And my father's black but he never spake no ebonics.

Has similarities to many of the women on the Maury show, when they are repeating the same word over and over, they go into super fast rants using words I think are based in Ebonics and it just sounds like a shrieking mess.

OK, I know it's picky but here goes: I don't like the mannerisms affected by people in these slam poetry exhibitions. I don't really have a problem with what she's saying, I think, because when I see people take on those mannerisms, all I hear is, "blah, blah, blah". I realize she's trying to speak from the heart about an issue that's really important but I just can't get past the whole hand-gesturing-Ebonics thing. About the best way I can put how it makes me feel is with another quote from professor Carlin:

"Elvis was a bogus white guy with sex appeal and good looks who ripped off a lot of great black music, watered it down, and made it safe for lame whites who couldn’t handle the experience of raw, emotional black music."

That's pretty much exactly what I think of when I see hipsters attempting slam poetry.

@Sagemind and @Gallowflak

racists!

Tho really. Cultural background is a factor in whether you like his comedy.
His comedy is tailored for "ghetto" audiences.
You know, people who still watch BET and Lil Wayne.

The heavy usage of "Ebonics" and stereotypes is how he relates to the mostly black crowds he performs for.

He doesn't actually speak like that all the time.
Some people even called him out once for not being "ghetto" enough.

Yeah, it's dumb. I know.

Quite honestly, my theory is that people don't have a problem with homosexuality per se, it's that perception that homosexuality = weakness. It's that gender role reversal that has people scared IMO where boys act like girls and girls act like men. In all honesty. That's one thing I still don't really get about homosexuality. What exactly about being homosexual makes a man TALK like a girl? In all honesty, it's that stereotypical flamboyant, effeminate "fabulous" archetype that freaks people out. Chances are, you know someone who is homosexual but they simply act straight so you don't even know it. It's that perception that all homosexuals secretly dress up in BDSM attire and are fabulous interior decorators.

It's the same damned thing with black people. which stereotype causes the most fear for the average american? The assimilated black person who talks like a white person, or the guy dressed as a gangster with heavy ebonics-laden speech? IMO being black per se, or being homosexual per se has almost nothing to do with it. If a straight man started acting flamboyant and effeminate, people would be freaked out about that too. Kids with no strong male role models are perceived to be momma's boys and are picked on...it's the same thing.

Fight those stereotypes and I bet you anything people would accept homosexuality a lot more.

>> ^robdot:

i just dont understand why so many people care what gay people are doing? who gives a fuck? dont we all have other things to worry about? why do these people spend so much time concerned about who someone else loves?

I grew up in the days of "ain't is not a word" and lectures of the sort. Well, it's in the dictionary these days isn't it? Give it another generation or two and the "disapproved" bit will likely fade as well.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ain%27t

The only difference between being corrected for a "wrong" and starting a new ok or even right is the amount of time it's been done and how widespread it is. Compared to ebonics and valley speak which we all seem to have survived and which seem to have largely faded away this doesn't strike me as a threat to the language either. If people do like it who says we got to write the rules anyway? Language is what people use in the end, simple as that.

I disagree in the sense that if the gross level of mis-representation and outright 'caracature' nature of the presentation of believers was duplicated in relationship to someone's race then it would definitely be classified as hate speech. For example, if every single black person on TV was grotesquely caracatured as a melon eating, fried chicken chomping, ebonic spouting gangsta-pimp then no-one would have any problem labeling the writers as a bunch of racists.

IMHO if you deliberately portray a huge group of people using only the worst possible negative stereotypes then that's hate speech. Hate speech folks. It's not just for racists anymore.

>> ^campionidelmondo:
It doesn't really matter anyways. Whether they choose the lisp or not is totally moot. It is part of who they are so you should accept it as that. Some black people speak in ebonics, that doesn't mean you should scrutinize them for "insisting" to speak in that way.


Or how Christians utter phrases like Goshdarnit and Oh my gosh. I don't not agree with their ideological tendencies... but for Christ's sake, what about those of us who find no fault in blasphemy?

You can't agree or disagree with homosexuality. It's part of nature and nature is neither right nor wrong, it just is. Since gay people don't choose to be gay I could imagine that their lisps are also completely involuntary and that society pushes them into suppressing it until they are also openly comfortable with their sexuality.

