The Power We Speak: Language, Anti-Black Racism & Black Resistance

By Kelsey Da Silva, Carleton University

Introduction

Whatever the modality, whether verbal, written, body-language, or even the release of various chemicals and pheromones, communication is universal between all living things. Humans naturally congregate and gravitate towards one another for more than just survival, rather for companionship and celebration, primarily through language. It is from these congregations, each with their distinct methods of communication, language, that cultures are born.

People often underestimate the significance of language, both in the abstract and in regard to individual languages. Each language, and the variety that exists within them, is imbued with culture and history inseparable to its existence. Linguists have since come to learn that the primary languages one speaks can have a direct influence on how one thinks and in turn perceives the world around them. This can depend on the depth of description for certain concepts, such as colors, feelings, time, and direction or even the structure of the language itself. Many North American Indigenous languages for example are verb-based, compared to Latin/Germanic-based languages that are noun-based. Such Indigenous languages allow for a worldview in which everything is more animate and fluid.[1] Conversely, languages that have gendered nouns can also greatly impact and perpetuate unconscious gender bias. A study found that native speakers regularly use adjectives associated with masculine or feminine characteristics in describing nouns that are the corresponding ‘gender’: such as describing the masculine noun of “vino,” Italian for wine, as “strong and full-bodied” while describing the feminine noun of “birra,” beer as,“light and bubbly.”[2] Considering the role language can play in societal conceptions of gender, it is especially important to examine the significance of language for racialized persons.

It has only been within recent decades that the role language plays in socialization have begun to be examined more closely and acknowledged within mainstream society. Black[3] populations, especially those who have experienced the colonizing or civilizing process represent a particularly interesting paradigm. For many colonized people, learning or speaking one’s ancestral language is an important form of cultural preservation, resistance, and decolonization. However, many Black persons, from various diasporas, residing in western countries do not have such an ability. They instead are forced to speak of their struggles and oppression through the language of their colonizers. As Frantz Fanon put it, “All colonized people...position themselves in relation to the civilizing language.”[4]

As described by Frantz Fanon in his chapter “The Black Man and Language” in a colonial relation, language has been and continues to be used to oppress Black people. Deprived of an alternative language, Black people have subverted the language of their oppressors, making it their own as a source of empowerment. To demonstrate this multifaceted intersection, a general introduction to the emergence of creole languages and African American Vernacular English (AAVE) must be examined. Linguistic microaggressions, including but not exclusive to the use of pidgin and ulterior connotations of certain words when used towards Black people, and the practice of racial code-switching will then be discussed. Followed by the exploration of the ways self-affirmative language has been used as a source of empowerment and decolonization for Black populations, including analysis of the contentious modern use of the ‘n-word’. As the content and experiences outlined here are not unique to any one country or even region, the relationship between Blackness and language is discussed in the abstract. English will however be the primary colonial language in question when discussing specific racial intersections, such as AAVE.

Background of Creole & African American Vernacular English (AAVE)

Unlike other languages that evolved organically over the course of several generations, often as a result of splitting culture groups, the creation of Creole languages is a direct result of European encroachment and colonization, the bringing together of multiple differing cultures.[5] In this way, Creole is the only language family in which the birth of specific iterations can be more or less pinpointed.[6] Historians and linguists, for example, know that there was no Haitian Creole prior to 1690 and likewise with Hawaiian Creole before 1880; yet within a generation of those dates, each respective language existed.[7]

"Ebon Heath - Typographic Mobile Print" by urbanartcore.eu is marked with CC BY-NC 2.0.

The origins of African-American Vernacular English (AAVE) and Black English (BE) have been divided into three main academic theories: the Anglicist, the Creolist, and the neo-Anglicist.[8] The Anglicist hypothesis argues that AAVE developed from British-based dialects, sharing benchmark similarities with white Southern vernacular.[9] This position maintains that AAVE developed as early generations of American-born slaves, “learned the regional and social varieties of surrounding European American speakers.”[10] The Creolist hypothesis came about in the 1960’s and 70’s and asserts that the roots of AAVE derived from a variety of Creole-English as a result of expansive African diaspora.[11] Finally, the neo-Anglicist theory agrees with the origins of the primary Anglicist hypothesis of its origins in English.[12] However, the neo-Anglicist position diverges in explanation of AAVE’s development by asserting that the language is now very distinct to modern European and American vernacular forms of speech:

