Awkwafina Apologizes for Using AAVE as a Non-AA POC

Sounds awkward, Awkwafina!

Weirdo ChiCom "star" with a bullshit name self-cancels after tweeting the wrong letters accidentally.

This is peak Twitter, and peak human garbage. Fuck this civilization, already.

Awkwafina failed Ebonics.

So sad. Too bad.

Nope. Nope. This isn't how language works. Language is a communication tool and will cross-pollinate continuously. Using AAVE isn't offensive. In fact, the rise of AAVE in non black communities is a GOOD thing, there's a power in that for the black community.

Sorry. I'm a big proponent of languages and dialects and the positivity in us as humans interacting with each other. Plus, a lot of it has already bled into common speech, which will be hard to take back now, and in addition, AAVE itself arose out of other dialects. That's how language works.

When you wawk the wawk you got to tawk the tawk.

African-American Vernacular English.

It was funnier when we all called it Ebonics, or Welfare Queen Pidgin.

What was she doing exactly, using “ax” or pronouncing aunt as “awnt”?

What she talkin’ bout Willis?

Barbara, you in danger gurl.

She’s a Chinese-Korean woman who spent some time being educated in China, there is no excuse for her speaking in a blaccent. It would be one thing if she grew up in an all black neighborhood in the Bronx, but she didn’t. When she was promoting her movie that had whispers of Oscar notice, she suddenly lost the accent. I would be offended too.

Just go by Nora Lum and leave the “Awkwafina” in the past.

Having read her apology closer, she doesn't really seem to be saying anything of any substance, I have to say. I'm not even sure I can pick out an apology as such.

[quote]there is no excuse for her speaking in a blaccent.

There's also not necessarily anything offensive in doing it either.

R11 You want substance from this sentient mannequin? Dream on, fruit pie!

I found it cringey when she did it. Eddie Huang, on he other hand…

[quote] Plus, a lot of it has already bled into common speech

As with most things, it’s a matter of degrees, isn’t it. Diffusion is a natural process.

I roll my eyes to the ceiling when non-Jewish people drop phrases like mishegas or kvell but ones that have entered the common vernacular like tush or bupkis I don’t even notice.

Ditto, I don’t really notice salty and lit, but it’s always hide behind the sofa levels of embarrassing when some reality TV bimbo is all “damn Gina” or turnt. And the white far-right have totally ruined “woke”.

To be honest, R13, I've never actually heard of her before, haha!

I mean I NEVER found it cringey when she did it and Eddie Hunag is a buffoon.

First, stupid. Second, unnecessary. Are we saying that an actor, comedian, storyteller, anyone can never use an accent again. And yes, I know it's ultimately about context , but really. And thirdly, she's dutifully doing what her agent and publicist told her to do. Ass cover 101. Next....

The whole “isn’t it so funny when I talk like a black person” (this, Bon Qui Qui) is like the very last wisps of minstrelsy before it dies out. I’ll be glad to see it go, along with “ha ha immigrants can’t pronounce English.”

[quote]I roll my eyes to the ceiling when non-Jewish people drop phrases like mishegas or kvell

But also, this is about you more than them. Language is fun, from my perspective. Playing around with it is enjoyable.

R12 No, you are absolutely right! But it’s like Hilaria Baldwin speaking like she’s from Mallorca and profiting off of that. To me it speaks to Nora’s insecurity in her own talent that she cultivated some rapper from the hood image. I know it’s hard out there for Asian actors, but I completely understand why people are offended.

[quote]I will always listen and work tirelessly to understand the history and context of AAVE

“AAVE”??? Is that what we’re calling illiterate ghetto-speak these days?

R21 Not so loud, or you'll have to cancel yourself!

AAVE isn't 'ghetto speak'. It's a valid vernacular, with its own grammar and vocab. It's really interesting.

That was a word salad. She took too long to say that she was leaving Twitter, and Twitter only, for a few years (fingers crossed).

[QUOTE]or pronouncing aunt as “awnt”?

You do realize that's regional and not a black/white English thing, don't you?

[quote]AAVE isn't 'ghetto speak'. It's a valid vernacular, with its own grammar and vocab. It's really interesting.

The inability to conjugate the verb “to be” is not a valid vernacular, it’s not its own grammar, and it’s not interesting. “I be stupid” is exactly what it says…Uneducated, illiterate, ghetto-speak.

We will just agree to disagree, R26.

R26 better duck for cover!

Them negroes be stupid.

Arguing about whether AAVE is real or not is straight out of 1992.

Imma snatch dat bitch weave up. And when dem police come, I dindu nuffins.

She won't be off for long.

The backlash came to a head when the NAACP recently nominated her for an Image Award for a voiceover performance.

r14 as an elder gay who grew up around Jews, had Jewish friends and employers, I learned all those words and used them. My friends used those words too because my circle was somewhat diverse. But back in those days people weren't getting offended by every fucking thing they could think of either.

