****
**** DEFINITION OF "BLACCENT" From https://www.definitions.net/definition/blaccent [retrieved August 29, 2021] "blaccent
noun
An accent characteristic of African-Americans (black
Americans)."
****
SELECTED COMMENTS FROM THE VLOG THAT IS SHOWCASED ABOVE [Published in 2021]
1. Natalina Garcia "it’s crazy because words that come from black culture like “sis, boo, purr, period,” ect...are labeled as twitter/tik tok lingo and so now when black people use those worlds naturally because 95% of us grew up with it, you get labeled as “basic” or they’ll say stuff like “when you base your personality off tik tok lol” when it’s really them copying a form of speaking that we naturally used and taking words that don’t belong to them just to later deem them as annoying or basic"
** Reply 2. chrrsy "yeah and they’re also labeled as “gen z lingo” as well i think which is weird"** Reply 3. Is this Better "Okay wait so should I not say things like peridiot or Like bussin.
Pleas let me know I would like to be educated. :/" ** Reply 4. Fumnanya Ofili "@Is this Better you can say things like that, just know where it came from." ** Reply 5. olivia öberg "is this a part of blaccent or is this like black vocabulary?
i just want to learn and dont be a part of the problem"
** Reply 6. Fumnanya Ofili "@olivia öberg I think it's about how we're viewed when we use our vocabulary compared to how other races are viewed when they use our vocabulary.
We can be seen as ratchet or uneducated when we use it but other races look 'cool'. I would prefer only black people use a blaccent so we don't be seen differently if other races use it." ** Reply 7. olivia öberg "@Fumnanya Ofili thank you, i understand:( its truly horrible how the world view people differently when we are all the same. i feel for you.
so to make a statement all non black people shouldnt use those words"
** Reply 8. remigal "@olivia öberg
You can use it but don’t use it wrong and annoyingly and as a way to sound “black” "
** 9. AuroraIchimaru "As an American, I literally learned about AAVE about three weeks ago.
I knew about Blaccent, just never realized there was a name
for it.
I have been using words like, 'Period, Sis, Slay, and Hella' for years.
Everyone I know has. I always thought they were just internet slang.
Imagine my shock when I found out they were not internet slang. I'm glad I found out about it. I don't want to come off as another ignorant white American. I try to learn about all cultures. I find them beautiful and fascinating"
**
10. How You Doin "I love how instead of saying you ain’t allowed to talk like thisinstead you like the spread but only when people appreciate and respect.
Also when you said if you talk that certain way for specifically personal gain and popularity it’s a problem. You’re not putting down nonblack people because they have just grown around that kind of accent, but only when it’s to please others."
** 12. AdriPl "I'm a non-American, non-Black person, I never heard about "Blaccent" or AAVE until recently, I hear tho people in Europe using a lot of these words like "what's poppin', yaaas gurl, slay, etc."
TBH I thought it was just internet culture, trend, or gay slang, so thank you for acknowledging this and educating us, I feel ashamed that I've been using it for a long time but like other young people, I thought it's just part of American slang. Thank you!"
** 13. Sofia "the thing i hate is when mainstream news hears about words or phrases that are clearly aave and they're just like "omg this hip new word from the internet that all the youngsters use now!" like that's exactly what happened with things like "eyebrows on fleek", it's so cringe"
** 14. kamdynne iguess "Its almost like being black is a costume. When non-black people where the costume it's funny, but when the costume is in itself it "not proper english" and we should "change the way we speak because it doesn't sound right".
** 15. Debonay Joseph "I’m an African American and I didn’t realize that type of stuff was aave 😭 I just wasn’t exposed to that growing up. I learned it all from insta and YouTube 😂
Sis out here educating*everyone* fr
** 16. rin nso "black people often have to code-switch between a more standard english and BVE to get a job or not get mocked, whereas a non-black person can switch between the two without worrying about those kinds of problems." -snip- "BVE" = Black Vernacular English
** 17. Amateur Mycologist With Questionable Morels "White straight girls who yell "Yaaaaaaas qween!" "
** Reply 18. Katie Thorley "Nothing wrong with that"
** Reply 19. PiZzA ROLLS
"@Katie Thorley It is actually"
** 20. Jonelle Lee "When I was in beauty school there was a petite blonde hair blue eye girl who would come to school wearing a du rag, crop tops, hoop earrings.
