Black Children, Black Speech explains in great detail why Black English is different than Standard American English in sound and language structure. One of the main theories of this difference comes from the history of the slaves of early America. The newly embraced theory states that Black English is derived from West Africa, as generally isolated slaves shared and developed a cultural uniqueness in the way they interpreted and spoke English, as a result, this way of speaking had endured and adopted by other peoples since those times. I will explain how a friend of mine adopted Black Speech.
This friend of mine, I will call him Joel, grew up in Chicago but later moved to the Bad River Reservation. He was Native American and Jewish, although you would never really know unless he told you. His parents did not stay together and he ended up on the road of criminal behavior, he has been in an out of jail since he was fifteen years old. I met him because he dated my best friend. There was something very peculiar about Joel. To communicate with the ‘in’ crowd, Joel uses Black English. When he would talk to me in this manner I thought he was being ridiculous. Why would a kid that is clearly not from an African American community put on a front to talk this way? But now I see his use of Black English as a method of survival.
To accept a person for their differences in language and culture is important for a community that wants to succeed. The conclusion that I came to after reading Seymour’s article reminded me of past readings about the socialization process which takes place in schools. A child that is stigmatized for speaking “bad English” will feel inadequate himself, withdraw completely and stop talking. And why would they want to participate anyway? If their uniqueness in culture is not appreciated, they will not appreciate what they are learning (and who they are learning from), and Seymour brings out, these feelings of worthlessness carry on into adulthood. I think this is what happened to Joel. He found out from an early age that he could become popular if he pretended to be somebody else, a gangster. So he adopted Black Speech, not to be lazy, but to be popular in and out of jail, and I also think, as a mechanism for survival.
But on the other hand, Standard English is the language of the ruling class in this country. If you speak Standard English around the wrong crowd of people, you could be scorned. The case against teaching Black English in school is a debated issue, as Professor Toni Cade puts it, “If you want to get ahead in this country, you must master the language of the ruling class”. Seymour concurs that Black English is not just a lazy version of Standard English, but that it is also appropriate in certain times and places. But in some places, Standard English will not work at all, such as certain streets of Minneapolis or Chicago. If Joel wanted to sell drugs, he would not speak Standard English to do these transactions. “Wat up, homey?” seems so out of place in Northern Wisconsin but these terms derived from Black English persist. Joel may not want to be considered Native American or Jewish, and tries to erase all evidence of that from his dress to his speech. Black English may have just the persona that he wants.
I think the main point of Black Children, Black Speech is that teachers ought not to criticize their students on the way they speak the English language, as their attitude can do more harm than good. If a teacher looks at a student as if to say, ‘you are lazy and no good, you poor piece of white trash,’ the person will begin to feel that way, and become that way. For example, I would like to say that Joel‘s is a very gifted artist and poet. He could succeed at any profession if he wanted to adopt Standard English. He was not necessarily from low class poor people but he adopted a mode of speech to buy drugs from gangsters, thus becoming a drop-out and spending time in jail. His speech and attitude did not go unnoticed from his teachers and principal in high school who criticized his choice of friends and life. I think they could have encouraged him, instead of discouraging him.
Black Children, Black Speech was a great article to ponder on. I am interested in the use of Black English in subcultures and especially by white people. I think they adopt this form of speech because they are intimidated by Standard American English, or that it represents authority, something that they hate.
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