Danny Vinyard

I know, I know, I’m just a dumb stupid nigger, right? What do I know? I know I ain’t do wanna
get mad at those damn sheets, though. As a matter of fact, the only sheets I get mad at…I
tell you.”
(Putting sheet like KKK)
“Alright, boy, this what we gonna do: we gonna hate some niggers. That’s what we gonna do
today, we gonna hate that goddamn niggers, that’s all we gonna do is hate some niggers all
day. I don’t even know what a nigger is, but you know what, we gonna hate them. My cousin
Derek is in the pen right now, working next to a nigger, driving him nigger crazy!”
(Watch scene: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vk_ZNCeVWiY)
BE SAE
I ain’t do wanna Incorrect grammatical construction; “ain't”
usually substitutes “am not”, “isn’t”, “aren’t”
or “didn’t”
this what we gonna do No use of the auxiliary verb “to be”
we gonna hate No use of the auxiliary verb “to be”
pen Amer. slang for prison
nigger, nigga Slang word, usually with negative
connotation for African American, as well
used by Afro-Americans for “buddy”
Expressions and keywords in other dialogues:
“a'ight” or even only “ay” Alright
what you in for form of “to be” dropped
Cause in the joint, you the nigger Amer. Slang for prison
peckerwood Term used primarily in prisons regarding
skinheads, also racist term for white man
in general
don’t tell me this smell don’t remind Wrong grammatical use of the verb “to
you
do” ► don’t instead of doesn’t
Yo, wuz up D.? Hey, what’s up Derek?
Just take it easy on the brothers, ay? Term for black males, mostly used by
The brother
African Americans among each other
Cracker The opposite of the word “nigger”, an
insult to whites
(Watch another example in the scene on a basketball court:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lU5Qa4aYSA&feature=related)
In these dialogues the use of Black English emerges. In addition to the above mentioned
words and grammatical alterations, there is especially one characteristic standing out: the
phonology.
Listening to the dialogues (see link to “YouTube”), it is noticeable that Lamont and the other
Black English-speakers tend to lengthen the words, meaning to put a bigger emphasis on the
vowels in many words. Examples are: mad (maad), man (maan), right (riight), boy (booy).
The weakening of consonants at the end of some words is a very characteristic feature used
in Black English. Even though all native speakers of English have the tendency to reduce the
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