Bonni Sollars

Dar, what an interesting subject you have researched. I don't think
Jester was giving an explanation of ebonics or a separate language, but
was saying we do end up pronouncing things like what is modeled for us,
mostly by our parents. He did demonstrate how foreigners do have trouble
pronouncing sounds the same as the natural citizens. And he said the
slaves were surrounded by slaves, not white people, for examples of how
to speak. (His examples were very convincing). He did his best to get
white choirs to sing like they were black, and to establish rapport with
what was predominantly white middle class audiences. He would have the
lighting people put the lights on the audience and dim the light on stage
saying, "You are the real show, this is about you." I think he was
helping them to not be so afraid of our differences. Like I said, my
cousins would be talking with their gang in their chicano accent, then
turn and talk to me in plain English. They didn't talk that way because
they didn't know how to talk better, but to communicate with their pals.
I agree there is no need to think one way is better, especially when we
see why people talk the way they do. The kids I went to school with could
speak English well, but around their friends or family spoke with their
own unique sounds. Of course, I also knew a lot of them who felt it was
degrading to talk "ebonics" and would even tell their friends, "Speak
English when you talk to me!" Because they felt it made them sound
ignorant. I knew a blonde haired, blue eyed girl who lived in a black
neighborhood and her step dad was black, and she was totally accepted
among her black peers, many of whom were prejudiced of whites, I think
partly because if you heard only her voice you would not know she was
white. I used to envy her because she always got asked to dance at the
school dances. I lived in Arkansas for a time and they have their own
idioms and speech sounds, so that I often misunderstood what people were
saying to me and they misunderstood me. I found myself constantly
paraphrasing to make sure I understood them. I read a local historian's
view that their accents came originally from England, believe it or not.
My brother in law is embarrassed by his "hillbilly" talk so he's rather
taciturn. I find their way of talking to be charming. I met a man there
whose parents have very heavy Arkansas accents, yet he sounds like he's
from California. He learned how to talk from watching the news and
mimicking the sounds they made. Why, because he felt ashamed of his
accent. Doctors and lawyers have a way of talking among their peers that
everyone in the profession understands, but confuses those outside. A
smart professional will talk in a simple form to the public and use
professional jargon among peers. I guess speech is not just about
getting our point across to one another and hearing one another, but is
also about establishing our common identity with one another.
Bonni

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