Recently, I re-listened to an interview with writer/director Ryan Coogler (Fruitvale Station, Creed, Black Panther) and writer Aaron Covington (Creed) on the Podcast, “Denzel Washington is the Greatest Actor of All Time Period,” which is hosted by W. Kamau Bell and Kevin Avery.
Across these four professional, creative, confident, compelling Black men, I heard a diversity of English dialectal differences that prompted me to think deeply about the social, political, and historical ramifications of dialect, and Black English Vernacular (BEV) in particular.
Recently on here, I explored the non-standard dialect into which I was born and raised, Western Pennsylvania English Vernacular…or Pittsburghese. I did this because of my experience and familiarity, and to set up the critical premise that any dialect of a language, be it the defined “standard” variation or any number of other non-standard derivatives, is legitimate and complete. From a cognitive-linguistic perspective, no variation of a language is better or worse…just different, in specific and rule-bound ways.
But we’re humans. We’re social and tribal. We’re judgmental. We don’t like to feel uncomfortable and, for the most part, we naturally gravitate to systems, hierarchies, and sub-group delineations.
So…Black English Vernacular, also known as African American English Vernacular (AAEV) or the now culturally dated and connotatively divisive Ebonics.
BEV, as would ANY non-standard vernacular, differs from Standard American English across all aspects of language: Phonology (the sounds of speech), morphology (forming words), semantics (vocabulary), syntax (creating sentences and stories), and prosody (the melody, intonation, rhythm, and other non-verbal aspects of communication). Additionally, there are historical and social conventions associated with BEV and the Black community. One more layer of complexity. There exist regional variations on BEV which vary so extensively from other regional variations that mutual understanding between two speakers without code-switching would prove challenging if not impossible.
A person can have a very “thick” regional BEV accent, meaning that they are using many of the features, or a very “mild” regional BEV accent, meaning that they are using relatively few aspects. Furthermore, most folks code-switch from listener to listener. That is, a person might use Standard American English with a principal or supervisor, a mild regional BEV dialect with acquaintances or school friends, and a very heavy regional BEV dialect with grandparents or close friends, or even differing BEV or other dialects with family dispersed across the continent. So, dialect usage depends upon person AND context, and different people make more or less conscious decisions to code-switch depending upon context.
This isn’t easy to grasp, but stick with me. It’s not that complicated either.
The origins of BEV are a matter of debate. I can’t find a consistent, definitive lineage or theory. Which doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist, but rather that my research was superficial. However, there is no question that BEV has its origins in the various African people, with their disparate mother tongues, enslaved and brought to the West Indies and soon-to-be United States.
And, as with all languages, BEV is not static. It is a dynamic, living language that grows, diversifies, and changes across history and generations. The BEV used today throughout many urban environments is assuredly informed by the civil rights and black power movements as well as more recent trends and events.
So, what do we know to this point?
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- Relatively few people are born with Standard American English (SAE) as their mother tongue, and fewer yet use pristine SAE consistently.
- The language of our public and most private schools as well as admissions and high-stakes standardized testing is SAE.
- No variation of English is linguistically any better or worse than another.
Also, we must seriously consider the following: the language of the very assessments and curricula with which society makes decisions regarding a person’s intelligence, potential, worth, and acceptance is NOT the primary dialect of most people taking them.
But I’ve traveled down a tangent here.
Back to that podcast.
The four men speaking moved effortlessly across the continuum of SAE and BEV. Additionally, because each live in and hail from different regions, cities, and families, dialectal contributions varied to the level of idiolect. That is, the unique dialect of an individual person. But Coogler. He intrigued me the most. His idiolect leaned heavily on BEV and, being from Oakland, California, additional regional contributions. His accent was “thick,” and…his language was, among his peers, the most poetic, insightful, expansive, and conceptually complex.
Now, if you’ve made it this far and if you’re reading me in the first place, it likely comes as no surprise to you that a person can communicate using thick “Ebonics” and be the most linguistically profound among a group of relaxed, bright, creative people.
The following might not come as a surprise either. I’m quoting here from a textbook, “Communication Disorders in the Classroom: An Introduction for Professionals in School Settings,” by William O. Haynes, Michael J. Moran, and Rebeka H. Pindzola in a chapter illuminating dialectal continua, “Cazden (1970) examined African-American children and found that they used a street register, which is a relaxed manner of talking to their peers at school and on the street. They also used a school register when addressing authority figures in the school environment. Interestingly, speakers of school register used shorter sentences, were less syntactically complex, were more disfluent, and had quite different content as compared to speakers of the street register.” (p. 203) We can assume that “street register” equates to heavier BEV and “school register” to lighter BEV and increased SAE.
Each of us are more complex, creative, profound, and able to communicate the depth and completeness of our thoughts in our mother tongue. There are certainly people who are multi-lingual, multi-dialectal, or even unilingual who achieve native or near-native fluency with a second language or dialect. However, our mother tongue allows us most freedom with least cognitive effort. Makes sense right? When you’re communicating in your first language and first dialect, it’s reflexive…you don’t need to think about anything but the actual thoughts. But when you’re communicating in a second language or dialect, particularly if you acquired them later in life, you need to make mental transformations and interpretations, vocabulary choices and lexical decisions before you even speak.
So what’s my point?
Our entire society rests on systems that reward fluency with Standard American English. That is, people born into SAE as mother tongue, or born into enough wealth or proximity to wealth to ensure the proper location, education, and preparation for fluency with SAE and mastery of SAE-based standardized assessment.
It’s important to again illuminate the fact that all dialectal variations of ANY language are valid and equal. However, it is also true that Standard American English is valued as “best,” and in many cases, “the only acceptable language” across our academic, political, corporate, and professional environments. What we, as educators, parents, clinicians, community leaders, and influencers do with that information will impact the individuals within our reach. I only ask that we think about the messages we communicate to our children, and to each other.
Is it possible to interact with students and communities whose mother tongues do not align with the standard dialect of our schools and institutions without communicating, “Your language is wrong/bad and thus makes you less intelligent, employable, and generally worthy?”
Assuredly, yes.
How?
I can only communicate how I might approach a single interaction. But keep in mind, it isn’t about one interaction. One lesson. It’s about how we interact with individuals, across an entire relationship, who do not look, act, or sound like us and/or what is deemed “standard.” It’s every little interaction, adding up to create an immense impact. But if I had to answer the question, I would say, perhaps, “Your language is different than the language of our schools and institutions. It is valid and beautiful. Here at school, we can use our relaxed language to communicate with each other, to socialize and explain concepts to each other. However, Standard American English is the language of our texts and tests and it will prepare you for the world you will enter that, often enough, deems SAE preferable if not imperative. I believe that is wrong, and we can discuss that at greater length if and/or when you wish. But, it is the world in which we currently live that, while I strive to change it, will STILL demand you have fluency with Standard American English. So, in your written assignments, graded presentations, and assessments, I will require SAE and will offer suggestions and corrections to help you master that dialect.”
The second message takes more time. Requires that we consider our impact on the children and individuals under our influence. Demands that we be safe, trustworthy, accepting leaders. Also, it requires, often enough, that we think about our own personal biases regarding language and culture.
All of that is…hard.
But not nearly as hard as the world will be on our students if they are not prepared AND supported in their journeys of self-esteem and discovery.
-G
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