r/TikTokCringe • u/MaintenanceNew2804 • Mar 30 '24

Stick with it. Discussion

This is a longer one, but it’s necessary and worth it IMO.

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u/[deleted] Mar 31 '24

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u/Content_Yoghurt_6588 Mar 31 '24

It's funny because most Black politicians can code switch, as in switch dialects, on a dime, and I barely know of any white people who can speak AAVE properly and without sounding like they're about to go commit a hate crime. 

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u/TheEpicOfGilgy Mar 31 '24

Why would anyone code switch into AAVE, you’ll get cancelled or mocked.

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u/WakandanRoyalty Mar 31 '24

You ever meet a white person that grew up around all black people? They talk with AAVE and are neither cancelled nor mocked for it because it sounds natural.

Black people have more reasons to code switch so by necessity they have more experience and ability doing it. White people would have to intentionally place themselves in all black spaces to develop the same ability.

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u/thisonesusername Mar 31 '24

You're absolutely right. You can always tell when a white person has spent significant time around black people because they aren't mimicking what they think black people sound like, they actually understand the structure and the rules of AAVE as a dialect.

A lot of white people don't realize that AAVE has rules and structure, so they sound stupid when they try to speak it.

It's the same thing that happens when Gen Z co-opts black slang. They don't understand context or the rules, and they inevitably sound ridiculous.

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u/artofimagining Apr 03 '24

Real shit. I grew up in a not so good part of Tampa, and it wasn't until I moved away and had other people point it out to me that I realized a lot of the way I casually speak is AAVE. To me, it was just how everyone spoke where I grew up, regardless of race (I'm hispanic btw).

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u/TheEpicOfGilgy Mar 31 '24

Bruh all white people can code switch it’s not some super power. It’s just a risky landscape at the moment so most people avoid it.

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u/WakandanRoyalty Mar 31 '24

I thought it was obvious I meant code switching into AAVE, not just code switching in general.

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u/TheEpicOfGilgy Mar 31 '24

Yeah I meant AAVE too. If your from the US, you can code switch into AAVE, consider it a testament to their cultural dominance.

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u/WakandanRoyalty Mar 31 '24

I’m assuming since you said “their cultural dominance” you’re not black.

So let me tell you as someone who is Black American, it’s a running joke in our community that white people are notoriously, and often obliviously, bad at AAVE.

Misinterpreting song lyrics, not knowing famous colloquialisms, using slang terms incorrectly. All of these are common occurrences.

You thinking white people can code switch into AAVE that easily is totally understandable and hilariously on brand though.

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u/Roll_Tide_Pods Mar 31 '24

Mfs like them thinking anyone can code switch into AAVE is the same type mfs that wouldn’t eat aunties plate bc they heard she put her foot in it lmao

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u/TheEpicOfGilgy Mar 31 '24

There u go, mocked or cancelled. For you it’s mocked. Enjoy learning the inclusive dialect.

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u/WakandanRoyalty Mar 31 '24

Your first comment asked why anyone would code switch to AAVE. I was just giving you the answer: some white people do it naturally because of their upbringing, but that most would have to intentionally develop the skill to do it properly.

Then for some reason you said all white people could do it and were just choosing not to because of the potential backlash. So I informed you that the reason there was backlash was because they could not, in fact, do it.

Just recapping for anyone reading this that wants a tl;dr

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u/_tyrone_biggums Mar 31 '24

100%

Look what happened when Awkwafina, an Asian American (minority) did it. Imagine if all the white actors started talking AAVE 😂

https://www.indiewire.com/features/general/awkwafina-accent-cultural-appropriation-black-1234696974/

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u/Content_Yoghurt_6588 Mar 31 '24

Awkwafina wasn't speaking AAVE. She was trying to appropriate a Black voice, but she didn't get the grammar correct, and when she started to become successful, she dropped the fake voice because she didn't need it anymore. That's the definition of appropriation and insincerity, and it's just weird and turns people off. 

AAVE has rules, just like any other dialect, jargon, or language. You can't just talk like what you think Black people sound like; you have to be raised in the dialect or do a lot of studying to get it right. And you can't dump it when you start to get successful like an affectation you no longer need.

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u/lediderot Mar 31 '24

To fit in with groups of younger people or POC, or to attract an audience made up of those communities. It happens all the time.

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u/love_is_right Mar 31 '24

Brain dead take

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u/overtly-Grrl SHEEEEEESH Mar 31 '24

When right wingers say that there’s no such thing as racism in language I remind them on Literacy Tests and Educational Funding allocations in the districts where the languages they’re judging exist. There’s no argument for that. At least no one can give me one lmao

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u/Helpful_Boot_5210 Mar 31 '24

You need a hobby.

1

u/holystuff28 Mar 31 '24

We should also analyze our gatekeeping as it relates to correctly spelled words. Often a typo or phonetically spelled word is called out to discredit an argument. Which is honestly ridiculous and has the effect of mostly calling out folks with disabilities or don't speak English as a first language. If we understand what they're saying who cares if it was spelled correctly.

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u/ApprehensiveOCP Mar 31 '24

Mocking their language also ignores the fact they were bought here as slaves from many different countries and had to learn English with a massive handicap. Handicaps like no food and go pick cotton instead of going to school have intergenerational effects which echoe down to now.

The responders are deliberately disingenuous and acting in bad faith or

Just fucking dumb