Black folks WHO DO speak AAVE/ABE you have different slang depending on where you land in the country, different accents, etc. This whole idea of lumping all Black American’s into this big monolith of “talking black” …Black People… is dumb.com. It makes you look hella ignorant because there are oodles of different cultures and ethnicities among Black People, yes even the Black People in America lol! 

 

The Beef: Black Americans – Black Immigrants – 1st Generation Children of Immigrants

 

This long standing beef with Black Immigrants in this country who do not Code Switch or assimilate into Black American culture is one of the most idiotic things I experience on a regular basis. Y’ALL, we have to stop. We gotta stop. There has to be a balance somewhere! We are individuals with individual backgrounds that differ and as Black People we have to make room for that. Not only hold space and make room for our cultural/ethnic differences, but we must RESPECT THEM as well. I am talking to all of US: 

• To the Caribbean people who think they are better, smarter, more resourceful, classier,  than Black Americans. 
• The Black Americans who make fun of African/Caribbean Accents, and joke about our multiple jobs, lack of running water, resources etc. 
• The Africans who look down the bridge of their noses at Black Americans, because you are so-called smarter, harder workers, and more cultured. 
• Annnnd I’m talking to the Black Americans who are just as Xenophobic as White people towards black folks who aren’t American. (Ask me how I know?) 
• The Black Folk who grew up predominantly in Euro Culture, be it in the states or elsewhere who have all this energy and smoke to criticize Black America for everything (Looking at you Canadians and Brits!)
• Finally, the Black Immigrants who are so scornful towards Black Americans as if by default you are better than them just by existing…as you criticize Black American Culture and pontificate about how you overthrew your slave holders (ahmmm Haitians/Jamaicans) etc… hindsight is always 20/20…eh?

 

I could call out so much more but I believe you have my meaning now. We are different from one another for sure. But different doesn’t = better! We should be celebrating our differences and not allowing ourselves to be separated (see what I did there?) or separate over our differences.

We are all black and may or may not speak differently, as a result of having different cultures, heritages, nationalities, nurture/upbringing and a host of other differences. And that’s ok. It doesn’t make any one of us “Talk Less Black.” Y’all let’s try to be fair to one another. Gracious even. Sheesh.

 

As For Me and My House… We Code Switching

 

{Deep Breath} So anywho…

I will be Code Switching probably until the day I see Jesus, in some manner or other. It is exhausting but it is the reality of what I have to live with in order to earn a living, have resources, and make my way in this world…even to be able to worship in community, in some cases.  I’ve reconciled myself to it. Most assuredly doesn’t mean I want to be White, Speak White… whatever all of that means anyhow. 

The lady that wrote that idiotic post needs someone who loves her to explain what I’ve just attempted to break down and she will understand that she has a choice to make if she wants to succeed in her current work environment. Either Code Switch or keep watching people surpass you. The hard truth is you cannot go into a mainstream, majority culture lead work space, trying to speak AAVE/ABE to people who have no context to understand what you mean, or what you are saying and expect them to move you ahead in that work environment. Unfortunately they WILL judge you, cut you up in pieces, weigh you, and find you sorely wanting. Most of the majority culture doesn’t even realize that any of this is a REAL THING, that doesn’t make them superior but just IGNORANT. And also PRIVILEGED because their main default dialect  is what has been deemed “acceptable.” What they hear at home just reinforces what they learn in school. Not always the case for the rest of us.  Let me repeat again… White Supremacy says you play by our rules, or you do not play. 

So babes please… make the choice. Learn the game of Code Switching appropriately according to the circumstances at hand or stop hating on those who are willing to play by the rules of the game that they are in, in order to get ahead. Refusing to learn plain English doesn’t make you a woke Black Hero, it sounds like it is threatening to keep you broke, and mediocre at your chosen profession. Not saying refusing to do this will yield the same result for all, but if you’re not trying to do it that’s cool, maybe choose a different profession where that is acceptable. Maybe start your own niche business where you don’t ever have to talk to people who don’t understand your dialect…or however you choose to avoid the situation that you find so irritating. If Code Switching ain’t your jig…then change your scenery. Dassit.

Your choice.