The US is so ghetto now. The celebration and legitimization of this crap is sorry to see.

Exactly, R34. I also have diverse circles of friends, and it's added a lot to the way I speak.

[quote]AAVE isn't 'ghetto speak'. It's a valid vernacular, with its own grammar and vocab. It's really interesting.

No, it's low brow, unsophisticated, tacky.

Proper grammar is interesting.

[quote]as an elder gay who grew up around Jews, had Jewish friends and employers, I learned all those words and used them.

English has always been laced with foreign words.

But bad grammar is bad grammar.

Linguists disagree, R37. And the variety in the way people speak all over the world, and across time IS interesting, whether you personally like how people are doing or not.

And as smug as some people are about their own English, they don't seem to realise that only a few decades prior YOU would be told you sound illiterate, low-brow, common etc because your English has changed from what people spoke earlier. That's how communication works which is why it's interesting.

[quote]And as smug as some people are about their own English, they don't seem to realise that only a few decades prior YOU would be told you sound illiterate, low-brow, common

That is ridiculous. Proper English has changed very little over the past 100 years.

Only the ignorant stay prescriptivists as they get older and hear language change over time.

[quote]The US is so ghetto now. The celebration and legitimization of this crap is sorry to see.

Exactly. The rest of the world is laughing over the ghettoization of America, led by Democrats of course.

I love how the French and Italians resist this shit.

[QUOTE] The rest of the world is laughing over the ghettoization of America

Yeah, I’m sure this is of the utmost importance in Eastern Europe right now.

[quote]hat was she doing exactly, using “ax” or pronouncing aunt as “awnt”?

'Awnt' sounds better than ANT. Yuck.

[quote]And as smug as some people are about their own English, they don't seem to realise that only a few decades prior YOU would be told you sound illiterate, low-brow, common etc because your English has changed from what people spoke earlier. That's how communication works which is why it's interesting.

American English has changed over the course of a century or two as immigrants have come and integrated into American society from all over the world. Blacks who have been here for over 400 years and emigrated to the ghettoes of America’s inner-cities haven’t contributed shit except toward the illiterization of society. And endless crime of course.

wigga please

[quote]Only the ignorant stay prescriptivists as they get older and hear language change over time.

Yeah, it's almost impossible to understand those talkies from the 20s and films from the 30s. English has changed soooo much!

🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄

Groveling apologies

Look, I know people get really insecure, and the way they deal with it is by insisting that the way they do things personally is the default. It's just not the case in the big, wide world out there, as much as you may wish it to be.

Yeah, let's bring the whole culture down to accommodate the ignorant.

I know this thread is teeming with trolls, but John McWhorter already addressed their arguments

[quote]I love how the French and Italians resist this shit.

Exactly. I’d love some of these American Negro-apologists to tell the French and Italians they need to change their language to accommodate the ghetto-people.

[quote]Exactly. I’d love some of these American Negro-apologists ...

Is r53 posting from 1934?

Kinda, R54. He’s posting from Mississippi.

Oh no, she di’n’t!

[quote]Yeah, let's bring the whole culture down to accommodate the ignorant.

Yes, please let’s do that ASAP.

If ever a thread needed to be nuked

[quote]Sorry. I'm a big proponent of languages and dialects and the positivity in us as humans interacting with each other.

Okay.

[quote]Using AAVE isn't offensive. In fact, the rise of AAVE in non black communities is a GOOD thing, there's a power in that for the black community.

Great that you feel that way but as you can see in this thread.

[quote]“AAVE”??? Is that what we’re calling illiterate ghetto-speak these days?

[quote]The inability to conjugate the verb “to be” is not a valid vernacular, it’s not its own grammar, and it’s not interesting. “I be stupid” is exactly what it says…Uneducated, illiterate, ghetto-speak.

[quote]Them negroes be stupid.

[quote]Exactly. The rest of the world is laughing over the ghettoization of America, led by Democrats of course.

[quote]Blacks who have been here for over 400 years and emigrated to the ghettoes of America’s inner-cities haven’t contributed shit except toward the illiterization of society.

Not everyone feels that way. So you may want to try and acknowledge that African Americans may have a legitimate issue when Awkwafina picked up the dialect for her comedy act and dropped it once she was Oscar nominated almost as if she was aware that it's "okay" to use it when you want to be "funny" but "bad" to use it when you want to appear legitimate which indicates her own personal bias against it.

There will be power in it when people don't judge it.

Will Black code-switchers come under scrutiny?

^ Most AAVE-speaking black people code switch. A minority don't because they are essentially unable.

I think the real reason people object to appropriation of their culture’s signifiers is that they fear they are being made fun off. And some people do appropriate in order to mock. Some mimic with affection.

I don’t think you would hear many black people object to the appropriation of black music. Jazz, Rock n’ Roll and Hip Hop are clearly adopted because they are admired and enjoyed and even envied.

Now do Lilly Singh.

