We Hit Peak 2019

[treee]

(12-17-2019, 07:34 PM)fredtoast Wrote: Quote:
“Historically, it was meant to signal the exceptional Negro,” Mr. Dyson said. “The implication is that most black people do not have the capacity to engage in articulate speech, when white people are automatically assumed to be articulate.” And such distinctions discount as inarticulate historically black patterns of speech. “Al Sharpton is incredibly articulate,” said Tricia Rose, professor of Africana Studies at Brown University. “But because he speaks with a cadence and style that is firmly rooted in black rhetorical tradition you will rarely hear white people refer to him as articulate.”


Al Sharpton is a big reason many white people think blacks can't use proper grammar.  Black people can't have it both ways.  They can't promote improper grammar and then act offended when white people compliment the ones that can speak properly.

A few years ago they were asking for extra tax payer money be devoted to special programs to teach black kids to use proper English instead of African-American Vernacular English.  Now they are saying people who use AAVE are "well spoken" and anyone who thinks differently is racist.

I think that modern AAVE is valuable culturally. Particularly the emergence of some of the situational evaluation terms that are succinct and convey the feelings of the speaker exceptionally.