Seeing the problems some of AAE speakers face as akin to ones of translation might let policymakers appreciate and solve them
always been full of languages, a fact that has been both a source of pride and a cause for consternation. But there has long been a fundamental misconception about one of its distinctive tongues: the speech of some of the country’s black population, especially in highly segregated areas. Not only is the nature of this dialect widely misapprehended; often its speakers are literally misunderstood by some of their fellow citizens.
African-American English , is not a broken version of standard English, the mistake-filled attempts of someone trying and failing to talk correctly. Instead, it is like a cousin. It developed from the same roots, but in a different direction, born of unique circumstances. Enslaved people from various African backgrounds took what they learned of English and made it their own.Centuries later,is a rule-bound, internally consistent dialect. In some ways it is simpler than standard English.
Experienced court reporters did no better than newer ones, and black reporters little better than the white ones. Black participants explained their trouble withby saying that they didn’t “speak like that”. Worse, both black and white court reporters tended to assume the recordings were from criminal court . That people associatewith ignorance and criminality is bad enough. Misunderstanding aggravates the risk. No one can get justice from a court that doesn’t know what they are saying.
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