She should just say sorry, not but , if or however... it's black history month

[quote]A minority don't because they are essentially unable.

Please speak in English. The rest of the world doesn’t understand inner-city American Ghetto “AAVE” - speak.

Should Africans be chastised for "talking white"?

The trolls have to W&W themselves 20 times. They're not even subtle about it

I love urban asian kids who use AAVE - ebonics. It's been around a few decades and is therefore very authentic. All asians are not growing up in rich suburbs. Almost all kids who grow up in big American cities use some ebonics.

[quote]or pronouncing aunt as “awnt”?

"Awnt" is how it's pronounced in the New England states and Britain.

^

(Received Pronunciation, General Australian, New England, AAVE, some other US areas, Atlantic Canada) enPR: änt, IPA: /ɑ(ː)nt/

Rhymes: -ɑːnt

Homophone: aren't (in some non-rhotic accents)

I needs to axe you a qwerstion....why you be all up in my bidness?

Also when I was on Ivy campuses in the 80s, all the asians had WASPy lockjaw. Nobody gave them shit for appropriating that. I thought that was hilarious as well. So first they were phony WASPS, when that was cool, and now they are asian american wiggas. People need to lighten up. 99% of African Americans do not give a shit about these issues.

Actually AAVE is a preservation of the traditional English grammar from the 1700s. The Newfoundland English dialect uses the same tenses of to be.

Link

Well, that's a gross overgeneralization.

What you should have typed, is: AAVE preserves SOME ELEMENTS OF....

[quote] I roll my eyes to the ceiling when non-Jewish people drop phrases like mishegas or kvell

Then do you also roll your eyes when non-Anglo Saxons use words of Anglo-Saxon origin?

Girl muh gubmint chex be late dis munff! How dey expex me tuh feed all muh chirruns?

Anderson Vanderbilt Cooper drops a fair amount of Yiddish these days on air. Bizarre. Though I find it cute.

[quote] 'Awnt' sounds better than ANT. Yuck.

Then do you also say "Yuck" when people say "can't" instead of "cawn't"?

Or "pants" instead of "pawnts"?

R4 how dare you say something sensible!

R76 you are correct I should have said some elements of.

[quote]Almost all kids who grow up in big American cities use some ebonics.

No.

Gibs me my welfares and udder free sheeit. NOW.

As a Southerner, many of our "dialects" share aspects of and are related to AAVE. Many times the only way to figure out a person's race by speech down here is to ask them to tell you about their aunt. Because regardless of accent or dialect white people down here say "ant." I've noticed some mixed kids who have figured out to call their white aunts, ant, and their black aunts "ont." I wonder how it developed. Originally, I thought perhaps the mammys and other household slaves/servants heard it, but I haven't heard even wealthy native whites pronounce it like that. So I don't know where it came from or when the break between the races, here, on that word happened or why. The only thing I can think of is that it comes from the Freedman schools and HBCUs, many of which were founded across the South after the Civil War funded and largely staffed by rich Yankees.

[quote]Girl muh gubmint chex be late dis munff!

"Be" wouldn't...be in this sentence.

R86 don’t be speakin AAVE and sheeit.

r86 you needs to take dat up wif Keesha 'cause Keesha know.

Can Chet be canceled please?

I live in NJ and am surrounded by white people with horrible grammar: "I had went" is just one frequent example.

Please explain to me why I should celebrate their ignorance.

Or is excusing this sort of thing only reserved for blacks (by white saviors)?

These threads always bring out the very worst in DL. And I'm sure some will say it's all Russian trolls, but that's bullshit. We have some racist motherfuckers on this board and it doesn't take much to set them off. Plus some of you need to venture out of your racist little enclaves before making a bunch of statements you know nothing about.

What about American Redneck English? That's always looked down on as low-class and ignorant. AAVE is pretty much the same.

My mother has a housekeeper from Ghana. She speaks English better than I do.

She sounds like an African Arlene Francis.

She informed me that English is the official language of Ghana. Who knew?

Funny that they're not teaching them American Ghetto Eubonics.

I wonder why?

She shouldn't apologize. Fuck those useless Twitter twats.

[quote] This is peak Twitter, and peak human garbage.

I'd be willing to bet that the little beasts who feel offended over this are 18 - 25 year-olds who grew up in American suburban luxury.

Awkwafina is actually pretty funny. I like her.

She should apologize for being not funny.

There is a fine line between the natural integration of AAVE into every day speech and what she was doing. People sure fucking love the word “y’all” now! We’re expected to worship all aspects of black culture now, but we’re also supposed to breathlessly anticipate every goal post move now to find out the accurate way to express this admiration.

Awkwafina — god, I hate that name — stretched it to an extreme though with the constant throwing up of gang signs, thuggish wardrobe, etc. The blaccent was just the icing on a very cringy cake.

It’s embarrassing on its own, but if there’s one performer who really should read the vibe of the room, it’s her. She’s not self-cancelling because she called a black woman articulate.

