Speech and the Black Experience
For years the dominate culture was European which was coupled with the ideology of white supremacy. Everything and everybody was made to satisfy the rules of whiteness and behavior patterns that reinforced the supposed superiority of whiteness. Cleopatra was even turned into a white women as were angels in churches. Also, this was done with language as the famous Black psychiatrist Franz Fanon pointed out. Blacks often had to adopt what he called “Black Skin, White Masks.” This was an ethnocide, which forces people that have been colonized to adopt the language and diction of the oppressor. Hence, some Black middle class people began to speak in an exaggerated upper class form of English in order to be more acceptable to white racists.
Slavery on American soil was much different from slavery anywhere else. Dark skinned people were bought and sold and institutions were established in America. These institutions made Black slaves accept English names and if one were to be accepted in America’s white upper class society they had to sound like upper class whites in pronunciations. This caused a split personality of speaking like a proper English gentleman in such an exaggerated way as to sound laughable and an obvious absurdity, but done in a way to be acceptable to white racists.
When Africans were kidnapped to America they could not understand the English language, nor would slave owners permit them an education. There developed a Black dialect that incorporated the sounds and words of various African tongues into what we often hear today and that which has been characterized as “Black English.” Blacks were told what to do in a language they did not understand. For example, if you’re Black the word “ask” is often pronounced “axe,” and consonants are often removed. Another example includes such phrases as “Sho-nuff” for “sure enough.” These simple examples show a connection to Africa because final consonants are missing from many West African languages, and hence the pronunciations became a specific dialect.
Speaking in any dialect, other than accepted English, was often viewed as a sign of inferiority, yet English itself comes in different forms. Southern English is different from northern English, and the English has hundred of French words and others that are mispronounced. Is one dialect more superior to another—absolutely not, but this was the idea perpetuated by many racists. As black slaves were brought to America they were forced to speak a language that was not their own. As time went on Black dialect became associated with the lower classes in the black community, and even black middle-class families tried to distance themselves from these pronunciations.
A well-rounded individual should be able to move in and out of languages and dialects as the situation calls for. Martin Luther King could do this. People in the ghetto should be educated, but this education cannot be along the lines of white supremacy. It would be well for Blacks in San Antonio to learn to speak “standard” English, while keeping their cultural pride in the language of their community, and at the same time learn Spanish or some other language. It is obvious that the more languages you know the better for your world view. There is nothing wrong with Black dialect, but knowing when to speak it is important when living in a racialized society full of people that know nothing of history. Speaking extremely proper often makes one look ignorant, ignorant to the ways of white supremacy and its dominating and oppressive influences. “THAT BE THE WAY IT IS.”