…as the African American community solidified, it innovated specific features' and that 'contemporary AAVE is the result of evolution, by its own unique, internal logic'. Labov (1998:119) characterizes the most recent position as follows: 'The general conclusion that is emerging from studies of the history of AAVE is that many important features of the modern dialect are creations of the twentieth century and not an inheritance of the nineteenth'.[13]

While never definitively proven, it is commonly agreed upon that Creoles originated as pidgin.[14] Pidgin is a simplified form of language, generally used as a means to communicate when there is a presumed or legitimate language barrier; native to no one, it is always used as a secondary language.[15] Slaves and general laborers, who were often from different culture groups themselves, would have needed some way to communicate with one another as well as with the ruling white colonizers. Creolization occurs with the expansion of vocabulary, syntax, grammar, etc. Once the language becomes native to the community it exists in, it is then considered a new language.[16] Creoles most closely resemble the European language of the region’s primary colonial-presence; such resemblance is largely superficial due to dramatic grammar and phonetic changes, similar to the way English and German share linguistic origins but differ in significant ways.[17] This is further proven with explanation of how Creole language rule systems were created. With traditional language-learning, children naturally pick up rules that more or less align with those of their elders. However, studies have found that first generation Creole-speakers “produced rules for which there was no evidence in the previous generation's speech.”[18]

Due to their distinguished descent from European languages, Creoles were viewed very negatively until the past century or so, regarded as a bastardization of the European parent language.[19] Fanon mentions how in his home of the French Antilles, Creole was only used by the bourgeoisie in speaking to servants.[20] Schoolchildren were taught to view the language with contempt and some families forbade its use at home. French writer Michel Leiris, on the subject of Creole, viewed the popularity of the language as the result of illiteracy and poverty and would thus “become a relic of the past” once access to education became widespread.[21] Further revealing its association with those of a “lesser” social status, poor and uneducated Black people who do not strive to meet white standards, that society does not respect. Leiris’ prediction has proven incorrect with many Creoles becoming an indispensable aspect of the cultural identities within their respective communities. Rather, French Martinique cultural critic and philosopher Edouard Glissant viewed creolization as,“an unending, fluid process that cannot be reduced or essentialized.”[22] Creole both reflects and subverts the power relations of the colonial situation.

In recent years, the process of Creolization has also been compared to globalization in that there is increasing emphasis on a sort of international society whose norms and values are informed by a conglomerate of varying cultures.[23] Glissant goes so far to say that,“since no one has been spared creolization, no one can assert ‘purity’ of origins as a pretext for domination.”[24] This presents a very significant argument against inequality and norm supremacy as well as providing a poignant interpretation of the effects of increasing globalization and cultural-mixing (particularly in settler-states created and sustained by substantial immigration such as the United States and Canada).

Many of the previously dominant views and connotations surrounding Creole, are now found within perceptions of African American Vernacular English (AAVE), also referred to as Black English (BE). The languages are viewed as inferior by the dominant culture with stereotypes of ignorance and laziness associated with its speakers.[25] In the same way many within Fanon’s home community disliked Creole, but also viewed it as a sign of solidarity and authenticity, studies on AAVE reveal just such contradictory nuances. Some studies have found that Black people do hold AAVE in high regard, while others have shown that standard English (SE) is preferred over BE.[26] Research conducted in the 1990’s did however notice that as Black families or individuals integrate more into the middle-class mainstream American culture, they are more likely to view those who exclusively use AAVE in a negative light.[27] Despite the common belief, AAVE/BE is not in fact defined by its reliance on slang; like any other language, colloquial slang comes and goes, varying from decade to decade.[28] Use of BE within literature speaks well to the point that it, “is not simply a matter of street corner argot.”[29]

"Ebon Heath - Typography Installation" by urbanartcore.eu is marked with CC BY-NC 2.0.