Slap 'er, Wilona.

[quote] Awkwafina — god, I hate that name — stretched it to an extreme though with the constant throwing up of gang signs, thuggish wardrobe, etc.

Oh, please. Like gang signs and 'thuggish wardrobe' belong exclusively to one American demographic only.

She grew up in NYC (Queens) but went to high school at LaGuardia (Fame school). She doesn't have a 'black accent' she has an urban New Yorker accent.

I don't here a black accent at all. Sounds like someone ignorant of NYC accents is criticizing her with the mistaken belief that only black people phrase things a certain way.

Gawker wrote an article about this a few months back

[quote] Sounds like someone ignorant of NYC accents is criticizing her with the mistaken belief

Yes. The moronic young idiots of Twitter and TikTok who live their entire lives to feel offended over a million clickbaitable things.

Oh I just call them all The Help.

It's funny, if you refer to LaGuardia as "the Fame school" now you get blank stares from people under 30. They have no idea what you mean.

One of the reasons black people object to others appropriating the dialect (and other things) is the ability of the appropriator to switch back and forth when necessary. (Whereas black people can't switch to being Asian or white when "necessary.")

I believe that black people do get pulled over more often in traffic (per capita) and don't get the benefit of the doubt when having police encounters.

If Awkwafina were to get pulled over by a cop, etc., I'm sure she'd not be talking in a different dialect. She'd not get pulled over in the first place unless her car was on fire or she were driving 150 mph.

That's the irritating part.

I’m EXHAUSTED!!!

[quote] People sure fucking love the word “y’all” now!

I want to read some kind of linguistic study of this. The people I hear appropriating y’all are mostly suburban white women who think it makes them sound like Scarlett O’Hara. It reminds me of the spread of country music into mainstream pop in the 90s (Faith Hill).

[quote] One of the reasons black people object to others appropriating the dialect (and other things) is the ability of the appropriator to switch back and forth when necessary. (Whereas black people can't switch to being Asian or white when "necessary.")

They can and do switch dialects it is called code switching. Many country accented white Southerners do the same. They talk completely different to a cop or judge than to the gal at McDonalds.

I got fired for less.

I'm black and I have a deep voice and a mid-atlantic accent (some call it a broadcast accent) and, at least for me, code switching is not easy. I've tried to (for lack of better phrasing) "blacken up" my dialogue when I'm in primarily black setting - like the barber shop, but I always ended up sounding like an idiot. Same thing happens when I tried to gay up my voice in a gay setting in West Hollywood back in the 90s. I sounded moronic. So I just stick to my regular voice and don't code switch.

R111 Most people who code switch primarily speak in the "undesired" accent and only use the posh or "white" accent when speaking in certain formal situations. As you already speak in the posh accent it is harder, because it is easier to speak upwards than downwards, without turning it into parody.

[quote] AAVE isn't 'ghetto speak'. It's a valid vernacular, with its own grammar and vocab. It's really interesting.

Street slang is an increasingly valid form of expression. Some of the feminine pronouns do have mocking, but not necessarily misogynistic undertones.

They're just jealous that Awkwafina found success. The entirety of their lives, in comparison, is the profound and empty nothingness of Twitter.

“I believe that black people do get pulled over more often in traffic (per capita) and don't get the benefit of the doubt when having police encounters.”

R106, is the part of the conversation where everyone starts to look around and change the subject because no one ever asks WHY they don’t get the benefit of the doubt?

All everyone wants to talk about is non-BIPOC not being able to go in and out of situations and dealing with the issues of race and how unfair that is. No one ever wants to talk about how unfair it is that black people are being hassled and targeted because of the actions of countless black people before them.

We’re reaching in all these ways to find the reasons why white people are to blame for stereotypes against black people and not exploring the blame that lies in these communities.

We can talk about microaggressions when the black community can get the crime rate below 80%

R111 why do you speak a put on English? "Mid-Atlantic" accent is spoken nowhere. It's an invented style of speech. Are you pretentious person who decided to develop this? Such as Bobby Short, or James Baldwin? At what age?

Hey all y’all!

They are running out of reasons to bully an Asian. Obviously, a certain group of people are threatened by Asians and try to take down those successful Asians one by one. Simu Liu is the next one

Will gay men who are neither African American, or other people of colour begin apologising for their faie atrocious American Black dialects, or Blaccents? It seems to have caught on here in a big way.

It's still a very popular style of speaking with White gay men here in Chicago as well, and popular amongst some Hispanics.. I'm sorry, but it grates on my nerves and NEVER sounds authentic to me. It sounds like someone doing a bad parody, and I would be offended if I were Black.

Pre-Covid, one of my last and most memorable CTA bus rides was listening to two queens on a Southbound Damen bus doing this the entire ride. They were loud and quite obnoxious, and seemed to be having fun: one white bloke, the other Hispanic; both highly theatrical appearing.