She would also say things like "finna." constantly. beyond annoying. .-. Also this was in IDAHO. -snip- Pancocojams Editor's Note: There aren't that many Black people in the state of Idaho.
** 21. Elisandro De Leon "I didnt realize that was a black thing.
I always associated it with gay culture"
** 22. bruh "I study linguistics and any serious linguist will tell you that AAVE is a sociolect (or language, the distinction between dialect/sociolect and a language is really arbitrary) of it's own, beacause it has completely regular grammatical and phonological features. It bugs me so much when people who know nothing about linguistics feel the need to call AAVE bad or improper English, or mistakes. Language mistakes are irregularities, AAVE features are regular and meaningful systems of grammar and meaning, just like with standard English."
** Reply 23. bruh "@Carl Panzram the exact early origins of AAVE are still under debate (research suggests that early AAVE was closer to Brittish dialects of that time). But as the south kept using slavery more and longer, and even after slavery was technically abolished still used black servants for a long time, it's reasonable to assume that during that time period AAVE picked up a lot of features from southern american English (and culture). Your point about New England is interesting, since we know that African Americans were present (although in varying and sometimes small degrees) in most other states, but since they were allowed to integrate more into society instead of being segregated as lower class people / workers, they probably integrated more into the language and culture as well, so we might not have even had something like AAVE in that case."
** Reply bruh 24. "@Carl Panzram
Dude an entire legacy of linguistic research proves that wrong. Linguists don't just say that to "please the woke crowd". This is based on research and studies and testing and testing, not a matter of opinion. It also seems that you're missing the point. One person making "the same mistake" over and over again isn't a dialect/sociolect no, that's just an individual quirk or maybe a speech deficiency. But if an entire group of people always says something one way, and that way of saying it corresponds with a set meaning, that everyone in that group understands and produces clearly, than you're not talking about a "mistake". What is said is what is intended to be said. AAVE speech characterized as full of mistakes is a caricature created by white people in the era of blackface. In truth, AAVE (although of course there are regional varieties) has completely regular systems of pronunciation and grammar that are well researched and documented. I wish people would take the time to actually study the linguistic field a little instead of jumping to conclusions on something they apparantly know nothing about."
** Reply 25. ajanine1181 "It pissed me off when it was and is called "ebonics" I was a kid when it was coined that. It's NOT! It's a dialect and even then, there are various dialects spoken amongst us Black folk."
** 26. Joshua Mendez “So if you’re a non black creator and your humor is contingent on black culture, maybe you’re just not funny” EXACTLY"
** 28. S V "I had to watch this video in shifts. More than once I had to cringe because I recognized myself in a lot of this. I think I've been using the "blaccent" for humorous reasons for YEARS, not even stopping to think twice about its implications.
I just saw people doing it and thought it was funny/cool, and started copying them. And not just once. Like, this is something I'm going to have to really stop myself from slipping into out of habit. And here I was walking around like "I'm a good person so I don't need to check my own racism." Holy sh-t*. I have work to do. Thank you for posting your videos. As painful as they are for me to watch, it's really helpful having someone explain things to me in the way that you do. I'll continue to do more research on my own, but I'm really grateful for the videos you post and the candid way you call out toxic behaviors. -snip- *This word is fully spelled out in this comment.
** 29. Endergirls Style "Actually since I’m not from America, before this video I didn’t even know that Blaccent existed, when I heard it I always thought it was a certain accent from a part of America. Thank you so much for educating me!"
** Reply 30. El Buki "Same ! I thought it was common slang until one day inTwitter I saw a girl complaining about yt people using AAVE, and I did my research -snip- “yt” is a neutral abbreviation for the word "white" that is neither insulting or complimentary.