The origins of AAVE and BE have been divided into three main academic theories: the Anglicist, the Creolist, and the neo-Anglicist.[30] The Anglicist hypothesis argues that AAVE developed from British-based dialects, sharing benchmark similarities with white Southern vernacular.[31] This position maintains that AAVE developed as early generations of American-born slaves, “learned the regional and social varieties of surrounding European American speakers.”[32] The Creolist hypothesis came about in the 1960’s and 70’s and asserts that the roots of AAVE derived from a variety of Creole-English as a result of expansive African diaspora.[33] Finally, the neo-Anglicist theory agrees with the origins of the primary Anglicist hypothesis of its origins in English.[34] However, the neo-Anglicist position diverges in explanation of AAVE’s development by asserting that the language is now very distinct to modern European and American vernacular forms of speech:

As the latter two theories are relatively younger, there is little consensus on the origins of AAVE and its subsequent development, however one can see the many parallels between it and creolization. There is also a wide variety of terms used to describe this same language -AAVE, BE, African American English (AAE), Ebonics, among others, which has been said to undermine its legitimacy and recognition as an independent language.[36]

Linguistic Microaggressions & Code-Switching:

Fanon opens the first chapter of Black Skin, White Masks with the assertion that studying language is essential in understanding one element of “the black man’s dimension of being-for-others,” because “to speak is to exist absolutely for the other.”[37] Fanon goes on to discuss how there are two dimensions to the Black man, that of when he is with other Black people, and that of when he is with white people.[38] This idea of multiple ‘dimensions’ or sides to oneself, particularly in the context of language, Fanon describes is now commonly referred to as ‘code-switching.’ Code-switching is a concept rooted in linguistics, originally referring to multilingual people that can easily switch from one language to another in a single conversation.[39] However, it has since become a common term within racial discourses, specifically that of Black communities.[40]

Speech is an important signifier in the development of one’s perception of another person as it can signal status and prestige.[41] This means that reliance on stereotypical cues for validation of initial impressions is of course, but unfortunately, still common.[42] Black individuals thus often feel the need to censor parts of their speech, indeed themselves, or switch to “[their] white voice” to be accepted and feel safe in non-Black-dominant spaces.[43] Fanon recalls such feelings when he first went to France, as well when reflecting on fellow Antilleans returning from France; men who are then faced with the dilemma of maintaining their newly founded superiority complex, rejecting Creole, and being ostracized by their own people or returning to so-called ‘savagery’ and live in non-white inferiority.[44] This distinction further demonstrates the connection between perceived racial difference and alliances based on the way one speaks. Interestingly, one study found that Black subjects held negative views towards those who did not know how or when to switch from AAVE to standard English.[45] One can easily make the comparison of how Creole was perceived during Fanon’s time (and even now to varying degrees) as being akin to how African-American Vernacular English (AAVE) is perceived in the present, as lesser forms of speech, even among Black populations themselves depending on the context. It should be noted that everyone, regardless of race, alters their speech in various situations.[46] The difference in perceptions based on speech however is much more significant for racialized individuals because of aforementioned stereotypes already working against their favor.

Even with the ‘protection’ of being able to code-switch, Black people nonetheless face countless linguistic microaggressions stemming from deep-seated, historical, and paternalistically racial supremacist norms. Further on in the chapter, Fanon brings up the use of pidgin by white people when speaking to Black individuals, speaking as if they are addressing children. With its use, there is the inherent assumption that Black people are incapable of ‘complex’ communication, expression and thought, immediately dismissing any form of personal and political autonomy. As racial inequality has improved (in some ways more than others), the use of pidgin has become less common and seen as socially unacceptable prior to the establishment of an actual language barrier between adults. However, new ways of talking to or referring to a Black person’s verbal fluency have nevertheless surfaced, maintaining the same racist connotations outlined by Fanon. Race theorist Tim Wise suggests that there has been a subtle shift to a “form of racism that allows for and even celebrates the achievements of individual persons of color, but only because those individuals have ‘transcended’ their race.[47] Within this same line of thought, Fanon comments that “There is nothing more sensational than a black man speaking correctly, for he is appropriating the white world.”[48]

Barack Obama presents a perfect example for this sensationalism Fanon refers to. While praised for his oratory, the constant surveillance and scrutiny of Barack Obama during his political career does well to highlight the extent to which “Black Language…. [is] constantly policed by White and other Americans in the public sphere.”[49] A study of the word ‘articulate’ regarding Obama, revealed how one’s innocuous praise can be another’s glaring insult when used in reference to a Black individual due to subtext of the ‘exceptional negro’ and white bewilderment.[50] The following quote describes the reason for these presumed connotations well:

