You, Me, and AAVE.
Let’s spill the tea on AAVE, sis.
Also known as "ebonics", AAVE stands for African-American Vernacular English, referring to a variety of English mostly spoken by working and middle-class Black Americans.
You may have heard AAVE on TV, in popular music, or even read it in a tweet. You’ve probably been using it, too. AAVE has become increasingly popular in mainstream media due to viral videos and posts, with sayings like “eyebrows on fleek,” and “that’s on periodt,” becoming staples of today’s “internet slang”.
Nowadays, it’s not uncommon to hear non-Black people use this language in colloquial conversation - whether they are aware of AAVE and its history or not.
The question is, why is it okay for AAVE to be popularized now by the White mainstream media, when Black people have been discriminated against for years for using it?
An article explains, “for years Black language has been mocked, parodied and associated with stigmas like lack of education. Non-Black Gen Z members integrating AAVE into their everyday language, while Black people are stigmatized, conceals the prejudice people have toward the language and exemplifies their ignorance on the topic.”
Another article states, “...when white influencers like Brittany “Kombucha Girl” Tomlinson associate words like “sis,” “period” and “snatch” to the language of internet culture, it erases the importance of the language.
And this is just a small sliver of a pattern we see, time and time again. Things specific to Black American culture, are ridiculed by White people until White people begin incorporating them into their lives. Then it simply becomes slang. Internet culture. Completely devoid of its authentic origin and history.
In a similar example, the young, White Tik-Toker Addison Rae, was featured on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, to teach him 8 Tik-Tok dances - a majority of which were created by Black people. Due to the backlash, the show later invited the original creators to speak with Jimmy Fallon via webcam.
But still…it’s interesting that White celebrity is the first choice to showcase these choreographies.
As AAVE becomes more and more mainstream, we are seeing large businesses and non-Black celebrities use the language as an attempt to stay “cool” or relevant. Many companies or news outlets do not acknowledge these popular terms as part of AAVE and chalk it up to just being “trendy”.
In short; big businesses are profiting off of Black culture, without supporting the people who created it.
As the next generation popularizes certain words and phrases, it’s definitely something to keep in mind… Where exactly did that “slang” come from?
