Talking Black in America

On this page I answer some questions about and reflect on the documentary “Talking Black in America.”

Questions

What is code switching?

Code switching is changing the way you speak based on the context or the audience to whom you are speaking.

What are some reasons people code switch?

The main reason someone code switches is to fit in with or be included by a particular group or class of people. For instance, at one’s job, they might use more professional, formal, or standard English, but with friends, family, or those within a specific community, they would likely use whatever vernacular is common to show membership with that group.

What are some ways linguistic discrimination manifests?

In schools, when students are corrected on or penalized because of their speech, they internalize that to mean that the way that their family or community speaks is somehow backward, incorrect, or unintelligent.

When language is taught, it is often taught in terms of right and wrong. Anything that is not the standard English that is taught must therefore be incorrect. This leads to the perception of vernacular varieties English as being “a collection of errors,” lacking structure, or otherwise less correct than standard English.

How is “John be studying Saturday nights” different from “John is studying Saturday nights?”

The use of the ininflected be in the first sentence denotes that the action is repeated, extended, or habitual. In the second sentence, the action is simply a present action that is currently occuring. So, the first sentence would mean something like “John always studies on Saturday nights,” whereas the second sentence could mean something like “For now, John studies on Saturday nights.”

In what way(s) was the U.S. slave population’s linguistic experience distinct from other immigrant groups?

Slaves were linguistically isolated when they were captured and brough to America, meaning that they had no-one to speak their native languages with. Once they got to America, they were not taught to read or write, causing further isolation.

What is Gullah?

Gullah is a creole language spoken by African Americans in coastal North Carolina and Georgia. It shows a lot of similarity to Carribean creoles like Bahamian Creole.

What is a Creole language?

A creole language is a language that emerges between speakers who do not have any common language.

What was the “Great Migration”?

Because of Jim Crow laws, lynching, and lack of opportunity, Black Americans migrated from the Southern United States to the North. This lasted from the 1910s until the 1970s. Through this “exodus,” the varieties of English that emerged in the Southeast spread across the country.

What was different about linguistic isolation in the North compared to the South?

In the South, much of the Black population lived in rural areas. Segregation was harsh, but they still ended up shopping at the same stores and living in the same areas as White people. In the North, Black people ended up living in very concentrated urban areas almost completely separated from White people. This isolation led to the development of distinct linguistic cultures in these Black communities.

What did you learn about hip hop from this documentary?

Part of the origin of hip hop was the use of “verbal one-upsmanship.” Young people would develop skills in spontaneous language to compete with each other directly.

There is also this common perception of hip hop as influencing Black English, but in reality it is just making use of aspects already present in the vernacular.

How do Black churches differ linguistically in interactions with parishioners?

Because Black people were historically disallowed to learn how to read and write, Black churches had to rely more on speech. Call and response is heavily utilized, and there tends to be more improvization. Black preachers also tend to utilize bodily movements to enhance their speech.

How is African American language changing?

Speakers in rural areas are increasingly adopting more urban speech to align to the cultural standard. Large cities like Atlanta create new language trends that rural speakers tend to follow.

Highlight one insight that surprised or resonated with you.

In many ways, the performance of blackness in language seems to be more about aspects like cadence and rhythm rather than word choice or syntax.

It is also interesting that historically, White speakers would imitate Black speech in a demeaning or derogatory way, but increasingly, young people have adopted Black speech as a way to embrace the culture.