Nineteen Fifty-Six Vol. 2 No. 5

“But the defense did a good job of making sure there
were no African American jurors in this trial,’” Rigoglioso
wrote.
That is one example of how speaking AAVE has caused
prejudice in the lives of Black Americans.
The origins of AAVE and the discrimination Black
Americans have recieved for speaking it is why it is
considered problematic that non-Black people profit from
appropriating it. Non-Black singers, rappers, actors, social
media stars and more have been accused of using AAVE to
gain fame, as it makes them seem ‘cool’ or ‘funny.’ These
people are often defended by those who claim they grew
up around people who use AAVE, they are from New York,
or by simply not seeing an issue. The problem with this
is it ignores the history behind AAVE and does not give
credit to the Black Americans it originated from.
Kahlil Greene, a popular social media educator and Yale
graduate, made videos discussing the history of AAVE,
the problematic uses of it by non-Black people, and why
the Black community often “gate-keeps” it and other
aspects of Black culture.
“Black people in America, specifically, have been racialized
on the idea that we are inherently lazy, poor, uneducated,
or criminal. Not all people of color are stereotyped in this
way, and thus our use of AAVE has been stigmatized as
sloppy, unprofessional or ignorant. And that is simply
not the case for non-Black people who are seen as funny,
sensational, or cool when they use it,” Greene said.
Greene further talked about the issues that arise when
these non-Black creators profit off of Black culture like
using a ‘Blaccent,’ recreating Black creators work such
as Tik Tok dances, and creating a Black caricature but
do not credit or give back to the Black community that
originated it.
“When you inform yourself about Black American history,
and you look at gatekeeping in context, you will find that
the imitation of Black culture by non-Black people has
more often led to erasure and exploitation than inclusion
and reciprocation,” Greene said.
“In countless cases, Black innovators and creatives
are smudged out for the sake of rewarding non-Black
performers of our culture to the point that if I even point
out that one of these celebrities is using Black culture,
that I get looked at as if I’m irrational even though I am
100% right,” Greene said.
Misconceptions of AAVE and people who do not
understand the importance of it and its history will always
exist as long as there continues to be no education on
the subject. In 1996, the Oakland California school board
passed a resolution that acknowledged the use of AAVE
amongst its over half population of Black students and a
plan to utilize it to aid the students with their struggle of
learning standard English.
According to Alexander Russo for The Grade, Oakland’s
decision was supported by linguists and practices of
using children’s home dialect to help them learn standard
English which has been successful in the past. Despite
this, Oakland’s resolution was disapproved of by average
people, celebrities, and media publications. This included
Black people as well, like Jesse Jackson and Maya Angelou.
Most of the opposition was based on opinions rooted
in racism or misinformation. Oakland carried out the
resolution but did it under a different name for less media
attention. This was the last time a large-scale attempt
was made to incorporate AAVE into teaching standard
English in schools.
Education is a key factor missing in the conversation
surrounding AAVE, as it is in many other aspects of Black
culture that are undermined or misunderstood.
Schools would need to be involved in order to allow the
decades of research done by linguists on AAVE to become
common knowledge. Until then, change can start with
educating oneself on the matter and staying woke on the
history of AAVE.
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