'Black English' is commonly featured in popular music, is often stereotyped in television serials and popular film, and is abundantly present in 'reality' media and on the internet. Yet what is 'Black English'? Who speaks it? When do they speak it? What stereotypical or caricatured associations does it often have? What is the reality?

Black English (or, African-American Vernacular English, or the African-American Variety of English [AAVE], or Black English Variant [BEV], or 'Ebonics' [derived from 'Black English phonetics']) is recognized as a distinct sub-language with its own syntactical structure. BE is based on West African grammatical patterns with superimposed English vocabulary (thus forming a "pidgin"). Black English is derived from (and thus in part reflects) the 'central African-American cultural experience'; it is a social dialect of the African-American community.

Related to the study of Black English is the linguistic relationships between Black Americans and other U.S. racial and ethnic groups. What terms can be used by whom, and when; how are such relationships continuing to change?

1. Black English is not spoken by all Blacks, or at least not by all Blacks all the time (cf. "code-switching" between BE and standard, "educated" English). As depicted in American Tongues, there may be 'expectations' by some in the black community for all blacks to use Black English to not 'appear to be something they are not' [e.g. white].

2. Black English is not a 'corrupted form' of SAE; while like any language it is continually evolving, it has standard syntactic rules.

3. Certain features of BE may be employed, at least in part, also by non-Blacks, as words, phrases and forms of speech cross over into SAE, or white rappers expand traditionally 'black' art forms to a more general audience.

4. BE is basically Southern regional in stereotype, but not regionally confined (cf. northern urban variants), nor confined to Blacks-only within the South (cf. Southern white use).

5. BE differs between rural and urban locations, according to the need for vocabulary, environmental references, and pressure of social contacts.

6. BE often functions as an "in-group lingo" to denote group solidarity (cf. American Tongues and suburban black father), or "fool Whitey." Even where it is not the intention, BE often cannot be easily understood by SAE speakers (see Lexical Differences Between BE and SAE and Judge Calls Rap a Foreign Language, as well as the excerpt [YouTube] from the TV series Weeds).

7. BE tends to be highly figurative, metaphorical, rhythmic, and often melodic, reflecting various aspects of the Black American oral tradition (see excerpts from Dr. Martin Luther King's 28 August 1963 'I Have a Dream' speech [WAV] at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. (cf. Barack Obama's 04 November 2008 Victory Speech [MP3]), vs. 'Talking the Blues').

8. BE differs substantially from the speech patterns of SAE (see How Black and White Styles of Communication Differ [PPT]), and misunderstanding or even conflict can emerge as a consequence of this difference. As with any other 'different' language form ['hillbilly' for example] the differences are often satirized (see 'Learning Ebonics' or the 2010 'viral' Antoine Dodson 'Bed Intruder' clip (and one of its parodic versions) [all via YouTube]

9. BE is increasingly being encountered in literature and drama as 'authentic' speech of Black American history (see examples of Black English in American literature by Alice Walker, James Baldwin and Gloria Naylor).

10. Urban variants of BE, which have their own distinctive jargons (highly male-oriented, dismissive of females, concerned about violence, crime and poverty, etc.) are also prominent in contemporary rap music (cf. Ice Cube's How to Survive in South-Central L.A.).

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Purpose of US-1 Handling of BE/BEV/AAVE

1. Recognition of certain features as referring to BE or other aspects of Black American culture and not merely "substandard" (cf. John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, for example) while recognizing that some aspects of BE have been absorbed by SAE.

2. Recognition of two commonly-employed stereotypes:
   1. poor economic class, often rural, mostly Southern; although also urban 'inner city' throughout the country;
   2. or, quite the opposite, to indicate "Black cultural pride," in which case the stereotype is usually urban rather than rural, northern rather than southern, and not "poor" or "uneducated." 'Code-switching' would be characteristic of this group.

3. Recognition of "loaded" terms and cultural sensitivities of Black Americans to certain expressions, particularly the "n-word" — cf. WHAS television news clip on the 'N-word' (Louisville, Kentucky) [YouTube] (although see also A Finnish Student's Encounter With 'Nigga' in Los Angeles).

4. Recognition of the distinctive discourse style of BE compared with SAE, and how this can be problematic for communication between those who are not aware of the other speech style.

5. Recognition of the different ethnic stereotyping of BE speakers compared to the ethnic German, Spanish, or Yiddish influences, among others.

Black vs White Cultural History and Recent Linguistic 'Progression'

1. Slave-history pattern: Whites as masters, bosses, superiors; blacks as slaves, servants...
   1. In the slavery and post-slavery years, conformity, or at least apparent conformity, were necessary for survival;
   2. All aspects of "blackness" were de-emphasized during this period; straightened hair, "yellow" skin favored

2. Black Equality movement in the 1960s. With "survival" assured, "Blackness" is now emphasized for cultural and political identity: Afro hairdos, dashikis, and open usage of "Black English"

3. The 'Ebonics' controversy from 1996 onwards, and examples of prevailing non-Black attitudes toward BE (see Howard Stern's 'Ebonics' Interview [MP3] with D.H. Hughley and this excerpt from the 1980s film Airplane on 'Jive' Talk (see also the actress Barbara Billingsley on the background of her 'jive' talk) [all via YouTube], cf. this 'Delta Airlines Ebonics' spoof 'advertisement'

4. Certain aspects of BE now increasingly being adopted by corporate American for advertising purposes, or reflected in white 'hip' speech. See Budweiser"Wassup" Commercial [YouTube] and 'Grannies' followup [YouTube], plus 'Axing' A Few Questions About Black Vernacular).

Black/White Racial Reference Terms ("loaded," pejorative, satirized...)

• Negroid, Negro, "nigger," colored, Black, Afro-American, African-American, (more recently even "African African-Americans") and the PC term 'people of color'
• 'Coons, spades, jungle bunnies, Mau-maus, Rastus & Liza, watermelon-eaters ..
• Also sensitivity to 'false cognates' such as 'tar baby' (folkloristic) and 'niggardly' (from Norwegian), and recently even with terms like 'articulate' (cf. Barack Obama, 2007)

Examples of Terms for Blacks, Used Only by Blacks

• blood, boot, member
• Oreo, color-struck
• Tom. Uncle Tom, Uncle Thomas. Dr. Thomas. Aunt Thomasina (Uncle Tom's Cabin)
• Sam (Little Black Sambo)

Examples of Black terms for Whites

• Charley, "the Man" (cf. James Baldwin stories and Wikipedia entry)
• honky, whitey
• white devil, cracker, peckerwood

Examples of Terms Blacks Find Offensive; often used by whites in past

• "boy" (cf. Dodge Challenger ad with Southern 'Sheriff'), "gal"
• you people, you folks...
• you're as good as we are ....
• plus white use of first names to address unfamiliar black people

Terms Referring to Food and Drink

• brew, pluck, "Q" (barbeque, "ribs" only...)
• chitlins (chitterlings), greens...
• grits (generically for "food," as well as hominy grits)

Terms Referring to Clothes and Dress

• rags, glad rags ("Glad Rag Doll..." [Johnnie Ray, 1953, YouTube])
• threads (cf "threadbare")
• clean (dressed up)
• strides, kicks (shoes in general)

Church Terms

• Amen corner, show some sign, bear witness
• 'dead' (non-responsive people in church services:
  "Dem sho 'nuff sum de'd folks ober at dat dere church ...")

General Terms

• that's all she wrote
• what's your bag
• down home (We goin' down home next year)
• like to (almost do something) "Momma like to drop the baby..."
• shuckin' and jivin', to jive someone, "jive talk," to "psych out" someone