I about lost it when the white bloke asked his friend about dinner plans: "Gurllll, you want Chi-Niece, O' Mess-a-Kinn?" Blacks riding the bus didn't seem amused either. I often think would I deem it highly flattering to hear straight blokes putting on a fake gay accent? No, I would not.

Very brave, R118. What made you assume the mantle of Guardian of the Asians?

She does not have an “urban NY” accent she has a put on “blaccent” I’m 3rd gen New Yorker and I know a put on accent when I hear one. She is not being bullied . When I first started seeing her and her ridiculous persona and stupid name I thought the whole thing annoying and am now un surprised that she’s being called out. She may be from queens but she wasn’t raised in the streets so it’s all very contrived. I have unfortunately a Brooklyn accent that have frraised around multiple gen Brookllyites. I was raised around black people and Puerto Rican all my life but the influence of my family is what has contributed to my accent. She is not being authentic at all.

I think I wasn't specific enough in my post in R68. I meant that when kids grow up in big cities, they use ebonics on purpose - they put it on. Because they think its cool. I wasn't saying their non-black moms spoke ebonics to them in their cribs. And asians growing up in NY incorporate ebonics into their social interactions just like wiggas did. My comparison was to asians on ivy campuses - aspirational asians. They didn't learn locust valley lockjaw in their cribs. They put it on. It was funny. Jackie Kennedy had a Long Island girl accent. And she had 2 or three accents she put on. She put on that girly whisper and she could put on lockjaw.

This is how people who exist in different social milieu live in huge cities.

So I didn't think Awkwafina was offensive or inauthentic because she is playing a character who would indeed put on accents.

The purity police are trying to stamp out the identity play that many people engage in and which is NOT a terrible hegemonic colonialist gesture. For crissakes.

Comedians like Sandra Bernard, Andy Kaufman, Robin Williams would never be possible today because they came up flitting quickly through characters/identities and accents. In five minutes of a monologue the audience might see 2 or might see 10 or 15. That was the game. The fun of it. Furthermore todays purity police have no subtly do they cannot see when a put on character is kind or mean about the supposed "authentic person or culture" that has been appropriated to be put on.

This is indeed a culture war and is somewhat genuine.

But then people with no skin in the came jump in and play "out outrage" when they themselves do not object to the "appropriation" - they just want to stir up trouble and create discord.

90% of all drag queens speak AAVE, and nobody bats a false eyelash.

R123 exactly, where were those activists when Tom Hank’s son spoke AAVE ?

What is Bon Qui Qui?

R121 is gatekeeping NY accents. I've met many younger Asians in NY than have urban accents. You pick it up from being in the NYC school system. She's NYC street-wise, you can be that and not 'be from the streets'.

I suppose all Asians in NYC are supposed to play the violin and win math contests.

Besides, she has said herself that Awkwafina is a character she has created. Dave Chappelle's parents both have PhDs and are professors and he's never lived in the hood. Is that all a put on and he shouldn't have done 90% of the skits he did on his show?

One of things that always concerns me about things like this thread is that black people always get blamed for it. The racist knives come out, but almost always it's some progressive white person who is pushing it or progressive white kids who are lighting up social media about the injustice of it all. Let's not talk about the progressive white kids who are breaking windows and causing damage during BLM protests or the Proud Boys who infiltrated BLM protests to cause chaos and cause racial tension. If you asked your average black person about AAVE, once you explained what it is and who Awkwafina is, they would look at you like you were crazy.

Your average non-Twitter using black person and white person aren't really all that different. "Woke" isn't divisive but all of this manufactured outrage driven by a few shut-ins on Twitter and troll farm employees is divisive.

Margaret Cho has also used the Blackcent,

[quote] What is Bon Qui Qui?

Be glad you don’t know.

Yeah I remember black people hated Awkwafina for her blaccent since her Yellow Power Ranger days. I wasn't offended, I'm white. But I just assumed she had a background similar to Eminem's. Yes black people are proud of their race, and they will mobilize against any perceived disrespect or insensitivity.

If anyone hasn't noticed, hip-hop and rap have been dominant in music for the past 20 years. Of course it spreads in generations among all classes and races.

It's pop culture. You can't put the toothpaste back in the bottle and start gatekeeping on who can use it and who can't.

No white people should be allowed to do any sort of R&B, hiphop or rap then. But no black people allowed in opera, classical music, country or other white-dominated areas. Bullshit.

Meanwhile, does anyone know who murdered 12 year old David Mack?

Does anyone care to find out who murdered 12 year old David Mack?

[quote] Does anyone care to find out who murdered 12 year old David Mack?

Probably some detectives, whose job it is, rather than denizens of the Internet who don’t have the knowledge or experience to run a police investigation? Or did you think this is a game of Clue?

R125 Meet Bon Qui Qui

It's called comedy. People have turned into humorless Karens.

