Why do so many black people talk in a distorted version of the English language?

Question

They say things like:

"Wassup my n*gg*r"
"Fo sho dog"
"Shut your grill dog"


How can blacks not expect to be dehumanized by whites when so many of them refer to eachother as dogs and n*gg**s? Not all blacks talk like this, but a significant portion of them do. Don't you think they would get more respect from white people if they learned to respect themselves first?

Answer 1

So funny, my friends and I were talking about this yesterday. Coming from a show at Morehouse there was this man on the train, yelling, cussin, acting a damn fool, and teasing this white woman on the train. I can't stand it when there's that one idiot who has to make black people look so dumb and ignorant. Unfortunately, I don't know how to answer your question. I'm half black, and I don't even understand it. Also, look where they come from, their upbringings. My family doesn't allow that foolishness in their home. Everyone, talks and acts like that have common sense. However, everybody werent as blessed to be brought up that way; I've seen some mothers and fathers out here just as ghetto and as worse as their kids...that's where they get it from, and I guess thats all they know.

And as for some of the answers i've read, don't call it a dialect, and don't blame it on slang, the last thing my race needs is a damn excuse to hide behind. There's no excuse for it....it's just DUMB. Let them throw the "N word" around because when they do it that's exactly what they look like. It's so ignorant. As for the Bill Cosby approach, good thinking, but I bet even that wouldn't work. It would take a much bigger influence than one man to go up against the parents who don't make sense, these rappers who don't make sense, etc. because one thing I learned....."N*gg*s are stubborn.

Answer 2

You may realize that within the black to black community these phrases they use are just a means of looking cool and being cool, these words when used by a black person does not have the same meaning as when used by a white person.

If you are a movie fan you may realize that in some of the black shows,(The movie starring Chris Rock and Regina King, entitled DOWN TO EARTH ) is a good example. If a white person use the same words to a black person that a black person just used to another black person, he may get a nasty response.

Some white dudes are able to pull this off though, that is if they have been hanging out with the black folks and are able to catch just the right amount of the black people's slang to look cool, otherwise he may end up being just plain stupid.

This does not mean they are to be disrespected by anyone, as people (including some white folks ) do understand and are able to accept it for what it really is(just another means of communication by some young folks who want to be hip). A 'Hey Dawg' may just be a means of showing respect for one's kin so there is no disrespect being shown there.

The older black folks do not talk like that. There are also some slangs used by white folks that the black would not even think of using.

Another thing. I mean no disrespect here but maybe you do need to take off your 'Rose coloured glass' it is obvious that you really do understand what situations these slangs are used in and that their is not disrespect meant'

Hope this helped in answering your question.

Answer 3

Funny that you would take the time to zoom in on those stereotypes. Were you truly trying to understand black people? Do you honestly believe that a person's manner of speech is justification to dehumanize or disrespect him or her? Furthermore, there are a lot of whites who cannot speak properly or put a decent sentence together. Now, try to deny that! While I don't condone negative speech, I think it's lame and ridiculous for whites to use this as an excuse to discriminate against blacks. People think up too many excuses to discriminate. One white woman once told me that she disliked black people because when she was a child, a black girl pulled her hair. Never mind all the little white boys who did the same thing to her, but she didn't hate them. Instead of looking for reasons to hate, why not look or reasons to unite people?

Answer 4

I'm black and I definitely don't speak like that. It's a form of slang colloquial between black culture for those who choose to speak that way. They don't speak that way with a job interviewer, or to the president, or during a college discussion. Don't you change your speech when your talking to your pal from way-back-when and when your talking with your boss? Why do New Yorkers speak to eachother in such a rough fashion? I've seen whites speak roughly, typically from Philadelphia, White Puerto Ricans, Chicagoans. That doesn't mean I treat them any less than they speak. When I was also in Israel, people spoke more rudely and in a rushed tone. But to them, it was probably normal. It doesn't give you reason to demean a person, and it definitely means that you are smarter or superior than them. Get your head straight.

Answer 5

You're stuck in the early 90's with those sayings. I talk like that because I want to, If I had to go somewhere where the language isn't accepted like a job interview i can easily change my whole style from top to bottom, even my dress code. its just slang, you cant expect everyone to talk the same or dress the same, I have dreads, i wear baggy clothes, I listen to rap, that doesn't mean I'm a criminal, that's just what i like to do, I understand it. Ive also put the uniform on and served this country in Iraq, i followed the army's standards with no problem, When a black person speaks in Ebonics its just the way we communicate with each other, we are not trying to separate ourselves. its just communication everyone has there own way.

Answer 6

Well, it seems you are ask'n a retorical questions, as to the receiving of respect.
White, black, brown, yellow etc. it don't matter and we don't have to make this a 'racial' thing at all. We are all part of the Human Race and in America, Americans! :-)

Could it be that people talk like this is because of uneducation?
What you hear people speaking growing up is the way you are gonna talk, unless you make deliberate changes thru educating yourself thru proper english. Remember that kind of speaking is contagious and very easy to learn because it makes one feel they are matching the right word with the right thought and sometimes they are, but it's just bad english.

Hey listen, none of us, atleast most of us, are not masters of english and we all have our faults but that is not an excuse to not try and improve our english so we, atleast, don't sound like a 'GangBanger'!LOL

Peace!

Answer 7

Well, it used to be that everyone in the United States who wasn't a White Anglo-Saxon Protestant tried to be as much like them as possible. In order to be acceptable, people of other ethnicities, religions, etc. adopted the cultural norms of the WASPS.

That's changed, and people of other ethnic (and religious, for that matter) groups have decided that they have no intention of becoming WASP-like.


Now, to be completely honest, I am most comfortable around African Americans who have not adopted the "hip hop" culture as being the defining culture for themselves. But then, I'm 50...and married to an African American who isn't "hip hop".

Answer 8

I definitely don't talk like that so it doesn't makes sense for someone to think it's ok to dehumanize me because of how someone I don't even associate with is talking. Also, no one goes around dehumanizing some poor or southern whites who also have bad slang. Same thing really goes for people of all races because they all have groups that use some sort of slang. It's silly to judge people by stereotypes because they really don't apply to everyone.

Answer 9

You sound very young and not well versed in the art of code switching. Do you mean to insinuate that Black folks talk in slang all the time? If you are then you really are out of control. Most time slang is used to irritate mainstream folks such as your self..looks like it worked. LMAO at "wanting more respect from white people"...again mistaken and arrogant in your white privilige.

Answer 10

Hmmm and Eminem does not rap using these words?? And NO its not a signigicant portion of us who speak like this..cheek! And if you look through history a lot of whites have not respected blacks this is not a new thing. Plus where I live I hear whites and asians using this same type of slang.