“Black folks’ assumption is this: If one needs to consistently point out that an individual Black person is “good,” “clean,” “bright,” “nice looking,” “handsome,” “calm,” and “crisp,” it suggests that White private opinions about Blacks, in general, hold that they are usually the opposite— “bad,” “dirty,” “dumb,” “mean-looking,” “ugly,” “angry,” and “rough.”[51]

The same way pidgin is viewed as something primarily used with children, many view the use of ‘articulate’ in the same context as innocent, because children are continuously learning and therefore not expected to be able to communicate well.[52] When used with adults however, both are viewed as passive aggressive and insulting.[53] Fanon goes as far to say that the use of pidgin with an adult is to keep them in ‘check’ in their place of subjection.[54]

Resistance, Empowerment & Decolonization

Black people have a uniquely complicated relationship with colonialism. As like any other colonized group, their Indigenous ways of life were stripped from them through European exploitation and assimilation, with the added trauma of extensive, intergenerational slavery. Yet, the vast majority of Black people descended from those original colonized populations do not reside on the same land of initial colonial contact. Distinction between forcibly displaced, slave-descended persons and the willing European settlers that colonized North America has been made in recent years, notably mentioned by Metis scholar Chelsea Vowel in her book Indigenous Writes. However, the path towards self-reclamation and decolonization for Black populations nonetheless remains a complex abstraction.

As previously mentioned, many colonized Black populations were completely stripped of their ancestral and cultural language, leaving them in perpetual limbo of having to express themselves through the language of their colonizers. But as any colonized group, Black people have found alternative methods of resistance and empowerment, however narrow the confines of their oppression restricts such forms of expression. In their decades leading up to and since colonial independence, many countries within Africa and Central America embraced their traditional Creoles, turning a source of contempt and self-hatred into one of cultural pride, self-affirmation, and empowerment.[55] What a more poignant symbol of decolonization than nationalizing the language that diverged from the colonizers through a process of multi-cultural influence after independence from said empires.

The use and push for normalization of AAVE shares similar symbolism, particularly within settler-states such as the United States and Canada. With the use of AAVE there is inherent acknowledgement of current and historical struggles, of Black strength in overcoming adversity. This belief is central to a Black identity in which Black people view,“themselves as ‘humanly and culturally rich survivors.’”[56] This self-affirming symbolism is best demonstrated through the contentious case study of modern usage of the n-word by Black people. As one of the, if not the, only English words censored in such a way, explanation as to the racist history of the word that has led to such censorship by non-Black people would likely be redundant, nor would doing so serve the broader point of this discussion.

To many, the common use of the n-word by some Black people seems contradictory given its extreme history, even with dropping the hard ‘er’ for an open-ended ‘a’ sound.[57] Those who reject its use within the Black community sometimes view its use as a symptom of internalized anti-Black racism, thereby contributing to identities based on self-hatred.[58] These worries however directly contradict the word’s prolonged social association of survival that has been found to have originated during the time of slavery, with its usage in this way by Black persons as far back as the early 1800’s.[59] Use of the n-word between Black persons can speak to solidarity, or even endearment, between one another or the community at large for continued perseverance through diaspora and systemic racial injustice.[60] Compared to other terms of self-reference used by Black populations, the n-word word conveys a more historically layered meaning to identity as a Black person living in the West.[61] Words constantly go in and out of popular use, however the n-word has maintained a stronghold within Black lexicons for its flexibility in subverting old meanings and producing new ones that universally speak to Black identity, consciousness, resistance, and empowerment.[62]

By reclaiming languages and words that were once used to oppress and incur self-hatred, subjected groups diminish the power they and the ruling class has over them, essentially finding empowerment from the pain of subjection.[63] This is the real reason negative connotations were given to Creole and AAVE, because cultural pride and Black empowerment poses an inherent threat to the western status quo that values white bodies over all else. As American writer Rosaline Lippi-Green put it: “[Black English] is tangible and irrefutable evidence that there is a distinct, healthy, functioning African American culture which is not white, and which does not want to be white. This is a state of affairs that is unacceptable to many” (italics mine).[64] As such, the push to minimize use of AAVE is now seen as a push for assimilation and erasure of Black culture that has become fiercely protected by its members.[65] In the words of Fanon, Black people are asserting themselves as just that, Black, and making themselves known, regardless of white recognition or approval.[66]