Black culture is not goth or emo or punk. It’s not a “phase” or a rebellious stage for people to express themselves with.

The issue is people love black culture but clearly hate black people. It’s cool to be black but if you’re black, it’s not cool, you’re an uneducated whining savage.

The idea that people can “act black” when they’re young and cool and hip and then “grow up” is really shitty and racist.

Black culture is the only culture I can think of that is “for the taking”. People act black, how come they don’t act Mexican or Italian or British or Latino.

Awkwafina has spoken out against Asian stereotype roles and how she refuses to play the “American Chinese accent” comical characters but built a career off playing a black wannabe. It’s shit like this that’s hypocritical.

R132 I don’t know about opera but black people have been influential in those genres. Mozart’s biggest competition was a black composer in France. And country music has its roots in black music and blues.

And to continue you see African American influence and impact throughout the world because of hip-hop and R&B.

But the racism hasn’t ended. South Korea has a huge R&B and hip-hop scene where they copy black people like crazy. But from what I’ve read, an African American going to South Korea is going to encounter racism.

It’s just so stupid.

R132

“It's pop culture. You can't put the toothpaste back in the bottle and start gatekeeping on who can use it and who can't.”

It’s NOT pop culture, it’s black culture.

And I’m sure the same people in here saying “what’s the big deal” are the same people upset at straight people and major corporations capitalizing off gay pride and exploiting the LGBT community and making it less gay and more mainstream.

R137 Have you ever met Jewgines? Those Jews that grew up with Italians and cat like them. There are other white ethnics who do the same. Then again you get Italian Americans like Joy Behar who is of Italian descent yet is always mistaken for a Jew.

[quote] Black culture is the only culture I can think of that is “for the taking”. People act black, how come they don’t act Mexican or Italian or British or Latino.

Rubbish!

I love celebs who announce they're quitting social media... they're the ones who almost immediately come back for their attention fix.

This does seem weird to me. I don't agree with policing language in that way, if you are not using it derogatorily.

That's like forbidding anyone who is non-queer from using 'hunty' or 'slaaaaaay' etc - really? Is that who we want to be? Gate keeping of language just perpetuates division, instead of uniting.

R143 I agree; I'm not about to take shots at anyone, or police them, but isn't it something quite different to borrow a few slang terms here and there, rather than sounding like a constant parody? That's what I find cringeworthy, and not authentic.

It's completely acceptable to me when someone genuinely is from that milieu. Living in the States though, it comes off as a schtick more often to me. The world's a stage though I suppose. Many of these examples I've used seem to be overdoing it.

R133 is someone I do not like.

I live in an Asian neighborhood in Brooklyn and you cannot believe how popular that accent was up until the pandemic hit.

In regard to Awkwafina, I never liked her. She, as with Tiffany Haddish, gets attention way beyond her level of talent warrants.

I live in Brooklyn and was buying something off of a halal wagon at the Atlantic Avenue train station and the young Arab girl (complete with a head covering) was using it and saying very vulgar things to the older woman there. I understood the need she felt to assimilate to the culture she no doubt she experiences at school but I wanted to slap her for the vulgarity shown to both me as a customer and to the older Arab woman. I wanted to say "You know your mother would not approve of that!"

I don't know how I feel about this, I'm all over the place. But Americans do use the British accent (and sometimes the French accent!) very often. Yes, it's too be funny and yes, we do it lovingly. I've seen Italian Americans codeswitch too. I was hanging out with this guy at the Long Island outlets one time, and he was faux-yelling at me like an Italian thug. He obviously knew people who spoke that way.

Is this the thread where some black guy was saying he spoke in a mid-Atlantic accent, and someone else said people don't speak that way. I got lost. But yes, people do speak that way. From the non-trashy parts of Long Island though the central part of New Jersey (maybe skipping Philadelphia), and into Maryland and NoVA. We speak beautifully here.

AAVE = taking already existing English words, using them incorrectly, followed by that word usage becoming mainstream and then saying "Hey you stole that from us!"

Roy Choi talks like this all day everyday except when he has to speak to certain media. Then he pulls out his normal speech pattern.

[quote]I've seen Italian Americans codeswitch too.

All of the Italian Americans I know are indistinguishable from regular white Americans. They sound the same. I see this over and over on Datalounge, it's like Italian-Americans are still like they were generations ago.

People in CT also speak a neutral American dialect.

I have no idea why so many Asian women think sounding thick, illiterate and masculine sounds better than their natural accents. Sorry, but that "dindu nuffin" accent that American Black women affect is vile.

But PoC can copy Whites, right?

Oh brother. "The Mid-Atlantic accent" is the "Transatlantic accent" - an invented manner of speech adopted by show biz actors and personalities, and in the 20th century by socially ambitious rich people. It does NOT refer to the accents of the "mid-atlantic states". Is the latter what you say you speak? Then fine.

[quote]Mozart’s biggest competition was a black composer in France.

(love the way they try to rewrite history)

[quote]And country music has its roots in black music and blues.

