Question by Monkey: A question for Black Americans. Could you explain Ebonics to me- No racist content inside?
Hi I was hoping that you could clarify a question for me regarding Ebonics. I have heard many black people who are very passionate about the subject believe that it is something that is unique to them and is a marker of their race/culture
From the mixed sources that I have heard it is one of two things.
1.A dialect or variation of a dialect that is only found in certain sections of the black community and is based on Jamaican patois.
2.It is the belief that all Black people have a certain timbre to their voices that regardless of their place in society will identify them as black. And that it is natural and not cultural.
If it is the second answer then I do not believe that Ebonics exists as a natural phenomenon and here is why. When a baby is born it is just a little adaptation machine that has no idea where it will be born or what culture it will live in. If you took a white baby and placed it with a rural Chinese family. It would grow up with a Chinese culture and if it was brought to America to learn English it would have a Chinese accent. This is true of the potential of any baby.
But if Ebonics were true then for some reason black babies are inhibited in their ability to adapt to any environment as they will always retain the Ebonic timbre in their voice. This is impossible as the only difference between new born babies of different races is solely down to their skin colour which is a reflection of their ancestor’s exposure to the sun.
Could this be the answer instead? As many black people believe that they are living in a country where they are repressed and everything about them including many of their positive cultural artefacts have been appropriated by white culture. Ebonics is one of the few things that they can say is their own and is a binding tool that cannot be taken away from them.
You thoughts please
Edit
Not a single person actually read my question. or maybe understood it.
The jist is that i am saying that we are all the same and that there is no difference. Why is it that when someone does not understand a question that will either ascribe their own meaning or fall back to some defense mechanism.
Spuddy thanks you are the closest i have seen to an answer.
My base question was not that ebonics does not exist but do you believe it is cultural or natural
Edit lex thank for the update mate.
Best answer:
Answer by Spuddy
I’m not black, but I can answer your question.
Contrary to popular belief, Ebonics, or African American Vernacular English, came about AFTER the Civil War. Blacks prior spoke differently than blacks today. Most spoke similar dialects to Southern whites at the time. By the mid 1800s, most black Americans did not speak any patois form of English. After the Emancipation Proclamation, blacks began to build their own communities separate from whites. This isolation, mostly in the inner city of major US cities, is what lead to ebonics being born.
And blacks generally have larger vocal chords than all other races, which causes them to have deeper voices. Often times, not all the times, but often you can identify a black person speaking, even if that black person is not speaking ebonics.
Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!