** 31. Shawn Kaufman "In a lot of ways it is a regional accent, it's just that the region is scattered black pocket communities throughout the US. This at least partially comes from shared origins in either large plantations or major city centers who then spread in groups and formed said pocket communities. Unless I have thoroughly misinterpreted, Tee seems to be of the mind that if you're nonblack and use a blaccent just for the jokes, thats a problem. "Just for the jokes" is a decent part of that because within those communities there are nonblack people who earnestly speak in this way because they grew up with it. Most notably, many Latinx people from large cities will adopt aave heavily into their speech, because of proximity and intermingling with black neighbors. There are white people (and any other race or ethnicity) whose normal accent is not far from the stereotypical blaccent. But like, black people can tell the difference between the real deal and a put on. Tbh if you pay attention its really not that hard to spot even if you're not black. Also any white person who has spent enough time around black people to earnestly have speech patterns similar to black people would know how to stay in their lane, so like...
Tl;dr There are nonblack people who use the blaccent in a legitimate way because of region but they aren't usually an/the issue"
** Reply 32. Kahlil B Thomas "You're spot on.
I know a lot of non black folks who grew up in black spaces. and speak the dialect to some degree. Literally none of those individuals came to mind when I was listening to the discussion. One of the best allies I met in college was a white girl who spoke AAVE, and it never bothered me because I could tell it was authentic and she really wasn't interested in "putting Black on". It would bother her to hear other white folks abuse the dialect just as much as anyone else"
** Reply 33. Dominique M "Even the term blaccent is vague because depending on where ur from ur accent different and the vernacular u use too varies"
** Reply 34. Kahlil B Thomas "@Dominique M True. Black people can tell where we're from based on the dialect accent as well"
** Reply 35. ExeniaMusic "Yall heard the girl on TikTok pronounce “chile” as “chilly” right... ? We can always tell." -snip- The English word "chile" (which is a shortened form of "children") rhymes with "wild". In blaccent the word "chile" is pronounced with the voice being raised for the first part of that word.
** Reply 36. Alyssa "i agree and it extends to everyone who grew up within the community that speaks that dialect. it’s funny that you said “we can tell” bc it really is obvious when someone uses AAVE incorrectly. it’s cringey. learn and respect, rt!" ** 37. Jasmine Minaj "I am gen Z and very young and a POC, and I have done AAVE before but after watching this video, it really makes me rethink if this is just """"gen Z"""" humor, or stealing from black people. As a POC I need to advocate for black people and with doing that I and others should not use AAVE as a joke because in real life, AAVE is not a joke. Thank you for making this video
** 38. An Omnomnomnivore "I’ve actually had a class in linguistics where part of it was talking about aave and from a scholarly and grammatical standpoint, it is INCREDIBLY NUANCED, CONSISTENT AND INTELLIGENT! Despite not fully adhering to standard American English, it has just as Rigid a grammatical structure and sometimes even more so. So stop calling aave as unintelligent."
** 39. Joe said so "Im sooo glad you touched on that "plate to the cookout" mentality. It SICKENS me.
Alot of us need to realize how destructive that level of acceptance is and has been for POC throughout history and act accordingly. Ask the ORIGINAL AMERICANS (if you can
find any left) what happened when they offered plates."
** 40. nkululeko nazo "Black 🖤 people have always been a blueprint of American 🇺🇸 pop from music
🎵🎶🎼
jazz,blues, rock and roll, country ,RnB and Hip hop, style of clothing 👑❤️
black person created cell 📱 phone that is used
worldwide... Black 🖤 is always Godly bcoz we create and everybody else benefit , especially white people."
** 41. Setekh Maat "Love your videos Lil Sis. You give OGs like me hope in our younger gen. This Cultural theft is nothing new, I'm 66 years old, my Dad was a professional Drummer and played with all of the popular bands and musicians of the day. I learned how to play drums professionally at the age of 7, and my Dad got me an entertainers permit and on the weekends I would play with my Dad on Central Ave. in Watts, Los Angeles, CA. Because things were so segregated for blacks and none whites. Central Ave. was the place in LA all popular black acts would go to and perform in the 40's, 50's and 60's (Black Hollywood). what I began to notice was that you would see white Stars like Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, all of your white stars of the day in the clubs in the hoo d learning our dance steps, singing styles, our dress, (our culture) and go back to White Hollywood and Presenting what they've copied (stolen) as theirs, on Tel-lie Vision, movies and records. Culture vultures are not new, I am glad our young Gens. are adamantly pushing back culture vultures. claiming, owning and branding and rightfully monetizing our creative expressions. Love and Respect you and your work.