It has its roots mostly in European folk music.

Country music is rooted in Scots-Irish folk music, which makes sense because that's where a lot of Southern rednecks originated.

Not really, r152. You get some tickle of Maine or Boston here and there.

^trickle

r159 most people in CT speak a neutral American accent. Christ, I was born and raised there. There are some pockets that do have an Eastern MA twang, but that's not the standard.

[quote] There are some pockets that do have an Eastern MA twang, but that's not the standard

I didn't say it was, r161. You stated "People in CT" which sounds like *all* people in CT to me. I lived in CT as well.

^^always some OCD queen who can nitpick anything to death.

White folk music and country music predates Black music and the blues. Do you think they were playing guitars and singing the blues in Africa? They weren't. They only started singing the blues once they were introduced to western instruments and western folk songs.

Awkwafina should be ashamed of her Stockholm syndrome

Black criminals are targeting Asians elders

And Awkwafina speaks the barbarians language?

SHAME

This is the stupidest controversy imaginable, driven entirely by bored Twitter scolds who have empty, boring lives. Everyone involved should kill themselves.

CT isn’t interesting enough to squabble over in regards to anything. I should know, I live here.

[quote]They only started singing the blues once they were introduced to western instruments and western folk songs.

Not to mention western cord structures. And the English language.

[quote]CT isn’t interesting enough to squabble over in regards to anything. I should know, I live here.

Let me tell you something about Connecticut: I've traveled extensively throughout the US and compared to much of this country, Connecticut is pretty damn nice.

Most of the white boys around here use the same accent. They are emulating people they admire, but I'll be sure to let them know they are cancelled.

I be feelin sorry!

[quote] "with a bullshit name"

Indeed. I've always referred to her as "Awfulfina". Because she is.

[quote]They only started singing the blues once they were introduced to western instruments and western folk songs.

And western people.

R151, do you know any Long Island Italians?

I feel like your wagging your finger at me r169.

R151, you said: All of the Italian Americans I know are indistinguishable from regular white Americans. They sound the same. I see this over and over on Datalounge, it's like Italian-Americans are still like they were generations ago.

And I could just as easily say: All of the Black Americans I know are indistinguishable from other Americans. They sound the same. I see this over and over on Datalounge, it's like Black-Americans are still like they were generations ago.

*you’re

Well it's true r176. In New England and California I don't see any of the stereotypical "Guido" Italians, and even in the NYC Metro area they're not as prevalent as they used to be. Italian-Americans are basically just like everyone else now. That always happens as the generations go by.

She should apologize for her stupid fucking name.

What if a black girl called herself Ching Chong Sally and spoke in a chinky accent? Would if be "empowering?"

No black girl would ever do that, R180.

Whoever thought an Asian girl would act all ghetto?

Tell Black Ching Chong Sally to call me, pronto. I can put her in pictures tomorrow.

If I invested my life's savings in a business I wouldn't hire someone to communicate with clients or even answer the phone who said "axe a question", or only spoke ghetto-ese, Ebonics, or AAVE (hilarious what white people can dream up!). I just wouldn't.

Excellent language skills are an imperative. Smart young people can learn both and turn them on and off appropriately, no?

I am Italian American and I find the insistence by Italian Americans that we are some distinct tribe eternally annoying. That hasn't been true in most places since the 1960s. Maybe my generation (Gen X) has preserved a few words and dishes. Who fucking cares? We're not Italian.

True r185. You're just Americans like everyone else. I'm also Gen X and to hear these eldergays talk you'd think Italian Americans were still straight out of The Godfather.

If you only use a "blaccent" when you want to be funny or sound aggressive, you're a racist asshole.

Who gives a shit about this talentless, CCP-plant gookette?

Jesus, these fucking Maoist struggle sessions over the most inane bullshit are exhausting. What’s next, an apology to the alopecia afflicted, because she has hair?

We’re living in the dumbest timeline.

[quote] If you only use a "blaccent" when you want to be funny or sound aggressive, you're a racist asshole

Why would educated people use Ebonics, if not be funny? Educated black people don’t use Ebonics unless they are taking to their ghetto cousins.

R189 Gee Whiz Trixie, how many bloody accounts do you have? I just can't seem to quit you! Despite blocking you at least four times, your racist and antisemitic shite continues to appear here.

You're one of my least favourite trolls here. I'm very surprised you're not offering up more tidbits about the Jews in CT, as you always like to talk about your home town.

Sorry R189, ^ above meant for R180

Somebody call me?

What language did Eminem speak in his public life when he first hit the scene?

Some version of Hip Hop-ese, no?

R192 You had me worried there for a second! lol

She chose a wrong career

R140 That’s cultural, that’s city neighbor culture. There’s white people who grow up in black neighborhoods too in the cities and the south and adopt black culture, that’s not what I’m talking about.

And what you’re talking about doesn’t come from a place of “cool” or hipness, it’s environmental.