It doesn't really matter anyways. Whether they choose the lisp or not is totally moot. It is part of who they are so you should accept it as that. Some black people speak in ebonics, that doesn't mean you should scrutinize them for "insisting" to speak in that way.

yeah i agree with you, especially as european languages come from indian.

lithuanians and londoners use the double negative, but the BBC doesn't.

but...

i do think it is "uneducated" to speak only in your "mother" accent.

learn a different accent and use that for business. Why should business adapt to 10923782937 accents? that makes no sense. educate yourself, learn how to talk in the business arena. NOBODY is born talking business english, even "whites" have to learn it.

I sleep with a trilingual linguistics graduate, and i speak lithuanian (the most archaic indoeuropean language still alive) so you know, i get your point. but i think "tolerance" goes too far into the realm of "impractical" and "lazy".

I used to teach swimming, and i would use a posh correct english accent in the health club and a broad south london accent in the public pools in the rough neighbourhoods. Why not?


In reply to this comment by SDGundamX:
I'm not against having a standardized vocabulary, spelling, or grammar. What was specifically the topic of the video that comment was a reply to was the uproar over a black teacher teaching kids that they were "uneducated" if they said "axe" instead of "ask." And it simply isn't true. It has nothing to do with education and everything to do with English having multiple dialects. And historically, the dialect spoken by white Americans has always been considered okay, regardless of how far from the supposed standard it is (which is why I brought up the Boston pronunciation of "car" as "ca-" and the non-existent Southern contraction "y'all") while the dialects of minorities such as Black Americans and Latin Americans has traditionally been frowned upon.

Thinking there is a standard English pronunciation is delusional. There are accepted standards (plural) of English, most of which are based on white, affluent speech. Now that English is an international language, however, that will surely change. Take India, for instance. They say things like:

"Open the air conditioner."

Instead of:

"Turn on the air conditioner."

Is it wrong? Not if everyone in India talks that way. As more countries embrace English and make their own personalized changes to the language you'll see less arguing about what is "educated" and "uneducated" English and more open acceptance of the fact that people who live in different places speak English differently--and get along just fine without needing "standard" English.

In reply to this comment by MINK:
i see nothing wrong with there being a "business english" standard, or "bbc english". Of course it's not ebonics or half spanish.

I learned Lithuanian to help me get work in Lithuania. I don't swear in front of new clients. I don't walk around talkin fakkin sarf landan aksent and insistin dat peeples rispek my rights, innit.

almost all jobs involve speaking to people, and therefore the way you speak is part of your job performance. What's wrong with that?

In the UK there was a trend for putting call centres in scotland because the scottish accent was judged to be the most trustworthy. What should I do, cry "discrimination!" and insist on more call centres in liverpool (an accent nobody can understand or trust)?

bear in mind i am not at all anti immigration, i just think that it's normal to have a separate language and etiquette for business, and there's no way that's going to be based on a fringe accent, it's gonna get melted down to "average".

People never used to say "gonna" on TV. Now they do. Things change. It's ok. There's many other ways to oppress minorities if that's what you want to do. Eradicating accent prejudice is never ever going to work.

I'm not against having a standardized vocabulary, spelling, or grammar. What was specifically the topic of the video that comment was a reply to was the uproar over a black teacher teaching kids that they were "uneducated" if they said "axe" instead of "ask." And it simply isn't true. It has nothing to do with education and everything to do with English having multiple dialects. And historically, the dialect spoken by white Americans has always been considered okay, regardless of how far from the supposed standard it is (which is why I brought up the Boston pronunciation of "car" as "ca-" and the non-existent Southern contraction "y'all") while the dialects of minorities such as Black Americans and Latin Americans has traditionally been frowned upon.

Thinking there is a standard English pronunciation is delusional. There are accepted standards (plural) of English, most of which are based on white, affluent speech. Now that English is an international language, however, that will surely change. Take India, for instance. They say things like:

"Open the air conditioner."

Instead of:

"Turn on the air conditioner."

Is it wrong? Not if everyone in India talks that way. As more countries embrace English and make their own personalized changes to the language you'll see less arguing about what is "educated" and "uneducated" English and more open acceptance of the fact that people who live in different places speak English differently--and get along just fine without needing "standard" English.

In reply to this comment by MINK:
i see nothing wrong with there being a "business english" standard, or "bbc english". Of course it's not ebonics or half spanish.

I learned Lithuanian to help me get work in Lithuania. I don't swear in front of new clients. I don't walk around talkin fakkin sarf landan aksent and insistin dat peeples rispek my rights, innit.

almost all jobs involve speaking to people, and therefore the way you speak is part of your job performance. What's wrong with that?

