I heard that non-black poc and white ppl aren't allowed to use AAVE words like shade, no chill, game too strong, swag, thirsty, bae, side-eye because it's cultural appropriation. What do you think?
I, personally, dont care. To me AAVE is just slang at the least and a dialect at the most. If you’re non-black and you use it chances are you just sound stupid so I’m probably going to get a good chuckle out of it- but its not gonna ruin my day or anything.
I think the issue is when people talk that way to try and mock us.
I dont speak that way in real life, but I do use a couple of phrases here and there, mostly because its fun. For some people thats just how they talk. Lots of people in my family talk that way. They’re not ignorant or unintellegent, thats just how they speak you know?
So I suppose I’ll ask you this: If people you know started mimicking your voice and mannerisms, started snickering when people who sounded just like you opened their mouths, how would you take it?
I dont think you’d like it very much. You might not care at first, but over time you get the message- “These people are making fun of me because who I am is a joke to them.” Every time Miley “twerks”, every time justin bieber says “Swaggy”, everytime white teens quote the latest “black meme” [bed intruder guy, aint nobody got time for that, etc], that is the message that gets reinforced.
Its always different when its someone nonblack. Because they’re not sitting in the room laughing with us, they’re peeping through the door laughing and going back into their own rooms to laugh some more. And when we suffer because of those stereotypes— they’re nowhere to be found.
Like I said. I, personally, dont care. But I dont use AAVE. I’ve always grown up speaking “standard english”, been praised for being “proper” and “educated” and “sounding white” [like its a compliment]. I have never had the way I talk used as justification to treat me lesser.
But I guess the question you should ask yourself is- “Why do I really want to use AAVE?” and “How would I feel if who I am was always a punchline.”
Ask yourself these things, reflect on them, and you should have your answer.
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