Conclusion

With the background of Frantz Fanon’s primary chapter ‘The Black Man and Language’ in his extraordinary book Black Skin, White Masks, a cursory exploration, and analysis of the relationship between language and Black populations has been completed. Both within the abstract of general use in subjection and specific examples in the case of Creole and African American Vernacular English (AAVE) by Black individuals and communities. The history and theorized roots of these two respective languages as the result of multi-cultural influence and settler-colonialism was first discussed to provide a referential background. Linguistic microaggressions based on racist presumptions of Black inferiority and incompetence were demonstrated with the examples of pidgin and modern scrutiny of Black linguistic mannerisms. Finally, it was discussed how Black populations, largely deprived of their original ancestral languages, have subverted white norms, and made the languages of the colonizers into their own, as a sort of linguistic resistance, source of empowerment, and sign of solidarity through the use of AAVE and modified n-word.

Even in its brevity, this paper has shown the extensive importance in considering the intersection between race and language, particularly in one’s personal and professional capacities as non-Black individuals. Whether such comments or thoughts are subconscious, due a lack of awareness or forethought of racial nuances, or intentional, the impact is the same.[67] In Fanon’s own eloquent words “it is precisely this absence of will...the ease of which they classify, imprison him at an uncivilized and primitive level that is insulting.”[68] This is why it is imperative to actively recognize the ways one’s privileges and power may be reflected or perpetuated through language, words can have infinitely different meanings and implications depending on how they are said and to who. Passive support is simply not enough in the fight against racism, one must be actively anti-racist; a part of this is recognizing the varying ways anti-blackness in particular is perpetuated, even in communities of color.

Endnotes

[1] Little Bear, Leroy. “Jagged Worldviews Colliding.” Government of Alberta, 2000.,1-2

[2] “How Languages Shape The Way We Think - Language Advantage.” Accessed April 17, 2021. https://languageadvantage.ca/how-languages-shape-the-way-we-think/.

[3] Since the mid-19th century, much of white society and academia has primarily used the term ‘African-American’, however, in recent years I have observed a dramatic (albeit informal) change to the use of ‘Black’ as an alternative due to preference, acknowledgement that not all Black people are descended from Africa and to normalize the idea that Black is not a negative term. As a non-Black person, I will thus defer to what I have seen and heard from Black people themselves.

[4] Fanon, Frantz. “The Black Man and Language.” In Black Skin, White Masks, 1st ed. New York, NY: Grove Press, 2008., 2

[5] Bickerton, Derek. Roots of Language. Ann Arbor: Karoma Publishers, 1981., 2

[6] Ibid., 1

[7] Ibid.

[8] Wolfram, Walt. “Reexamining the Development of African American English: Evidence from Isolated Communities.” Language 79, no. 2 (2003): 284

[9] Ibid.

[10] Ibid.

[11] Ibid.

[12] Ibid.

[13] Ibid., 285

[14] Ibid.

[15] “Oxford Languages and Google - English | Oxford Languages.” Accessed April 17, 2021. https://languages.oup.com/google-dictionary-en/.

[16] Bickerton, Derek. Roots of Language. Ann Arbor: Karoma Publishers, 1981., 2

[17] Ibid.

[18] Ibid., 6

[19] Stewart, Charles, ed. Creolization: History, Ethnography, Theory. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press, 2007., 1

[20] Fanon, Frantz. “The Black Man and Language.” In Black Skin, White Masks, 1st ed. New York, NY: Grove Press, 2008., 4

[21] Ibid., 11

[22] Stewart, Charles, ed. Creolization: History, Ethnography, Theory. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press, 2007., 3

[23] Ibid.

[24] Ibid.

[25] Koch, Lisa M., Alan M. Gross, and Russell Kolts. “Attitudes Toward Black English and Code Switching.” Journal of Black Psychology 27, no. 1 (February 2001): 30-31

[26] Ibid., 30

[27] Ibid.

