What do you think about AAVE-- African American Vernacular English, being used by white people?

I'm curious, your thoughts.
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Comments

  • Heavily dependent on context, as with any slang or dialect that belongs to a specific group. Beyond that, not something I'm qualified to talk about.
  • I'm decidedly casual about words. There aren't any that are off-limits, for me. My roommates call me 'massah', so I'm probably a little bit more desensitized to racism than most?

    Arbre-Today at 7:27 PM

    You're a vindictive lil unicorn
    ---------------------------

    Lartus-Today at 7:16 PM

    oh wait, toz is famous

    Karhast-Today at 7:01 PM

    You're a singularity of fucking awfulness Toz
    ---------------------------
    Didi's voice resonates across the land, "Yay tox."
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    Ictinus11/01/2021

    Block Toz
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    limToday at 10:38 PM


    you disgust me
    ---------------------------
    (Web): Bryn says, "Toz is why we can't have nice things."

  • It's perfectly fine. If you're using it with bad intent, that's one thing, but just using it? Nothing wrong with that.
    image
    Haven
  • Being half and half, I would have to say it takes a lot to get me riled up. I left a clan once because someone was blantantly using the N word, which I hate. Other than that, I don't really care how you want to talk. From Michigan and wanna use a southern accent? Go for it. Not from Boston but you moved there and picked up the words, sure.
    AryanneFurtumHavenTeaniMephistoles
  • Since this thread is probably started by what I said on Shunt, I'll throw in my $0.02: It's not for anyone who isn't black. Further, I think it's fucked behavior to do it. I'm not going to spend all day arguing or defending my opinions. I'll call it out and then permanently remove myself from that situation.
    Toz said:

    I'm decidedly casual about words. There aren't any that are off-limits, for me. My roommates call me 'massah', so I'm probably a little bit more desensitized to racism than most?

    Are you black? If not, I gotta say that's a super racist thing to say and do. And if you're white, then I am even more grossed out by this. White people making jokes about slavery?? Grosssss and also a terribly unoriginal and unfunny joke.

    I once killed a humgii, y'know.

    JSYK she/her pronouns!
    MephistolesHavenTrager
  • Samp said:


    Toz said:

    I'm decidedly casual about words. There aren't any that are off-limits, for me. My roommates call me 'massah', so I'm probably a little bit more desensitized to racism than most?

    Are you black? If not, I gotta say that's a super racist thing to say and do.
    What does the color of my skin have to do with anything?

    Arbre-Today at 7:27 PM

    You're a vindictive lil unicorn
    ---------------------------

    Lartus-Today at 7:16 PM

    oh wait, toz is famous

    Karhast-Today at 7:01 PM

    You're a singularity of fucking awfulness Toz
    ---------------------------
    Didi's voice resonates across the land, "Yay tox."
    ---------------------------

    Ictinus11/01/2021

    Block Toz
    ---------------------------

    limToday at 10:38 PM


    you disgust me
    ---------------------------
    (Web): Bryn says, "Toz is why we can't have nice things."

    FurtumHavenPeriluna
  • Is it really harming you though how people talk in their own private homes? To each their own really.
    SlypheTozAryanneFaerahFurtumTeaniXavinAliceMephistoles
  • Wikipedia has something to say: Color Blindness wiki

    Here's a solid quote: "Critics allege that majority groups use practices of color-blindness as a means of avoiding the topic of racism and accusations of racial discrimination..."

    And that's exactly what's happening right now. You said something I thought was racist, I called it out, and you brought up color blindness.

    lmgtfy
    I once killed a humgii, y'know.

    JSYK she/her pronouns!
    Valenae
  • @Aren No, I'm definitely not thinking it harms me especially because I'm white. He also brought it from his home and put it on this forum, so it's not like it's private anymore.
    I once killed a humgii, y'know.

    JSYK she/her pronouns!
  • edited June 2014
    Samp said:

    Since this thread is probably started by what I said on Shunt, I'll throw in my $0.02: It's not for anyone who isn't black. Further, I think it's fucked behavior to do it. I'm not going to spend all day arguing or defending my opinions. I'll call it out and then permanently remove myself from that situation.