** 42. Anna Twink "In the UK young people use a blackcent (that I call "Jafaican") & It happened L-O-N-G before gen z. Started my generation (I'm 50)firstly in the community who like R n B and rap & dance music. It began among the working classes who lived in black communies, initially. Now as youngsters have become less i nto rock and indie music, this "blackcent" has spread. But now in the poorer communities it has actually become multi generational. Other races have also picked up on it especially Indians/Pakistanis. I've always thought it sounds dum and patronising in the middle classes but it's difficult to make judgements on those whites who learned it at their mothers breast."
**
43. Radhaun " "the answer is racism by the way, but I'mma keep going"
Gods, your one liners are fantastic."
Preach, Sista!"
** 45. Channel WHOA! "A very deep well thought out video. As a son of Mexican immigrants, growing up around Mexicans Americans (Chicanos) in So Cal, thus having no skin in the game, even I always thought all this as a KID. I’d wonder why white boybands singing R&B would get SOOOO much attention. As if they were gods gift to earth….. when there were TONS of young Black singers getting ZERO attention!"
** 46. Amanda "when the allegations of olivia rodrigo using AAVE and blaccent came out, i initially saw the words put in quotes that were considered to fall under these categories and i was confused because some of these phrases/words have been part of my vernacular, especially when i was in middle/high school. i happened upon this video to learn more about why it was problematic and i'm so glad i did. i really appreciate your perspective and for clearing up misconceptions i had about AAVE. growing up in a predominantly white community, it was extremely eye-opening to reflect back on my times in grade school and how often AAVE was used and how it was perceived.. even now i've caught myself, my white friends, and white acquaintances on social media using AAVE without understanding its origin which has made me feel inspired to really start delving into discussions on it. truly this is just another example of how racism is embedded in white culture. i look forward to reading more about the history behind AAVE and i really appreciate you bringing this to light! i'm very much hoping other white people like myself will come across this video and watch it to the end and that it will spark important conversations.
** 47. Keira Downing "what if people (like me) are using a “blaccent” but not on purpose like i’m so used to seeing it online and stuff i use one sometimes but i don’t think about how it’s racist i just think “oh everyone does this it’s popular” does that still make me racist though or not bc i’m not trying to be racist or imitate a colored person i’m just used to hearing that accent so i use it sometimes and i use words like ight and things like that but not to be racist again just bc i hear it everywhere. so am i racist or not"
** 48. Rayowag "I'm actually so thankful that I learned fairly early about AAVE as a second language English speaker. I'm so hyperaware of when people use certain words just when they joke and when they don't. It definitely is hard to undo smaller influences of it when you learned the language through online interaction. hell, I just recently learned the cultural roots of "sis" and it's double confusing when the AAVE that bled into general English usage also bled into your native language, so you've always been surrounded with the word. Stuff like that is fascinating and also sad, simply because cultural relevance of words hasn't been taught. Don't get me started on the influence of black drag queens on how LGBTQ+ spaces speak. It's really confusing what is okay to say and what isn't because of this weird overlap of others using certain words and phrases to discriminate against the community and you feel like it's part of reclaiming identity if you use it, while also knowing that the lingo comes from the minority within the minority.I decided to cut out as much as possible for years now and try to catch myself when I use it in almost any context. Still struggle w a handful of words that I got very used to though, but those are things I say in any context tbh.
** 57. etherealkivfx "some ppl in the comments didn't pass the vibe check 😟"
** 58. Alabaster green "They love black culture just not when black folks do it" ** 59. TheColorBlack "If non blacks speaking in a blaccent is cultural appropriation then black women with straight hair is also cultural appropriation 🤦🏿♂️. This world is doomed" ** Reply 60. kutubeg "First of all, Black women can have straight hair naturally.