[28] McWhorter, John H. The Word on the Street: Fact and Fable about American English. New York: Plenum Trade, 1998., 130

[29] Ibid.

[30] Wolfram, Walt. “Reexamining the Development of African American English: Evidence from Isolated Communities.” Language 79, no. 2 (2003): 284

[31] Ibid.

[32] Ibid.

[33] Ibid.

[34] Ibid., 285

[35] Ibid.

[36] Wassink, Alicia Beckford, and Anne Curzan. “Addressing Ideologies Around African American English.” Journal of English Linguistics 32, no. 3 (September 2004): 177

[37] Fanon, Frantz. “The Black Man and Language.” In Black Skin, White Masks, 1st ed. New York, NY: Grove Press, 2008., 1

[38] Ibid.

[39] McWilliams, A. T. “Sorry to Bother You, Black Americans and the Power and Peril of Code-Switching.” the Guardian, July 25, 2018. http://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/jul/25/sorry-to-bother-you-white-voice-code-switching.

[40] Ibid.

[41] Doss, Richard C., and Alan M. Gross. “The Effects of Black English and Code-Switching on Intraracial Perceptions.” Journal of Black Psychology 20, no. 3 (August 1994): 283

[42] McWilliams, A. T. “Sorry to Bother You, Black Americans and the Power and Peril of Code-Switching.” the Guardian, July 25, 2018.

[43] Ibid.

[44] Fanon, Frantz. “The Black Man and Language.” In Black Skin, White Masks, 1st ed. New York, NY: Grove Press, 2008., 4-9

[45] Doss, Richard C., and Alan M. Gross. “The Effects of Black English and Code-Switching on Intraracial Perceptions.” Journal of Black Psychology 20, no. 3 (August 1994): 283

[46] Koch, Lisa M., Alan M. Gross, and Russell Kolts. “Attitudes Toward Black English and Code Switching.” Journal of Black Psychology 27, no. 1 (February 2001): 31

[47] Alim, H. Samy, and Geneva Smitherman. Articulate While Black: Barack Obama, Language, and Race in the U. S. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2012., 33

[48] Fanon, Frantz. “The Black Man and Language.” In Black Skin, White Masks, 1st ed. New York, NY: Grove Press, 2008., 19

[49] Alim, H. Samy, and Geneva Smitherman. Articulate While Black: Barack Obama, Language, and Race in the U. S. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2012., 34

[50] Ibid., 34-35

[51] Ibid., 34

[52] Alim, H. Samy, and Geneva Smitherman. Articulate While Black: Barack Obama, Language, and Race in the U. S. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2012., 42

[53] Ibid., 34

[54] Fanon, Frantz. “The Black Man and Language.” In Black Skin, White Masks, 1st ed. New York, NY: Grove Press, 2008., 17

[55] Stewart, Charles, ed. Creolization: History, Ethnography, Theory. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press, 2007., 1-2

[56] Rahman, Jacquelyn. “The N Word: Its History and Use in the African American Community.” Journal of English Linguistics 40, no. 2 (June 2012): 163

[57] Ibid., 138

[58] Ibid., 142

[59] Ibid., 146

[60] Ibid., 155

[61] Ibid., 147

[62] Ibid., 165

[63] Fasehun, Osa. “Reclaiming Words: The Struggle to Find Empowerment from Pain.” The Bowdoin Orient. October 20, 2017. https://bowdoinorient.com/2017/10/20/reclaiming-words/.

[64] Alim, H. Samy, and Geneva Smitherman. Articulate While Black: Barack Obama, Language, and Race in the U. S. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2012., 53

[65] Koch, Lisa M., Alan M. Gross, and Russell Kolts. “Attitudes Toward Black English and Code Switching.” Journal of Black Psychology 27, no. 1 (February 2001): 30-31

[66] Fanon, Frantz. “The Black Man and Language.” In Black Skin, White Masks, 1st ed. New York, NY: Grove Press, 2008., 95

[67] Alim, H. Samy, and Geneva Smitherman. Articulate While Black: Barack Obama, Language, and Race in the U. S. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2012., 35

[68] Fanon, Frantz. “The Black Man and Language.” In Black Skin, White Masks, 1st ed. New York, NY: Grove Press, 2008., 15

Archives, Issue XIVContent EditorsMay 6, 2022