    Is talking "white" only for white people? Would you call out a black person for speaking like a posh British person? Deciding who can and cannot speak in certain ways is a silly, useless, and self serving exercise. it's more about feeling good about your own cultural enlightenment than it is about progress or improving anything. There is nothing wrong with young white, hispanic, or asian men (or women) who think there is something cool about black culture and want to talk like that.

    Edit: Nor is there anything wrong about using that sort of language for RP purposes.
    image
    Furtum
  • @Samp But he didn't go calling someone here 'massa', he gave an example. @Mephistoles has a good point. Because I have darker skin god forbid I ever walk into a country bar and start line dancing and hooting. That's for white people right?
    MephistolesAarbrokIngramAngweAliceTrager
  • AarbrokAarbrok Breaking things...For Science San Diego, CA
    I dont know what all you crackers are talking about, im a jew...so that makes me Arabic...even though im Irish as well, but I suppose ultimately could have came from a line of turks who settled as criminals fleeing from spain in Ireland, so I mean.....tracing back my family tree, I have discovered I can essentially be offensive to numerous groups because I have the rights to...

    But all in all its the queers who really grind my gears. (Especially the Black ones)
    NOT REALLY...

    People need to uh...stop trying to represent other groups, its kinda ridiculous when people feel entitled to defend things, its like a subconscious trigger to protect some sort of deeply ingrained insecurity of their own discomfort.

    NOTE: I forgot where I was going on this rant, been up 36 hours.
    Simmah down, that is a good start on the protect the discomforts talk.
    AryanneFurtumTozArekaAlice
  • IshinIshin Retired Lurker Virginia
    I think that 'racism' is heavily defined by who you are and what the intent is behind your words.

    For example, someone who grows up in culture A can say pretty much whatever he wants to anyone else from culture A. Nobody gets offended. It's just how people talk. But that person from culture A talks like that to someone from culture B, and suddenly the shit has hit the fan.

    I've been called plenty of names plenty of times, and I don't really find any of them particularly offensive.

    I mean, if someone drops the n-word on someone that it's clearly going to offend for whatever reason, yeah. Shame on him. If he uses it because it's part of his every-day mode of speech, and someone gets offended...shame on you for letting it hurt you.
    Tell me and I forget, teach me and
    I remember, involve me and I
    learn.
    -Benjamin Franklin
    Teani
  • Samp said:

    @Aren No, I'm definitely not thinking it harms me especially because I'm white. He also brought it from his home and put it on this forum, so it's not like it's private anymore.

    Yep.

    If I call my friend a nerd (let's play forum filter friendly!), that has certain connotations/meanings/intentions behind it. I'm joking, it's not got any bite to it.

    If I point at some random scrawny kid in a bar and call him a nerd, that's got a whole 'nother load of meaning.

    Similarly? If I drop the n-word on a friend who's black, that's one thing. If I start yelling about how n-words are ruining the world in public, that's a whole 'nother can of beans (and racist).

    Thirdly, if I want to speak Gullah, or Spanish, or communicate in binary, how're you going to tell me that I'm doing it wrong because of the color of my skin? How does that even have any bearing at all? I wasn't aware language/dialect was color-coded.

    Arbre-Today at 7:27 PM

    You're a vindictive lil unicorn
    ---------------------------

    Lartus-Today at 7:16 PM

    oh wait, toz is famous

    Karhast-Today at 7:01 PM

    You're a singularity of fucking awfulness Toz
    ---------------------------
    Didi's voice resonates across the land, "Yay tox."
    ---------------------------

    Ictinus11/01/2021

    Block Toz
    ---------------------------

    limToday at 10:38 PM


    you disgust me
    ---------------------------
    (Web): Bryn says, "Toz is why we can't have nice things."

    ArenAryanneIshinFurtumTeaniPeriluna
  • I think Mephistole's argument is false equivalence. I think that exchanging black for white casually is the harmful side of color blindness.

    I also think that line dancing and hooting and all of that Texas/Rancher stuff is a hugely borrowed culture from latinos: Country music, cowboy booys, pearl snap shirts with southwestern designs. I'm from a ranch/rodeo family, and I feel like I grew up with that understanding. Again, I think this is false equivalence.
    I once killed a humgii, y'know.

    JSYK she/her pronouns!
  • edited June 2014
    By that logic, black people should be given higher status and when talking to them you should be walking on eggshells. White people...pah, say what you want about them honkie! It's ok to be 'casual' when addressing them but you can't with a black person?

