Black English, Society & Culture Webography

Aug

Black English: History and Social Context

Since researchers started to study Black English, many speculations have been made. We can summarize it into two main hypotheses: the dialect hypothesis, developed by people who affirm that the African slaves learned English incorrectly and, because of that, their mistakes have been passed down through generations; and the creole hypothesis, which demonstrates how the slaves developed a pidgin, a mix of West African vocabulary and English, in order to be able to communicate with English speakers.

According to the second hypothesis, the history of Black English must date back to about 1619 when a Dutch vessel landed in Jamestown with a cargo of twenty Africans. The slaves were brought from different places because it was easier to control Africans who spoke different languages and, consequently, could not communicate with each other. When the slaves arrived in America, they had to learn at least some English words; they developed a pidgin language based on English vocabulary. The slaves’ children had to learn this pidgin, which graduated from a language of transaction to a creolized language. The development of United States economy reinforced the institution of slavery, which became more deep-rooted in the southern states than in the northern states.

When the American Civil War (18961-1865) occurred, slaves from the southern states that were at war against the North were released. After the Civil War, the formation of national African-American identity was accelerated, Blacks from North came to the South regions and Black communities (with schools, printing newspapers and businesses) were formed. It grew a black middle-class, which had a variety similar to the Standard English.

www.uta.fi/FAST/US1/P1?BE/anube.html

As Black English is marginalized by mainstream society, the black middle-class developed a method of linguistic adaptation (called code-switching) that enable them to speak Black English or Standard English according to the situation in which they are inserted. On the other hand, when the varieties of Southern Black English came into contact with the different forms of English spoken in the urban North (since blacks from the South went to the North because they believed that there they could find better jobs…), the difference between white and black speech became clearer.

The racial discrimination motivated the construction of black residential zones and the contact between blacks and whites was limited. This was the segregation era in the United States: the social environments of Blacks were restricted and their speech became a “symbol” of Black identity.

According to Sari Liomala, the black Americans’ style are unique, they have a special way of talking and communicating in their social environment. One good example of that is the game called “fussing”, a type of dispute in which the winner is the one who can formulate the best arguments. Another interesting example is the way conversation is organized; they have a hierarchy, since the eldest adults are the highest status members of their communities. The eldest black male has the right to initiate and maintain any or all types of communication.

www.uta.fi/FAST/US1/P1/BE/if-of-be.html

www.uta.fi/FAST/US1/P1/BE/blacken.html

Categorized in Black English, History, Racial Segregation and Society

Aug

Black English Grammar

Black English and Education

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Since researchers started to study Black English, different opinions and perceptions have been developed. There are the ones who believe that Black English is just “slang”, it is “talk of garbage”; on the other hand, many specialists have been studying Black English and they have a main difficulty in their definition of it: Is Black English an autonomous language, which can be considered separated from the Standard form, or is it a variety of English? This difficulty has accompanied educators of Black English speakers. How can it be possible to teach Standard English to them if they speak in a considerable different way?

In 1996, a proposal by a California school board to recognize Black English as a second language provoked many debates. Some people, as Rev. Jesse Jackson, contested the idea, arguing that while schools tried to consider Black English as an important level of education, students were not being prepared and qualified for jobs. In contrast, Lucella Harrison, president of the Oakland School Board, affirmed that they had to acknowledge that all of their students did not come to them speaking Standard English.

The fact is that educators had to look at Black English in a different way because black students were not having a good improvement in the English classes. The reason for that is not because they speak a “lazy language”, it is because they speak a different “variety” with strong historical characteristics. Many linguists considered the proposal of the Oakland school an insult, because black children are not bilingual, but they are bi-dialectal. The first site shows an opinion in favor with the Oakland School decision and the second one shows a completely opposite view of the problem: it is against the bilingual education:

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3935/is_2000107/ai_n8955638/pg_7

www.fumento.com/ebonics.html

At the same time, this variety was constructed among people who were isolated from the white society; it has its own identity, which is not completely shared by Americans. Blacks constructed their sense of nation in America; they are not from a different country, as Spanish people are. They constructed an identity in America even if they were excluded by America society. Is it black an original “nation” inserted in a place where they are excluded? How can a nation exist in a place where all the laws and rules made their people believe that they were not part of it?