Using blackness like it’s emo or goth or punk or a scene is ignorant and racist.

Miley Cyrus is a great example. She did the hip-hop album “Bangaz” and became popular for twerking and adopted urban ho culture and worked with rappers and then when it was time to “grow up” and “mature”, she did her “country” act and disowned hip-hop and said it was sexist and disgusting. She was “white” again.

And that happens all the time in society.

R140 That’s cultural, that’s city neighbor culture. There’s white people who grow up in black neighborhoods too in the cities and the south and adopt black culture, that’s not what I’m talking about.

And what you’re talking about doesn’t come from a place of “cool” or hipness, it’s environmental.

Using blackness like it’s emo or goth or punk or a scene is ignorant and racist.

Miley Cyrus is a great example. She did the hip-hop album “Bangaz” and became popular for twerking and adopted urban ho culture and worked with rappers and then when it was time to “grow up” and “mature”, she did her “country” act and disowned hip-hop and said it was sexist and disgusting. She was “white” again.

And that happens all the time in society.

Now if we can only cancel no talent Billie Eilish who grew up in a middle/upper class family in the suburbs for using a blaccent.

R164 First of all, black people have been in the US since the 1600’s. And yes they had guitars in Africa, wtf? West Africans weren’t naked savages with bones through their noses when they came to the Americas.

The banjo is a black invented instrument that came from African slaves. The fiddle was also mostly associated with slaves in America too.

Country music began in the 1920’s AFTER blues and 300 years after American slavery. It’s a combination of Appalachia folk and black blues.

R164 Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated with blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, old-time, and American folk music forms including Appalachian, Cajun, Creole, and the cowboy Western music styles of New Mexico, Red Dirt, Tejano, and Texas country. Its popularized roots originate in the Southern and Southwestern United States of the early 1920s.

Spirituals, blues, Cajun, Creole is not white.

And OH look naked savage Africans had guitars.

And for the record R164 African Americans ARE fucking westerners. They’ve been in the United States the whole time.

Has your family been here for 300-400 years?

It’s always the European immigrants who’s grandparents came on a plane or a boat in the last 100 years who act like African Americans are from another country.

Oh, boo-hoo.

R203 Go back to Europe.

That’s what kills me. You got white people who’s grandparents barely speak English, been in this country for 50 years and have thick European accents - and they’re always the ones acting like black people, who’s last names are Jackson, Washington, Jefferson, etc - are African foreigners.

Fuck off lol.

If you’re Italian, Greek, Jewish, Irish - they’d have strung your ass up in America with the Negros. That’s why you’re all from the cities cause that was the only place you were allowed to be.

Miley Cyrus is an example of freedom of expression. Visual and performing artists are inspired by diverse cultures. That's how many creative minds work especially those artists who base their outputs on inspiration and reinterpretation of other work. Most of the time it's not out of cynical exploitation and certainly not racism.

People can go ahead and cancel 75% of our cultural heritage. How does a society even function if "founding fathers" are cancelled, and science and math are cancelled, and so is art and culture?

Sheesh

Datalounge is pretty racist, eh?

R208 everything and everyone is racist now.

[quote] But bad grammar is bad grammar.

“Bad grammar” should be “poor grammar”. Racist and sub-literate. What a combination.

R207 No.

Miley hopped on the urban bandwagon and as soon as the shock value wore off, she turned around and attacked the genre.

She was absolutely being a culture vulture.

So I don’t know what you’re talking about.

I could see your point if you used someone like Madonna but you didn’t, you used Miley, who bashed rap music and culture after she was done with it and wanted to be seen as more country white for her next album.

Your cultural heritage might be cancelled but not everyone comes from horrible white people.

Miley Cyrus is a dipshit moron who does whatever the PR/Marketing team tell her to do. If you actually think that idiot hillbilly has any control over anything in her career you're also an idiot.

I always love to sit back and watch the different groups of racial minorities fight with each other. It’s a refreshing change from them blaming us white guys for all their problems. It’s also fun to watch them play the Oppression Olympics with each other. I guess the rule is that you can only appropriate culture from those less oppressed than you. Blacks trying out Asian culture = cool! Asians trying out black culture = BIG NO NO!

^ We get it, r213, you’re a racist.

Sheesh, look at your post again in the daylight. R213 is DEFINITELY racist.

I so solly. I learry rove brack people and made telliber mistake. Prease forgive me. Now I speak rike yerrow-skin rady I am.

I’d like to time-travel back to the 1950s and perplex people with this thread title.

She should have just said, “yeah I did that for a while, but I’m probably gonna move on to something different now.”

R213 “Asians trying out black culture = BIG NO NO!”

African American culture in Asian is huge in fashion, music, and dance in some Asian countries. That’s not the issue.

Awkwafina says she won’t take roles that make a mockery out of stereotypical Asians but she has no problem making a mockery out of black people.

That’s the no no.