    Wat?
    AryanneTozIngramIshinFurtumAarbrokMephistoles
  • image

    Arbre-Today at 7:27 PM

    You're a vindictive lil unicorn
    ---------------------------

    Lartus-Today at 7:16 PM

    oh wait, toz is famous

    Karhast-Today at 7:01 PM

    You're a singularity of fucking awfulness Toz
    ---------------------------
    Didi's voice resonates across the land, "Yay tox."
    ---------------------------

    Ictinus11/01/2021

    Block Toz
    ---------------------------

    limToday at 10:38 PM


    you disgust me
    ---------------------------
    (Web): Bryn says, "Toz is why we can't have nice things."

    AryanneIshinFurtumAarbrokBraeAliceMephistoles
  • @Samp
    Samp said:

    Since this thread is probably started by what I said on Shunt, I'll throw in my $0.02: It's not for anyone who isn't black.

    Here is one of the weirdest things for me. I know you mean well. But you have the same argument as people like the KKK. "Black culture isn't for whites".

    If you find yourself agreeing with the Klan on racial issues, it might be time to re-examine what you're saying. I know you think you're being enlightened about these cultural issues, but that's your argument. "Black culture is for blacks". Congratulations. You're using a racial separatist argument.
    image
    TozArenSlypheFurtumAarbrokHavenTeaniAngweAlice
  • /drops mic. Walks off stage.
    MephistolesAryanneAarbrokFurtum
  • edited June 2014
    pocproblems.tumblr.com/post/45090135407/reminder-to-non-black-ppl-that-us-appropriating-aave-is

    Someone who is part-black/part-white and a linguistics student sharing their views as it relates to their experiences: darthveghder.tumblr.com/post/8812917295/dialectal-privilege
    I once killed a humgii, y'know.

    JSYK she/her pronouns!
  • IngramIngram Alaska
    edited June 2014
    Edit: I can edit my posts too , Samp. Mephistoles DOES have a point, and he IS "serious with that one".
    IshinMephistoles
  • @Samp. Yes. I am being serious. You used an argument that racial separatists use. I want an explanation for why it's a good argument when you use it but a bad one when they use it.
    image
  • edited June 2014
    I came here to essentially post Mephistoles' second to last comment.

    No one has the right to tell anyone else how to act, so long as it doesn't harm them directly, and I'm for goddamned sure saying 'only these people are allowed to behave this way' is a right no one has over another. Barring maybe your own children, while they are children.
  • Samp said:

    pocproblems.tumblr.com/post/45090135407/reminder-to-non-black-ppl-that-us-appropriating-aave-is

    Someone who is part-black/part-white and a linguistics student sharing their views as it relates to their experiences: darthveghder.tumblr.com/post/8812917295/dialectal-privilege

    You realize you're now making generalizations about an entire group of people you've not met individually before based off a sample size of one? That's uh. Also racist.
    AngweAlice
  • MoireanMoirean Chairmander Portland
    This thread is getting ugly fast. I think both sides are using hyperbole to bad effect, and it makes me a bit uncomfortable to read. Cultural appropriation is a rather volatile topic, and there are certainly negative examples of it being used in pop culture, such as when we see singers like Miley Cyrus or Katie Perry use an entire sub-culture or race as a theme or prop in a music video. I suspect this is what Samp thought was going on with the mob dialogue, and it is a somewhat odd and interesting concept to consider - in a fantasy world where races and cultures exist outside of the real-world origins, what kind of connotations are carried over if things are used (such as certain dialects, facial features, iconography, etc) which originate from specific sub-cultures?
    Furtum
  • edited June 2014
    Obviously not all black people find white people using AAVE racist. If some black people do, then my use of AAVE is still offensive and inappropriate to them. That's why I don't use it.

    My opinion isn't shared by the Klan, and jumping to that is pretty extreme and laughable. I have zero ambition to segregate white and black people further. I honestly can't believe I'm having to defend myself after being accused of being KKK sympathetic in response to me calling out racism. This is so out of proportion and skews everything I was saying so far. This thread isn't going to go anywhere.
    I once killed a humgii, y'know.