Second of all, nobody gets made fun of for having straight hair, unlike having a blaccent. Please do the math." ** Reply 61. TheColorBlack "@kutubeg about 1 in a million blacks can have natural straight hair so what I said still stands 🤷🏿" ** Reply 62. kutubeg "@TheColorBlack and? Were people with natural straight look down uponed because they have straight hair… straight hair has always been the beauty standard.. and as we know it, the beauty standard we have today is still very eurocentric. Damn, are you that dense?" ** Reply 63. kutubeg "@TheColorBlack do people with natural straight hair get unaccepted by employers because of their straight hair? is it really comparable with a blaccent?" ** Reply 64. TheColorBlack "@kutubeg none of that matters, it’s still CULTURAL APPROPRIATION! Technically the ENGLISH language that you and I are speaking right now is a white language that originated from England originally brought over from Anglo-Frisian which is what is now known as Northwest Germany, Southern Denmark and the Netherlands. So that means the blaccent that our people use is from a white/Anglo language 🤷🏿♂️🤷🏿"♂️
** 65. Semmosta "I’m not black, I live in country where there isn’t alot of black people. English is my 3rd language. I might talk ”black” because that is what I picked up on the internet. I just don’t really know other way to talk. I tend to mix different accents. Sometimes I talk british, white american, aave. Etc."
** 66. Clorox Bleach "Does it matter who uses what language? Like it’s just words,
white people made up other words so did black people. I’m not gonna be one to gate-keep what my white friends say just because black people started saying them first. This just doesn’t seem important to me. In my opinion saying things like “blaccent” is a part of the problem. I’m black and I don’t have a “blaccent” maybe because the color of my skin has nothing to do with what I speak like… we are a melting pot. When are we gonna stop separating black from white, and just move on." ** Reply 67. Yushua MohamedAli "😵💫" ** Reply 68.Crow "People labeling it as a race thing just tells me they're racist. I don't want to see or hear the word AAVE. I don't want to see the word blaccent. I speak in Blue Ridge Dialect or Coastal Country Southern, not some dialect based on the color of my skin or my ethnicity." ** Reply 69. Yushua MohamedAli "@Crow it’s not about race is about how people mocked a race for doing these things people love making fun of black people and then copying them." ** Reply 70. Crow "@Yushua MohamedAli Why bother making a reply if you completely missed the point of my comment? I was criticizing the use of "AAVE" and "blaccent" when there isn't an ubiquitous all-encompassing accent used by our communities, and especially the fact that American communities are often racially mixed as well making the ethnic identifier erroneous."
** Reply 72. Clorox Bleach "@Crow That’s exactly the point I was trying to make but you phrased it much better 👏🏽👏🏽.
I’m more frustrated with the black people calling this a “blaccent” than with
the white kids who want to sound like everyone else on tiktok does 🤷🏽♀️"
** 73. ciciiii "bein black is so cool and trendy to ppl who is not black unless u is actually black...i always got imitated and made fun of 4 my accent and use of aave all the time but now them same ppl who made fun of me is doin the same sh-t* im so tired of ppl like yall lmfao" -snip- *This word is fully spelled out in this comment. ** 74. Encarnia Alcantara "It is the same as black face for me, for some reason is funny for non black people to speak like black people, and that's my point only and specifically black people they don't mock Amy other race's way of talking.
A hot mess."
-snip-
"Amy" = "Any"
jk"
76. Andrea Laughery "Subscribed!!! Ma’am PLEASE do not stop creating! I loved the video and thank you for the sources, the articles and videos you cited were fantastic. As someone who is mixed and light, I have always struggled with fitting in and explaining many of the points you made , I will definitely be sharing. Thank you for breaking things down intelligently and in a very easy to understand way. Love and positivity to you!" ** 77. Angel Venus Indigenous "BLACK 👀 FACE 2.0"
****
This concludes Part II of this two part pancocojams post entitled "What does "Blaccent" REALLY Mean?".
Thanks for visiting pancocojams Visitor comments are welcome.
I purposely didn't add definitions of the AAVE words/sayings that were cited in these comments about blaccent.
ReplyDeleteI was familiar with most of those words/sayings, but somehow, I wasn't up to speed with the word "purr".
Here's a definition of that word from https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Purr
"purr is a word used on stan twitter that is basically
shortened period/periodt.
everytime is ariana grande's best song purr
i am heterophobic purr
by gay for rosé July 29, 2020
Sweetdog97, a commenter in the discussion thread for the Tee Noir vlog that is showcased in this pancocojams post wrote in 2021 that "Purr is a DC word".
"DC" is the capital of the United States, Washington, D.C. [District of Columbia.]