In the UK there was a trend for putting call centres in scotland because the scottish accent was judged to be the most trustworthy. What should I do, cry "discrimination!" and insist on more call centres in liverpool (an accent nobody can understand or trust)?

bear in mind i am not at all anti immigration, i just think that it's normal to have a separate language and etiquette for business, and there's no way that's going to be based on a fringe accent, it's gonna get melted down to "average".

People never used to say "gonna" on TV. Now they do. Things change. It's ok. There's many other ways to oppress minorities if that's what you want to do. Eradicating accent prejudice is never ever going to work.

i see nothing wrong with there being a "business english" standard, or "bbc english". Of course it's not ebonics or half spanish.

I learned Lithuanian to help me get work in Lithuania. I don't swear in front of new clients. I don't walk around talkin fakkin sarf landan aksent and insistin dat peeples rispek my rights, innit.

almost all jobs involve speaking to people, and therefore the way you speak is part of your job performance. What's wrong with that?

In the UK there was a trend for putting call centres in scotland because the scottish accent was judged to be the most trustworthy. What should I do, cry "discrimination!" and insist on more call centres in liverpool (an accent nobody can understand or trust)?

bear in mind i am not at all anti immigration, i just think that it's normal to have a separate language and etiquette for business, and there's no way that's going to be based on a fringe accent, it's gonna get melted down to "average".

People never used to say "gonna" on TV. Now they do. Things change. It's ok. There's many other ways to oppress minorities if that's what you want to do. Eradicating accent prejudice is never ever going to work.


In reply to this comment by SDGundamX:
One issue that no one has mentioned is the issue of power. When people talk about standard English in America, what they are usually really talking about is the English spoken by white, middle-class Americans. There's this unspoken assumption that if you don't speak like a white, middle-class American then you aren't educated. And that's really the tragedy of this story. Some of these kids might be capable of getting perfect scores on their SAT's but because they pronounce words differently than the minority group that is currently in power (white Americans) they'll be judged as somehow inferior on a job interview.

I just want to point out that there is no such thing as "standard English." There's British English, Australian English, Singaporean English, Indian English and a host of others. There's not even a "standard American English." There are many regional standards that have overlapping facets but still also have a lot of variation--the most important variation being pronunciation. Think about this--why is it in this clip the black children are considered uneducated for pronouncing ask as "ax" yet Boston children are not considered uneducated for pronouncing "car" as "ca-."

>> ^deathcow:
wtf why the downvotes

Well, since you asked, let's go back to your original quote (before you sarcastically edited it)...

"wow, Mos Def sounded much more intelligent on HHGTTG.... the "IQ 80" accent does not suit him"

The IQ 80 accent? As if everyone who speaks "ghetto" or uses slang must be unintelligent. No, Mos Def should go back to the corrupt and despicable school system of the ghetto (he grew up in Brooklyn) and learn himself some real English so us whiteys can understand him better! Then maybe he'll be more accepted into the mainstream media instead of being written off as another tokin' black guy for Uncle Sam to chuckle at. In reality, Mos Def is one of the leading underground hip-hop artists of our time, a man who actually has a message to his music, unlike 90% of the c"rap" that's out there talking about bling, guns and hoes. And as seen here, he's willing to speak his mind and say things in public that many people have thought but are too afraid (read: no balls) to say.

The accent doesn't "suit" him? Please. Do us a jig Mos! As if he's putting on some kind of act. Then to say he sounded more intelligent in some cheesy kiddy movie where he WAS acting, completely degrades what this man has accomplished in his lifetime - and believe me, HHGTTG is barely a blip on his radar.

On to the next quote...

"mos def might have a speech disorder, but luckily we can understand him alright.
cornell west.... who cares."

Speech disorder - pfft, yeah. Maybe he should start talking "more white" so that we can translate this foreign ebonic jibberish. See above.

Cornel West... who cares? Right, he's only a former Harvard professor, current Princeton professor, a best-selling author, civil rights activist, a well-respected sociologist and social critic especially when it comes to matters of race and religion, etc. etc. Nope, he's just using a bunch of big phony words I can't follow, therefore he must be talking out of his ass. In fact, Cornel West has many more meaningful things to say than you or I probably ever will.

I never thought I would give out downvotes, especially to people who upvoted my own video, but those comments completely missed the point.

Tags for this video have been changed from 'delta, airlines, ghetto, parody' to 'delta, airlines, ghetto, parody, In Living Color, ebonics' - edited by fissionchips

Pardon the Ebonics, in the spirit of the post,and every time i've seen Lowhand, the girl is as vapid as they come-embodying trailer trash fame-the worst of Hollywood.
And, I am not concerned so much with entertaining Ninjas.
If I offend, well, sorries.