    JSYK she/her pronouns!
  • TozToz
    edited June 2014
    [quote]
    If others don’t speak it, it remains “the way black people talk”, and in addition to the already-present racism, people continue to think of it as simply wrong, including the native speakers.
    [/quote]
    The 2nd to last line from the blog quoted. I agree with it entirely - if you want to talk like that, the color of your skin should have 0 bearing on it.

    It's no different from people trying to change how they talk in any of the other countless ways - as a personal example? I take pains to NOT talk with the deep South accent I started with, because I don't like how it sounds. I try to enunciate a bit more cleanly, and I only twang when I'm tired. If you want to drawl and sound like that, I don't care if you're from the North, be it just above the Mason-Dixon or North Korea - go for it. If I want to talk jive, I'm gonna talk jive, and unicorns anyone who tries to tell me I don't have the 'right' to talk that way, or any way, just because I'm white, or black, or green, or yellow, or orange or tickle-me-pink.

    EDIT: (Not deleting anything, adding more!)
    Your argument, @Samp, is that because a 'black person' might find it offensive, you can't do it. That's a poor argument. Breakdown of this statement:
    - Racial features have no bearing on judging moral rightness/wrongness
    - Skin color also has no bearing on how much being offended counts for.
    --A white person can be offended by racially charged language just as much as a black person can
    --Similarly, it's irritating that something that was done by 'my' race years ago to 'their' race years ago, long before I was even born, is used to dictate what is and is not appropriate for me to say/do. Father's side? Too poor to own slaves. Mother's side? Came to 'murica in the 50's and so far as I'm aware, the slavery issue over there's got nada to do with skin color.
    ---In the words of Shaggy, 'It wasn't me'. So please quit restricting me/treating me like it is, because I am/am not a certain color. There is absolutely no logical reason that can be provided for it, and it does in fact make the problem of racism WORSE by establishing a them vs us dynamic, when there isn't really a need for it.

    Arbre-Today at 7:27 PM

    You're a vindictive lil unicorn
    ---------------------------

    Lartus-Today at 7:16 PM

    oh wait, toz is famous

    Karhast-Today at 7:01 PM

    You're a singularity of fucking awfulness Toz
    ---------------------------
    Didi's voice resonates across the land, "Yay tox."
    ---------------------------

    Ictinus11/01/2021

    Block Toz
    ---------------------------

    limToday at 10:38 PM


    you disgust me
    ---------------------------
    (Web): Bryn says, "Toz is why we can't have nice things."

    Furtum
  • IngramIngram Alaska
    edited June 2014
    Samp said:

    If some black people do, then my use of AAVE is still offensive and inappropriate to them. That's why I don't use it.

    By this logic, if something offends someone, you shouldn't do it. And nearly everything a human does offends SOMEONE on the planet. So we shouldn't do anything.
    MephistolesTeani
  • edited June 2014
    Okay. So. I'm a minority and I actually find it insulting when non-minorities get offended on my behalf. I can get offended on my own behalf. I certainly don't need someone to do it for me. It's one thing to be like "dude that's not cool" when someone is being overtly racist, I think everyone should do that because bullies are enabled by silence. It's another thing entirely to get offended FOR me... Because I am MORE THAN CAPABLE of doing it for myself and I certainly don't need some non-minority "championing" for me.
    IngramIshinArenAngweAliceFurtumMephistoles
  • @Moirean Yeah, this is definitely way beyond what I was trying to bring up on shunt, and I don't think any of this thread is actually relevant to that anymore. I think the intent is always to be well beyond RL problems of race/gender etc., but we still manifest those things all the time. Plenty of the game designers actively talk about how parts of the game are inspired by RL cultures and places, so of course that shows up in dialogue too. I don't know why it's such a problem if I just wanted to have a conversation about it. I think it's good to be critical of our intent and goals. If it's not racist, it's not racist. If it's racist, it's racist. If it's murky territory and someone wants to have a conversation, why not?

    What I originally said on shunt was just asking if anyone else thought this was happening, and it immediately snowballed into this GIANT THING.

    The other thing that's kind of blowing my mind, is that I never said I was offended or upset. These emotions are 100% projected onto me. I agree it's gross to be offended or upset on behalf of someone else, and I work not to do that.
    I once killed a humgii, y'know.

    JSYK she/her pronouns!
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